Font Quality and Customer References
Companies are discovering that implementing in-house automation solutions
with IDAutomation fonts provides the highest level of scalability and
component re-use with operating system, application and printer independence.
IDAutomation Fonts Quality
IDAutomation Security, Postal and Barcode Fonts are created from national and
international standards and are compiled with high-quality compilers,
resulting in precisely-placed output to match the particular industry standard.
Outlined below are a few of the benefits of using TrueType or PostScript
font technology to automate any business.
Most end users know what fonts are and how to use them. With a basic understanding of how fonts operate, printing the character representation
of a barcode is simple. Fonts can be installed on MS Windows PCs by
copying them into the \Windows\Fonts directory. Font usage can be automated
in the UNIX environment with TrueType font servers. Other automated
distribution techniques include embedding PostScript fonts into PDF
(PostScript Data Format) documents and embedding TrueType fonts into
HTML Web pages.
Bitmaps and other graphic image formats consume more bandwidth than
fonts because, when the print job is started, the font is downloaded
to the printer and the information that follows is mostly ASCII text which is important when printing on a busy LAN or to a
remote location. On some print drivers in Windows, there is an option
to "print TrueType as graphics." This will consume more bandwidth because
the PC generates graphics and sends them to the printer rather than having
the printer generate the graphics from the font. If the print driver
has this option and bandwidth is a concern, make sure it is not enabled.
Rasterization is the process of taking an image format
such as a vector graphic and applying a size and resolution to it. Image that
are rasterized are no longer scaleable because fonts
are not represented by actual dots like bitmap images and graphics.
Rather, they are composed of lines and shapes that are designed to rasterize to
the output device with specific measurements. IDAutomation Fonts
produce a consistent and accurate rasterization and printout at various
point sizes.
When
a font is displayed on the computer screen at small point sizes, it may
sometimes appear distorted.
This is due to the resolution not being accurate enough
to display the complexities in the font. This is a normal operation
of a scalable font that is created to specifications.
Output Device, OS, Application and Printer Independence
When IDAutomation TrueType or PostScript Fonts are used in an application,
the output can be sent to several different printers with different
resolutions. Some specialized printers have special built-in fonts, however, and if a specialized printer fails or needs service, the ability
to redirect the output will be unavailable. IDAutomation Fonts do not
print from the fonts that already reside in the printer.
Programs that generate bitmap graphics can be used on printers in
the same way, as long as the printers all have the same dots-per-inch. If a switch is made from a 300 DPI printer to a 600 DPI printer
using a bitmapped application, the output will appear twice as small.
Doing the same with a font, will produce a consistent output at any
DPI.
The unique encoding in IDAutomation Fonts allow utilization
on different operating systems using the same application. An application
written in Java and running on a web browser, for example, can utilize
the same fonts on Windows, Macintosh and UNIX PCs when the fonts
are installed on each machine. Special programs that produce graphic
output are usually compiled for a particular operating system.
Barcode components, such as DLLs, are only compatible with a limited number
of applications and development environments. IDAutomation Barcode Fonts and
Free Font Tools can be used in several applications and development
environments which allows for increased flexibility.
As an
example, an application is created in Microsoft Access and it is run
on a PC. After a few years, the company grows and it becomes necessary
to reproduce the application on another platform. The company’s developers
create an application in Oracle running on a UNIX host. Since the license
is already owned by the company for the font and since IDAutomation
provides fonts with most every order that support PCs, Macintosh and
UNIX, the purchase of more fonts or hardware is unnecessary. The programmer
would only need to duplicate the same program logic and use the same
font. Alternatively, if a barcode component compatible with Microsoft Access, such
as the ActiveX Control
and DLL were purchased, a UNIX compatible component such as IDAutomation’s
Java Barcode Library
would need to be purchased for the new system.
Although there are several advantages to using fonts as noted above,
they may not be the best choice for use in a particular application. Below are a
few of these scenarios:
Barcode Generation Via Internet & Web Browser requires barcode components
such as the ASP
Barcode Server for IIS,
ASP.NET Server
Control and the Java Servlets as
server-side implementations. Read more about
generating
barcodes on the Internet or web pages.
Using Printers With a Resolution of 300 DPI or Less may result in
fonts that do not print accurately at very small point sizes. This is commonly
the case with 203 DPI dedicated barcode printers, and
documented solutions to this problem are provided in the
IDAutomation Knowledge
Base. Some barcode components such as the
ActiveX Control and
DLL and .NET Forms Control automatically reformat the barcode before
printing according to the printer DPI to ensure accuracy which can be an
advantage over fonts.
Complex Fonts That Require Check Digits such as
Code 128 in Microsoft Access, require IDAutomation's
VBA barcode macros to
be imported in order to format the data to the font. Although this is not
difficult for a technical user, the
ActiveX Control and
DLL is a much easier drag-and-drop type of implementation
for Access.
When an Application is Created For Distribution it may
be easier to integrate a barcode component such as the
ActiveX Control
or .NET Control.
IDAutomation is the proud font supplier for some of the most notable and
successful companies in the world. Following are just a few of the companies
who have purchased IDAutomation fonts to streamline their business processes:
- 3M
- Accenture
- Alcon Laboratories, Inc.
- AMSouth Bank
- Bank One
- Bank of America
- Barnes & Noble Bookstores
- Chase Bank
|
- Compaq Computer Corp.
- EDS
- Epson America
- eToys.com Inc.
- FEDEX
- First Union National Bank
- IBM
- Kodak LTD
|
- Johnson & Johnson
- Nationwide Insurance
- NEC America
- Pitney Bowes
- PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP
- United States Air Force
- US Postal Service
- Xerox Corporation
|
*IDAutomation’s
privacy policy
restricts the sharing of actual names and email addresses of companies
that order IDAutomation products.
| "The IDAutomation Code 128 Barcode Font enabled us to
integrate barcoding into 4D and Excel applications that
work cross-platform between Classic Macintosh, OS-X and
Microsoft Windows operating systems." - Charles Daneri,
Objective Systems, LLC (computer consulting firm), Baltimore,
MD. |
| “For the first time, I was able to download a single package
that provided me with all the requirements for my project. This font package enables us to
efficiently track the high throughput of our vaccine production.”
- Burke Squires, Eliance Biotechnology, Dallas, Texas
|
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