REDMOND, Wash., July 29, 1997 — Microsoft Corp., Adobe Systems Inc. and Agfa today announced they plan to support the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) draft recommendation for font embedding technology. The W3C approach, posted by the standards organization last week, allows multiple fonts to be embedded in Web pages, giving designers and Web site authors more creative options and control over the appearance of their pages.
The W3C draft recommendation is based on a joint Microsoft and Adobe proposal submitted in June 1996. The draft recommendation requires no proprietary technology, licensing fee or add-on product purchase, and the Microsoft implementation will allow users to embed fonts at no cost.
“Working in the context of the W3C means that we can create products that are compatible with those of other vendors,” said John Ludwig, vice president, Internet client and collaboration division at Microsoft. “This is the key to solving some of the headaches Web designers currently face.”
“Supporting the W3C recommendations ensures that our customers will be able to create Web pages that can be viewed by the widest range of browsers from all vendors,” said Sharon Wienbar, director of marketing for Adobe’s publishing division. “For customers, this translates into freedom of choice.”
The draft recommendations include innovative features supporting remote font declarations, font mapping and font security. These features allow designers to employ many of the same typographic and style features used in print publications, while protecting the intellectual property rights of font creators.
“Our customers’ applications demand high-quality typeface designs,” said Bob Givens, vice president of typographic systems at Agfa. “OpenType and font embedding will deliver the creative freedom that content designers require, while fully protecting the intellectual property of font designers and vendors. Agfa will make its type library available to end users in the OpenType format.”
Draft recommendations are the last step before final ratification of a W3C recommendation.
Based in San Jose, Calif., Adobe Systems Inc. (NASDAQ “ADBE”) develops and supports products to help people express and use information in more imaginative and meaningful ways, across all print and electronic media. Founded in 1982, Adobe helped launch the desktop publishing revolution. Today, the company offers a market-leading line of applications software and type products for creating and distributing visually rich communication materials; licenses its industry-standard technologies to major hardware manufacturers, software developers and service providers; and offers integrated software solutions to businesses of all sizes. For more information, see Adobe’s home page at http://www.adobe.com/ on the World Wide Web.
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ
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