Re: Proportional font in XY-Win

[Nathan Sivin nsivin@xxxxxxxx]

Rene von R. asks ≪How can I get a proportional font in XY-Win?≫ No,
Courier is not a proportional font. The trick to getting one is to know
which fonts are proportional.

I assume you are printing via Windows, which is the main attraction of
XyWin. If not, you have access to the non-TrueType fonts supplied with
XyWin and any non-TrueType fonts supplied with your printer. If you are
using the Windows printer drivers, you have access to the TrueType fonts
supplied with your printer, those supplied with Windows, and any number
of others that you have installed because they come with other software
or because you have chosen them. They do have to be installed via
Windows.

If your version of Windows doesn't include a font preview program, make
a sample page with various font sizes and layouts. Print it out with
each of the fonts that XyWin offers, labelling which is which. That will
tell you which fonts are proportional, which are all-purpose, which are
attractive, etc. Although Times Roman or Times New Roman is the
widespread standard proportional font, I find it rather blah, and have
standardized on the graceful and distinguished Garamond (GARMOND in
XyDOS and GARAMOND (W1) in XyWin) for documents and even correspondence.
Two others you will want to evaluate are Palatino (also called Palm
Beach), another handsome serif font, and Optima (AKA Ottowa), probably
the most distinguished general-purpose sans serif font available for
PC's.

Cheers,
--
Nathan Sivin
History and Sociology of Science
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia PA 19104-6304
(215) 898-7454
nsivin@xxxxxxxx