Method and system for providing substitute computer fonts

A method in a computer system for providing a second font for a first font having characters with overall widths, the first font having a numerical characterization of its visual characteristics, the method comprising:

• identifying one or more fonts that are available within the computer system to replace the first font having numerical characterizations of their visual characteristics that differ from that of the first font by less than a certain amount;
• selecting one of the identified fonts as the second font, the selected font having characters with overall widths, the overall width including a leading width, an extent width, and a trailing width;
• and
• for each character of the second font, decreasing the leading width or trailing width, so that the overall width is equal to the overall width of the corresponding character of the first font and so that the visual appearance of each character of the second font is not changed.

A computer system for providing a second font for a first font having characters with overall widths, comprising:

• an identification component that identifies one or more fonts within the computer system that are similar in their visual appearance to the visual appearance of the first font;
• a selection component that selects one of the identified fonts as the second font, the selected font having characters with overall widths, the overall width including a leading edge, an extent width, and a trailing width;
• and
• an adjusting component that decreases the leading width or trailing width of characters of the selected font, so that the overall width of each character is approximately equal to the overall width of the corresponding character of the first font.

A method in a computer system for providing a second font for a first font having characters with overall widths, the first font having a numerical characterization of its visual characteristics, the method comprising:

• calculating a distance between the numerical characterization of the first font and a numerical characterization of a plurality of fonts;
• identifying a requested number of the fonts having smallest distances;
• selecting one of the identified fonts as the second font, the selected font having characters with overall widths, the overall widths including a leading width, an extent width, and a trailing width;
• and
• for each character of the second font, decreasing the leading width or the trailing width, so that the overall width is equal to the overall width of the corresponding character of the first font so that the visual appearance of each character of the second font is not changed.

A method in a computer system for providing a second font for a first font having characters with overall widths, the first font having a numerical characterization of its visual characteristics, the method comprising:

• identifying, from among a plurality of fonts, at least one font having visually similar characteristics to the first font;
• selecting one of the at least one identified fonts as the second font, the selected font having characters with overall widths, the overall widths including a leading width, an extent width, and a trailing width, the overall widths being within a certain tolerance of the first font;
• and
• for each character of the second font, decreasing the leading width or the trailing width, so that the overall width is equal to the overall width of the corresponding character of the first font so that the visual appearance of each character of the second font is not changed.

A computer-readable medium containing instructions for causing a computer system to provide a second font for a first font having characters with overall widths, the first font having a numerical characterization of its visual characteristics, by:

• calculating a distance between the numerical characterization of the first font and a numerical characterization of a plurality of fonts;
• identifying a requested number of the fonts having smallest distances;
• selecting one of the identified fonts as the second font, the selected font having characters with overall widths, the overall widths including a leading width, an extent width, and a trailing width;
• and
• for each character of the second font, decreasing the leading width or the trailing width, so that the overall width is equal to the overall width of the corresponding character of the first font so that the visual appearance of each character of the second font is not changed.

A computer-readable medium containing instructions for causing a computer system to provide a second font for a first font having characters with overall widths, the first font having a numerical characterization of its visual characteristics, the method comprising:

• identifying, from among a plurality of fonts, at least one font having visually similar characteristics to the first font;
• selecting one of the at least one identified fonts as the second font, the selected font having characters with overall widths, the overall widths including a leading width, an extent width, and a trailing width, the overall widths being within a certain tolerance of the first font;
• and
• for each character of the second font, decreasing the leading width or the trailing width, so that the overall width is equal to the overall width of the corresponding character of the first font so that the visual appearance of each character of the second font is not changed.

A computer system for providing a second font for a first font having characters with overall widths, the first font having a numerical characterization of its visual characteristics, comprising:

• a calculation component to calculate a distance between the numerical characterization of the first font and a numerical characterization of a plurality of fonts;
• an identification component to identify a requested number of the fonts having smallest distances;
• a selection component to select one of the identified fonts as the second font, the selected font having characters with overall widths, the overall widths including a leading width, an extent width, and a trailing width;
• and
• an adjusting component to decrease, for each character of the second font, the leading width or the trailing width, so that the overall width is equal to the overall width of the corresponding character of the first font so that the visual appearance of each character of the second font is not changed.

A computer system for providing a second font for a first font having characters with overall widths, the first font having a numerical characterization of its visual characteristics, comprising:

• an identification component to identify, from among a plurality of fonts, at least one font having visually similar characteristics to the first font;
• a selection component to select one of the at least one identified fonts as the second font, the selected font having characters with overall widths, the overall widths including a leading width, an extent width, and a trailing width, the overall widths being within a certain tolerance of the first font;
• and
• an adjusting component to decrease, for each character of the second font, the leading width or the trailing width, so that the overall width is equal to the overall width of the corresponding character of the first font so that the visual appearance of each character of the second font is not changed.