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Macintosh Font Installation Procedures prior to OS-X

The installation procedures documented here apply to IDAutomation MICR, OCR and Barcode Fonts. IDAutomation recommends using TrueType TTF fonts on the MAC if possible.

Solution(s):

Macintosh TrueType Installation (.mtt) (Use TrueType fonts on the Macintosh if possible.)

This TrueType font version is formatted for the Macintosh computer in MacBinary format. This encodes both resource and data forks into one file so it can be encoded in a ZIP file. Using this file on a MAC is a two step process:

  1. Expand the ZIP file: After the distribution file (which is in ZIP format) is downloaded on the MAC, it must be expanded or decompressed so all the font files will be visible in the distribution package.
  2. Decode the MacBinary font file: Within the distribution file, the individual font file to be used must be decoded and then copied into the system font folder. There are several MAC programs that can open ZIP files such as the Archive Utility (formally BOM Archive Helper) the default utility or Stuffit Expander available from Aladdin Systems.

How to install TrueType TTF fonts on the MAC:

  1. After the distribution file (which is in ZIP format) is downloaded and saved on the MAC, it must be expanded or decompressed to see all the font files in the distribution package. There are several MAC programs that can open ZIP files such as the Archive Utility (formally BOM Archive Helper) the default utility or Stuffit Expander available from Aladdin Systems.
  2. To open the ZIP distribution file, drag the ZIP file onto the Expander icon or right click (ctrl + click) on the zip file, go to Open with on the menu and choose the corresponding application.
  3. The contents of the zip file will be extracted and appear in a separate folder. Inside this folder will be an install.exe file, which is for Windows customers and another folder with the same contents as the install application. Open this folder to view the Windows True Type font files (.ttf files). At this point, view the documentation supplied with the font files by opening the Readme.htm file with either Safari or FireFox.
  4. Drag or copy and paste the .ttf font files to the Library/Fonts folder.
  5. To activate the fonts, restart the application - some applications may require a computer restart.
  6. The fonts should now be active in the font menu of the application.
  7. To create the correct output for the font, choose the font in the application.

Macintosh PostScript Installation - Type 1 (.mt1 and .bma)

Some Macintosh systems require ATM (Adobe Type Manager) to be installed before the PostScript Type 1 fonts can be installed and used. The ".mt1" file is the Type 1 printer font file and the ".bma" is the screen font file. These files are encoded in MacBinary format. MacBinary format encodes both resource and data forks into one file so it can be encoded in a ZIP file. The screen fonts created for Mac Type1 fonts are intended for use with the associated printer font and Adobe Type Manager. The characters are blank stubs, which are not used when there is also a printer font and the ATM rendering is on. Using these fonts on a MAC is a two step process:

  1. Expand the ZIP file: After the distribution file (which is in ZIP format) is copied to a folder on the MAC, it must be expanded or decompressed so all the font files can be viewed in the distribution package.
  2. Decode the MacBinary font file: Within the distribution file, the individual font file to be used must be decoded and then copied into the system font folder. There are several MAC programs that can open ZIP files such as the Archive Utility (formally BOM Archive Helper) the default utility or Stuffit Expander available from Aladdin Systems.

MAC installation with MPKG Download

  1. After the distribution file (which is in ZIP format) is downloaded and saved on the MAC, it must be expanded or decompressed to see all the font files in the distribution package. There are several MAC programs that can open ZIP files such as the Archive Utility (formally BOM Archive Helper) the default utility or Stuffit Expander available from Aladdin Systems.
  2. To open the ZIP distribution file, drag the ZIP file onto the Expander icon or right click (ctrl + click) on the zip file, go to Open with on the menu and choose the corresponding application. This will reveal the mpkg file or installer package for MAC.
  3. Run the installer package; the fonts will be automatically placed in the Library/Fonts folder and the additional fonts and examples will be located in an IDAutomation [Product Name] folder under the Applications directory.
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