Final Draft text only looks good exported to PDF?

tmnt

tmnt

King of Australia
I'm using Final Draft 7 (prefer the look of it over 8) and it really bugs me that I have to export the file to pdf so that the font looks like a real scripts font should.

Is there anyway to get the font looking how it should as I write?

Otherwise are there any screenwriting programs that have the correct looking font when typing?
 
tmnt said:
... Is there anyway to get the font looking how it should as I write? ...
Click to expand...

The issue you're having isn't related to FD at all. Your likely having a font mapping issue. Fonts are handled at the OS level regardless of what OS you're running. All fonts use a font ID number. There are a few different kinds of fonts as well. ie. Truetype vs. Adobe Type 1. There are two parts to a font. The screen portion and the printer portion. The printer portion is the vector geometry description. Printers use that vector geometry, written in the Poscript language to rasterize (render) the font at the DPI of the printing device to the point size specified. PDF files are rendered to your computer screen using a software emulation version of what printers have built into their hardware. The emulator resides in Adobe Acrobat software and Adobe Reader software. This is why your file looks proper on screen when you make and view a PDF because its using the printer portion.

The screen portion of a font has a few different point sizes in prebuilt bitmaps which are used to make the font look best as a bitmap using something called "hinting" which keeps the font looking proper at smaller sizes like 10pt or 6pt. If you don't have the screen portion of a Type 1 font and the computer program your running is expecting you to have it then what you see on the computer screen is going to look weird. Adobe came up with a standalone font handling utility which has both the rasterizing emulator and dynamic font manager/installer called Adobe Type Manager (ATM). Its used by people in advertising/printing/pre-press worlds to deal with libraries of thousands of fonts. Having too many fonts active on a system can slow it down immensely. ATM elimates the issue. Its also able to take the hinting information built into the bitmap portion of a Type 1 font and use it to dynamically rasterize to the screen using the geometry information in the printer portion without the need to have Acrobat or Reader software which is only for PDF files. Improvements to font technology can be added to ATM and it will make those changes to the font each time the font sitting in the font library is referenced by dynamically making those changes during the rasterizing process.

Truetype fonts have both screen and printer portion built in. This has both pluses and minuses but I've gone on too much already as I'm starting to sound like Barry. In font mapping problems, fonts with the same name but competing technology types can have "font conflicts". If you're using software looking for Adobe Type 1 version of Courier and your computer is using Truetype version of Courier then just add an Adobe Type 1 courier font and everything will render to the screen properly or vice versa. (People often get frustrated when they only refer to fonts soley by their Font Family name and assume that all fonts with the same name MUST be the same, which they're not.)

Hope this is of help.
 
My two cents:
If you are in any worried about how the font looks when you write, then you are not taking your job/hobby serious enough.
It seems harsh, but I used to be the same way until my mentor straightened me out. All of this, the worrying about the font, researching the "problem" on the Internet, the posting of the problem to the message board, etc. it's all procrastination.
All of the time worrying about inconsequential details is time that could be used learning, writing, re-writing, researching tour subject matter, etc.
Don't worry about it and get back to work.
 
Thanks Craig formthe detailed explanation, gives me something to go on.

And Marclip... Ah... Thanks? To me it is a real problem, not one I'll lose sleep over but problem none the less. When I look at the proper font it 'feels' like a real screenplay and this helps me I suppose.

Also the proper font is a hell of a lot easier on the eyes.
 
My apologies - upon re-reading, that came off as overly harsh. I guess I was channeling my mentor, who detested any type of discussion that did not involve the creative process.
Best of luck to you.
 
I hate it too. No workaround that I know of, it's just how the program works. I wouldn't switch programs though. Where FD really shines is when you have to do revisions.
 
craigbowman said:
Truetype fonts have both screen and printer portion built in. This has both pluses and minuses but I've gone on too much already as I'm starting to sound like Barry. In font mapping problems, fonts with the same name but competing technology types can have "font conflicts". If you're using software looking for Adobe Type 1 version of Courier and your computer is using Truetype version of Courier then just add an Adobe Type 1 courier font and everything will render to the screen properly or vice versa. (People often get frustrated when they only refer to fonts soley by their Font Family name and assume that all fonts with the same name MUST be the same, which they're not.)
Click to expand...
Does this mean there's hope?

I would have thought that by the 8th revision of FD they'd have got the font right.

It'll be a couple weeks time until I'll have access to my writing computer but I'll give it a try then.
 
I have both FD 8 and Movie Magic 6, and the on-screen text looks identical between the programs when I have the same fonts selected. The printed text might look a slight bit darker than the on-screen text, but it's a very small difference.

I think I do remember the FD 7 text looking more different between on-screen and printed, but I have no way to check that. I also think that I use to use standard 'Courier' back then and not the FD variation.

The different types of Courier fonts can look a little different from each other. Which variation are you using?
 
marclip said:
My two cents:
If you are in any worried about how the font looks when you write, then you are not taking your job/hobby serious enough.
It seems harsh, but I used to be the same way until my mentor straightened me out. All of this, the worrying about the font, researching the "problem" on the Internet, the posting of the problem to the message board, etc. it's all procrastination.
All of the time worrying about inconsequential details is time that could be used learning, writing, re-writing, researching tour subject matter, etc.
Don't worry about it and get back to work.
Click to expand...

What if your script is titled:

"The Unifont Bomber"

A script writer, frustrated with misapplied kerning and leading, begins a series of mail bomb attacks on text writing software company executives.

... is it ok to worry about typography then???
 
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tmnt said:
I'm using Final Draft 7 (prefer the look of it over 8) and it really bugs me that I have to export the file to pdf so that the font looks like a real scripts font should.

Is there anyway to get the font looking how it should as I write?

Otherwise are there any screenwriting programs that have the correct looking font when typing?
Click to expand...

Final Draft is the industry standard for scriptwriting software, so as long as you are using Courier Final Draft, Regular, 12 Point, then you are in the correct-looking font. Printed media can never look exactly like digital media so this may be the difference you are seeing.
 
No, the final draft onscreen text is non aliased and not pleasing to the eye. In Word the same fonts are nice and smooth and look identical to the printed output. It's just the program, not sure if the newer versions have fixed it.
 
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