TrueType, code named "Royal", is an outline font technology that was developed by Apple Computer to compete with Adobe Systems' proprietary Type 1 format.

History[edit | edit source]

Work on the technology began at Apple in August 1987 under lead engineer Sampo Kaasila. The internal project was competing against outside font technologies that were being considered by Apple at the time. The rasterizer that would be adopted for TrueType had a working title of "Bass" as it was "scaleable".[1]

On September 20, 1989, Apple and Microsoft announced a joint effort to develop alternatives to Adobe PostScript, such as TrueType. The companies intended to incorporate TrueType into new imaging technologies, such as Apple's QuickDraw GX and Microsoft's TrueImage.[2][3] John Warnock, who was CEO of Adobe at the time, distraughtly called it "the biggest bunch of garbage mumbo jumbo I've ever heard in my life".[4] Adobe responded by developing Adobe Type Manager to maintain the presence of its Type 1 fonts in the desktop computer market.[2]

When Apple was financially struggling in 1996, Adobe teamed up with Microsoft to develop OpenType as a successor to both TrueType and Type 1.[5][6]

References[edit | edit source]

External links[edit | edit source]
