MainType 2.1.1 - User Guide and FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions - MainType

1. I can't see my Vector, Raster and Type 1 PostScript fonts, how can I enable them?
   Enable them through the Filter window (View -> Filter). This filter is very powerful, when you are looking for specific fonts in a large font list.
   
   
2. What is PANOSE?
   It is a method of classifying fonts by giving them a number.
   
   
3. What is a Symbol font?
   Symbol fonts are special fonts, that should only include symbols, signs, signatures, pictures, decorations, arrows and bullets. Symbol fonts do not form words so line breaks can occur after any character code. Most spell checkers don't check symbol font-formatted content.
   
   There are Symbol fonts on the market that contain (Latin) characters. Such fonts do cause problems as explained above (e.g. wrong line breaks and no spell checking). In such case you should contact the font vendor.
   
   
4. Can I change the Preview Text?
   Yes, the preview text items, used as preview text in the Fonts pane, can be changed. Type into the drop-down list or go to the Options window to change, add or delete preview text items.
   
   
5. Why do some fonts display AbCdEfGhIj as Preview Text?
   Initially MainType shows a different preview text (AbCdEfGhIj) for Symbol fonts. You can change this behavior through the Options window (Select Options from the Tools menu and then click the Preview Text tab). At the bottom of this page you can change the preview text used for Symbol fonts. Alternatively you can disable this feature through the "Show this text for Symbol fonts" option.
   
   
6. I'm looking for a specific character, how can I find it with MainType?
   You can search for a character in the selected font. Select Find on the Edit menu to open the Find Character window. You should know that there are more than 97,000 characters defined in the Unicode Character Database, but a font usually contains just a couple of hundred characters.