I urgently need two fonts - Frutiger and Futura - which I think are quite common, but didn't come with my system or any of my programmes. I've visited the Adobe websites in US and UK, but haven't been able to purchase anything online - their sites are most unhelpful.
Any suggestions?
I have various versions of all these so will send them in separate emails.
I hope they are of use. Rather than send them as masses of separate files,
can I compress them. I have StuffIt v.5. I enclose a sample stuffed one, as
well as an unstuffed one.
Melanie Thompson:
I urgently need two fonts - Frutiger and Futura - which I think are quite
common, but didn't come with my system or any of my programmes. I've visited
the Adobe websites in US and UK, but haven't been able to purchase anything
online - their sites are most unhelpful.
Try www.imageclub.ca; they were bought out by Adobe and changed their name (there's a new URL, but the Image Club URL still worked a year or so ago), but they sell all kinds of fonts and usually at decent prices. If you can't find them, try out the "store" part of Adobe's site and order a copy of "Type on call"; it's their CD of fonts, and you buy them one at a time, as needed. (There's usually some interesting utilities on the CD too.) You could also try "My Fonts" (www.myfonts.com) about which I've heard good things, though I haven't personally bought anything from them.
Joanna Chisholm:
I have various versions of all these so will send them in separate emails.
I hope they are of use. Rather than send them as masses of separate files,
can I compress them. I have StuffIt v.5. I enclose a sample stuffed one, as
well as an unstuffed one.
Best not to. Most fonts (these included) are considered by law to be copyrighted software, and not free for redistribution. If anyone from Adobe caught you exchanging the fonts (a risk on any public mailing list that maintains archives), they'd be within their rights to sue you for damages.
Melanie Thompson:
I urgently need two fonts - Frutiger and Futura
One of my favourite sites for font searches is the Monotype/Agfa site. Try http://studio.agfamonotype.com/fonts/index.html. If you want to see what a font looks like in a type sample, try the TypeIt feature from the left side of the screen. I used to buy from Agfa, but I haven't bought any new fonts since MonoType took over Agfa.
Try www.imageclub.ca; they were bought out by Adobe and changed their name
ImageClub was bought from Adobe by Getty Images and is now EyeWire. Try http://www.eyewire.com. Generally I find their site very user-friendly. They, too, have a type viewer where you can input your own type sample and have a look. After you've chosen a font to view, the type viewer is in the middle of the page between the lightbox stuff and the blurb about the font. But be aware: Once you get on an EyeWire mailing list, you'll likely be on the lists for anything owned by Getty Images.
I've never ordered from Phil's Fonts. Has anybody else? It's a great place to search for fonts. http://www.philsfonts.com/findfonts/
There can be quite a difference in prices, so it pays to shop around. For example, for the Futura 1 package (6 fonts), EyeWire and Adobe both charge US$135.99, while AgfaMonotype charges US$118.80. For the better-known typefaces from major foundries, typical prices for single fonts are US$18, $22, $29 and $34.99.
Just discovered: If you want a real adventure and are willing to install the programs and plug-ins necessary to use the site, try Linotype at http://www.fontexplorer.com/. Even with 16% German sales tax (VAT), their prices look pretty good. But I've run out of play time for tonight, so haven't explored very far.
I've never ordered from Phil's Fonts. Has anybody else?
It's a great
place to search for fonts. http://www.philsfonts.com/findfonts/
They're very nice. You can't buy fonts on the 'Net 24/7; they'll send them by e-mail (and snail) within about two hours. And if you got the wrong font, they'd honor an exchange.
Since I see from your email address that you are in the UK it may help to
know that Adobe have an office in Edinburgh. A phone call to a human being
there will presumably avoid the problems you are having finding what you need
on their website.
Another possibility is lintotype: www.LinotypeLibrary.com
I have font CDs from both these companies (with hundreds of fonts in locked files) -- I presume these are still available, though I have had mine for several years. The procedure is that, when you need something, you can phone/fax or email them, pay by credit card and they immediately reply with the codes to unlock what you have paid for. The CDs also have various other free bits and bobs on them and there are usually introductory offers/special offers that may meet your needs.
Donald Sommerville:
I have font CDs from both these companies (with hundreds of fonts in locked
files) -- I presume these are still available, though I have had mine for
several years.
I have a similar collection from 1997 called Creative Alliance, which has two CDs of all the fonts in the Adobe Type Library plus Agfa and Monotype fonts.
See: http://www.monotype.com
It used to cost something like £75 to unlock one font.
Donald:
Since I see from your email address that you are in the UK it may help to
know that Adobe have an office in Edinburgh. A phone call to a human being
there will presumably avoid the problems you are having finding what you need
on their website.
I did indeed resort to the phone line. And, as another McEdit reader suggested, purchased a copy of Type On Call. But I wasted 2 hours surfing Adobe UK and USA sites trying to order the damned thing on-line first. I found their website to be very unhelpful. And it galled me to have to purchase one product in order to purchase another... I don't use a great many fonts and probably shalln't use Type On Call again for months...I was very conscious of the copyright issue, but had hoped there might be a simple way to buy fonts one at a time - silly me!
Problem now solved, and thanks again everyone.
Many thanks for the help supplied. Problem now solved. But why do these companies
make life so difficult?
Melanie Thompson:
Many thanks for the help supplied. Problem now solved. But why do these companies
make life so difficult?
a) Because they're trying to do too much. Next time, try something like http://www.fontworks.co.uk/ or http://www.treacyfaces.com/ for your font needs.
And...
b) Because those fonts are commercial products, not something meant to be downloaded for free. <g>
Melanie Thompson:
Many thanks for the help supplied. Problem now solved. But why do these companies
make life so difficult?
It seems to me it used to be a lot easier to get to Adobe's type library, but it looks like they've done a bad job of redesigning their site. I tried to get there by going through the "front door" and had no luck. It was only after I remembered the direct link, www.adobe.com/type, that I got where I wanted to be.
Once you find the type library page, fonts are easy to find. You just click on the first letter in the font's name and They currently offer two sets of Frutiger, two sets of Futura, and a Futura Condensed font.
I've found the degree of difficulty of Adobe's Web site to be directly related to the urgency of a deadline. A couple of months ago I drove myself to distraction trying to find the Impact font -- and I never did. Today I found it on the first try!