Do we need ATM Deluxe under WinXP?

[Mike Prager]

At 08:23 PM 10/16/2003, Christina Thiele wrote:
>Mike Prager writes:
> >
> > I'd like to add to Christina's remarks.
>
>Good stuff! Really. It's good to see some solid info coming forth,
>esp. re: XP and ATM.
>
> > At 02:49 PM 10/16/2003, Christina Thiele wrote:
> >
> > >...
> > whether the fonts are used by Y&Y or not. Indeed, we've had better results
> > with ATM installed than with it not installed. THERE IS A PATCH ON THE
> > ADOBE WEB SITE THAT SHOULD BE INSTALLED, ALSO.
>
>Two queries here:
>
>    a. I think I'd written that ATM had to be turned off during
>       installation, not necessarily that it not even be installed.
>       Do you mean `installed' above, or `turned on'? Just a niggle,
>       but apparently an important distinction.


Both installed and turned on.  Turning it on in XP does not change how
fonts are rasterized.


>    b. Can you give us the URL for the patch, for handy reference.


It may change, so I'd rather not.  However, it's a small file called
ATMFIX.EXE.  I believe it just adjusts the Registry.  It's not difficult to
find from Adobe's home page, which probably won't move from

http://www.adobe.com


> > Whether ATM Deluxe is used or not, the rasterization (conversion of a
> > vector font into a displayable image) is done by Windows XP itself, NOT by
> > ATM. The opposite was the case under, e.g., Windows NT4 or Windows 95.
>
>Yes. That much I did know. As for `rasterising', understanding will
>come ... it's the `vector font' bit that is still greek to me ;-) But
>that's ok with me right now.

Two kinds of fonts are used on computers.  Bitmap (or raster) fonts are
defined as sets of pixels, thus have fixed resolution and can get blurry
when expanded.  Historically, TeX uses those (PK fonts).  TeX systems that
use those fonts are forever calling Metafont to generate fonts at needed
resolutions.

Vector fonts are mathematically defined as lines, curves, etc.  They scale
perfectly because such geometric objects doesn't get blurry as they gets
larger.  Since all display devices (printers, monitors) essentially use
bitmaps, a vector font must be converted to a bitmap of the appropriate
size before it can be written to the screen or a printed page.

The distinction between vector and raster also applies to graphics
programs.  Vector "drawing" programs (e.g., Adobe Illustrator) are used to
make illustrations composed mainly of geometric objects. They scale well,
and are particularly useful for line art, such as graphs.  Raster
"painting" programs (e.g., Windows Paint) are used to make illustrations
that are bitmaps.  They don't scale well, but are better for things like
photographic images.

Does that help?


> > >   b. ATM Deluxe allows you to active/deactivate fonts for specific
> > >      applications (e.g., Y&YTeX), and thus sidesteps the memory
> > >      issues. Or so it seems from posts to techsupport
> >
> > Yes, it can allow fonts (or groups of fonts) to be activated and
> > deactivated.  That can be very useful if you own many fonts but don't use
> > most of them frequently.  I leave the Lucida, CM, and MathTime sets
> > activated all the time, along with about 200 other TrueType and Type 1
> > fonts, without noticeable memory issues. This is on a machine with
> 512Mb of
> > RAM. Windows XP has pretty good memory management.
>
>So, if this +/- activation of fonts doesn't really affect memory, what
>is the benefit of having this feature?

It does affect memory, but I don't think lack of memory is an issue for
most folks, due to larger memory space in computers and better memory
management of Windows XP than Windows 95 (e.g.).

To me, the benefit is mainly reducing clutter on font menus.

>Hmmm ... what if I look at my
>ATM manual? ;-)) The old one, for NT machines. Ah, it's clearly not
>ATM Deluxe, 'coz there's a para. about upgrading to Deluxe. OK. So it
>won't tell me about Deluxe's +/- activation benefits.
>
>On the other hand, p.6 of this old manual does talk about Type 1 vs
>TrueType font conversions and which ones are done in what order
>... perhaps people who've been having problems getting the right font
>to work might find something useful here ... but that's a big tangent


A tangent best avoided!  I don't think Windows XP converts T1 to TT fonts,
like earlier versions of Windows.  In any case, that would be undesirable,
as the hinting does not usually transfer well. Also, I some programs (I
believe DVIPSONE is one) need access to the original T1 fonts to prepare
PostScript output.

> > What Christina did not mention is that there is a THIRD aspect of font
>
>What Christina does not know ... ;-)) ... is pretty impressively large
>;-))
>
> > usage in Y&Y TeX:  the ability of all components of Y&Y TeX (including
> > DVIWindo and DVIPSONE) to find (and thus use) the installed fonts.  Our
> two
> > users of Y&Y TeX (I am one of them) have NOT been successful at getting
> > that to happen under Windows XP unless ATM Deluxe was used to install (and
> > thus manage) the fonts.  Am I saying it can't be done?  No!  But I am
> > saying that despite a lot of fiddling, uninstalling, reinstalling,
> etc., we
> > were unable to get it to work without ATM.  After we installed ATM Deluxe
> > and then Y&Y, everything worked perfectly.  So I would consider
> purchase of
> > ATM Deluxe a worthwhile investment for someone installing Y&Y on
> Windows XP.
>
>OK. I'll add that to my list when I go XP shopping ...
>
> > I'd be very interested to hear from anyone who has got it to work without
> > using ATM.  Did you do anything special?
> >
> > ...Mike
> >
> > ...
>
>Again, Mike, thanks for adding to the discussion and clearly up my
>fuzziness. Like you, I'll be interested in reading about other
>experiences.
>
>Ch.

My pleasure, and I hope it's been helpful.  Thanks to you, too, for your
work in focusing this discussion.

Mike



--
Michael Prager      <Mike.Prager at noaa.gov>
NOAA Center for Coastal Fisheries and Habitat Research
Beaufort, North Carolina  28516  USA
http://shrimp.ccfhrb.noaa.gov/~mprager/

NOTE: Opinions expressed are personal, not official. No government
endorsement of any product is made or implied.