One
of the many benefits in using TrueType fonts instead of bitmap
graphics is the significant reduction in document sizes that can
be achieved. To illustrate this we have produced the following
example. It is based on a fairly typical document created using
Microsoft Word and includes various logos, symbols and a signature.
The table below shows the various document sizes
produced using TrueType fonts, 300 dpi (dots per inch) bitmaps
and 600 dpi bitmaps.
| Empty Word
Document |
11KB |
| Word document
using TrueType fonts |
13KB |
| Word document
using 300 dpi bitmaps |
301KB |
| Word document
using 600 dpi bitmaps |
876KB |
The
use of TrueType fonts has a negligible affect on the size of
the document whereas the documents that include bitmap graphics
dramatically increase in size, with the 600 dpi version being
over 67 times the size of the version using TrueType fonts. The
example shown here has used the industry standard BMP graphics
format which is commonly used by many organisations. File Formats In addition to the BMP (Windows Bitmap) file format
used in the above example other file formats such as TIF, JPG and
GIF are also commonly used. The table below shows the file size
of each of the images used on the above example document in the
various file formats at 300 and 600 dpi.
File
Format |
Image |
Size
in bytes
at 300 dpi |
Size
in bytes
at 600 dpi |
BMP |
Union
Flag |
34,822 |
134,418 |
Formula
Widgets plc |
120,478 |
477,478 |
Made
in GB |
4,010 |
15,798 |
Recycled |
9,450 |
33,658 |
Signature |
35,206 |
136,726 |
Crown |
21,070 |
81,046 |
GIF |
Union
Flag |
2,487 |
4,675 |
Formula
Widgets plc |
14,742 |
28,373 |
Made
in GB |
1,639 |
3,959 |
Recycled |
2,543 |
5,459 |
Signature |
2,939 |
12,301 |
Crown |
6,974 |
20,961 |
JPG |
Union
Flag |
30,447 |
73,033 |
Formula
Widgets plc |
59,228 |
119,551 |
Made
in GB |
22,174 |
50,676 |
Recycled |
9,642 |
27,927 |
Signature |
27,409 |
64,912 |
Crown |
25,514 |
67,661 |
TIF |
Union
Flag |
42,395 |
139,385 |
Formula
Widgets plc |
121,075 |
478,735 |
Made
in GB |
4,114 |
16,631 |
Recycled |
9,954 |
34,639 |
Signature |
40,775 |
141,805 |
Crown |
26,359 |
83,535 |
Even
using the most efficient of the 600 dpi file formats shown above,
a document would increase in file size by over 75KB compared
to the negligible increase in document size by using a TrueType
font. Not only does an increase in file size put an increased
demand on system resources such as hard disk space and system
memory, but also the larger document sizes can significantly
slow down an application when loading, saving and printing the
document.
In
addition it is important to remember that none of the file formats
listed above are scaleable. Therefore to produce a high quality
image a file would need to be produced for each size required.
This often means that a large number of files need to be produced
as images may be required at several sizes and may need to be
made available to users at various resolutions. Compare this
to a single fully scaleable TrueType font that can produce images
of any size and at the optimum resolution of the output device.
All
of the images used on the above test page are contained in our
free demo TrueType font. Click here to
visit the download page and then you can try out the benefits
of TrueType logos for yourself. |
