In the late 1980s, it was clear to most of the major players in the personal computer world that scalable font technology was going to be an important part of future operating systems. Adobe had developed PostScript for this purpose. Both Microsoft and Apple had concerns with using this structure in future release of their OS’s. The solution was great, but both companies where not eager to hand over the royalty rights and specifications of their OS’s to integrate the structure.

Microsoft and Apple decided to break ground on a cross-license and development project. Apple would create the font system, and Microsoft would design the graphics engine, the product would be called TueImage. As with many large scope projects, nothing came of this release, the product did not work very well, nor was the performance at the level needed.

The TrueType specification was developed by Apple and adopted by Microsoft. Later, Microsoft and Adobe expanded the specification to support smart rendering and PostScript.

The primary font technology used on Microsoft Windows and the Mac OS is based on the TrueType specification. TrueType fonts are able to work in all major operating system environments, which have lead to their popularity. They can be scaled to any size and look on the screen much as they will in the printed document, also at any point size or resolution. They are designed to be cross platform, but there are small differences between they way they are drawn in both Windows and MAC systems

TrueType fonts allow creators of the fonts to include usage restrictions declaring if the user can use the font to print or embed in PostScript files. This is a very unique feature that allows font creators restrict access to the font to only users that have a license.

Best of all, there are many TrueType fonts available for public use, for free! Kick start your designs and documents today, download some great free TrueType fonts.


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