Outlined Text prints bolder than Text ... but why?

[Tim-Ellis]

Hello Folks,

I have been working Pre-Press for about ten years now and I know that Outlined Text prints bolder on our HP Indigo Presses. But to be honest, I don't know exactly why.

I always assumed that it was similar to anti aliasing. I thought the RIP takes the embeded font information and does a better job rasterising the type. If the type is already outlined, it treats it as a regular shape and uses some different maths to rasterise it.

If anyone can explain to me why Outlined Text prints bolder (or sign post me to a website that explains it) I'd be very grateful.

Cheers

Tim

 

[gordo]

It's called "hinting" and it applies whether the output is to display screen or bitmap for press. Hinting is lost when a font is converted to outlines.

This article gives a very brief overview with a sample image that shows the change in weight.
Font hinting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Do a search for truetype hinting for more info.

 

[Tim-Ellis]

Perfect - Thanks Gordo.