System for distributing font resources over a computer network

A system for the distribution of documents, comprising:

• a data communication network containing a plurality of nodes at which documents can be created, viewed and/or printed and between which documents can be transmitted;
• a font server connected to said network and storing information pertaining to a plurality of different fonts having respective sets of characters that can be employed in documents;
• means at each of said nodes for determining whether information is locally stored at the node that describes a font whose characters are contained in a document;
• means at each of said nodes for requesting information that describes a given font from said font server if said given font is determined not to be locally stored at the node;
• and
• means at said font server for determining whether requested information for a given font is stored at said font server and, if so, for reading said information and transmitting the information to a requesting node via said network, wherein said font server includes an accounting module which records nodes to which font information has been transmitted, and assesses a fee for such transmissions.

A method for presenting images of documents which contain text in any arbitrary font, comprising the steps of:

• storing information pertaining to a plurality of different fonts, having respective sets of characters that can be employed in documents, in a font server that is accessible from remote sites;
• determining at a remote site whether information is locally stored at the site that describes a font whose characters are contained in a document;
• requesting information that describes a given font from said font server if said given font is determined not to be locally stored at the remote site;
• and
• determining at said font server whether requested information for a given font is stored at said font server and, if so, reading said information and transmitting the information to a requesting remote site;
• and
• recording, at the font server, the identification of a remote site to which font data is transmitted, and a fee to be assessed for the transmitted data.