New Font

[South Asia Regional Studies]

The following is from Jerome H. Bauer, a graduate student in the South Asia
program at the University of Pennsylvania. I am Richard J. Cohen, Assistant
Director of the South Asia program and my internet address is
"sasia at pennsas.upenn.edu.
 
     This letter is to announce the completion of the South Asia Extension
Fonts, entitled "SouthAsiaTimes" and "SouthAsiaH." These are roman fonts with
diacritics for the transliteration of most languages, aesthetically compatible
with the Times and Helvetica fonts. Ownership of the Times and Helvetica fonts
is assumed, as many characters such as the $, %, @ and & have been replaced
with specialized linguistic characters, and some diacritics available in the
standard Times aned Helvetica font have also been removed. All Macintosh
owners are supplied with the Times and Helvetica fonts by Apple Computer, and
these two fonts are built into most laser printers. Owners of IBM computers
who wish to use the TrueType versions of these fonts with an inkjet printer
should obtain Microsoft Windows 3.1, which includes the TrueType versions of
Times and Helvetica.
     The keyboard layout for SouthAsiaTimes and SouthAsiaH is identical. Both
fonts exist ain all four basic styles (Roman, Bold, Italic and BoldItalic, and
are available in the following formats: --Type 1 and Type 3 Postscript format
for a Macintosh using a laser printer, --Type 1 and Type 3 Postscript for IBM
PC or compatible with Windows 3 and Adobe Type Manager, --NeXT Type 1
Postscript for NeXT with laser printer, --Macintosh TrueType for a Macintosh
running System 6.0.7, 6.0.8, or System 7 with Apple StyleWriter or other
inkjet printer, --IBM TrueType for IBM PC or compatible running the Microsoft
Windows 3.1.
     South AsiaTimes and SouthAsiaH were designed to replace, for most
purposes, TimesIndian, developed by Professor George Hart of Berkeley, with
his verbal consent and encouragement. I have kept the keyboard layout of
TimesIndian and Berkeley Geneva, established as standards for South Asian
Macintosh word processing for many years. I have also attempted to keep as
much as possible of the keyboard layout of the Hindustan laser font
(Macintosh), developed by Ashok Aklujkar of the Univ. of British Columbia,
since this is also popular. In some cases this has led to redundancy.
     Macintosh users should be cautioned that the keyings used by System 7 are
very different from those used by previous Systems. Files will print correctly
no matter which version of the System is used, but typing will be difficult
under System 7. I recommend using System 6.0.7. with these fonts, or the "Old
US" utility which will allow the user to retain the old keyings under System
7. For the convenience of the user I will supply this public domain utility.
     The fonts have been completed with the exception of some editing of the
Macintosh bitmap screen fonts. I suggest working in the 14 point size or
larger, which is quite legible, or investing in Adobe Type Manager to produce
a more attractive screen display.
     The entire package of SouthAsiaTimes and SouthAsiaH costs $75. The method
of distribution is "shareware," meaning that users may freely copy the font,
but if they find it useful, they are encouraged to send the payment, which is
a fee to cover labor and materials. Those who send their fee will be
registered users, entitled to technical support and future versions of these
fonts. Users may customize these fonts for their own use, as long as the font
names and ID numbers are changed.
     Users are encouraged to distribute these fonts to others, as long as this
notice is included.
     A key chart and sample text file are available to registered users. A
font called DevanagariFix is also available, containing a few characters
unavailable in other Devanagari fonts. I have recently created TimesFix,
containing a few Eastern European and Vietnamese diacritics, as well as some
minor additions to the SouthAsiaTimes set. I will include both of these. I can
be contacted at: Jerome H. Bauer, Dept. of South Asia Regional Studies, 820
Williams Hall, Univ. of Pennsylvania, Phila., PA 19104-6305. Home phone:
215-726-7926