A font-resource file is actually a DLL that contains only data, there is no code.

By using the hints associated with a glyph, a developer can scale the characters from a TrueType or OpenType font up or down and still maintain their original shape.Īs previously mentioned, the glyphs for a font are stored in a font-resource file. TrueType and OpenType fonts provide both relatively fast drawing speed and true device independence. However, vector fonts are generally drawn more slowly than raster or TrueType and OpenType fonts. Vector fonts, on the other hand, are not device dependent, because each glyph is stored as a collection of scalable lines. An OpenType font is equivalent to a TrueType font except that an OpenType font allows PostScript glyph definitions in addition to TrueType glyph definitions.īecause the bitmaps for each glyph in a raster font are designed for a specific resolution of device, raster fonts are generally considered to be device dependent.

These hints and the respective adjustments are based on the amount of scaling used to reduce or increase the size of the bitmap. The system uses the hints to adjust the length of the lines and shapes of the curves used to draw the character or symbol. The system uses the line and curve commands to define the outline of the bitmap for a character or symbol in the TrueType or Microsoft OpenType font.

In TrueType and OpenType fonts, a glyph is a collection of line and curve commands as well as a collection of hints.

In vector fonts, a glyph is a collection of line endpoints that define the line segments that the system uses to draw a character or symbol in the font.

In raster fonts, a glyph is a bitmap that the system uses to draw a single character or symbol in the font.

The differences between these fonts reflect the way that the glyph for each character or symbol is stored in the respective font-resource file: Applications can use four different kinds of font technologies to display and print text:

Windows terminal font larger