Upgrading from v5.5 to v6

[bernilynn]

Is there any way of importing files from v5.5 to v6? I'v just upgraded to Mac OS X Panther, and while I can open files in v6 from v5.5, they don't look right. I would have to redo all the layouts to have them readable. I've looked through all the FAQs, etc.,but it seems that there is no information on converting files.

Thanks!

[Ender]

There is no conversion process needed. FM 5.0, 5.5, and 6.0 all read .fp5 files interchangeably.

What you may be experiencing is missing fonts or differences in graphics rendering. Check that your OS 9 fonts are installed by looking in the FontBook application (you will need to know what fonts you were using in OS 9.) If you still have problems, let us know what the issues are and maybe we can give suggestions.

[bernilynn]

Aha! I think you're right! Now, not to sound stupid (computers are not my native language) but how do I get the OS 9 fonts to work in OS X?

[Steve T.]

Howdy! In OSX, fonts are stored in a variety of places but the easiest thing to do for OS9 fonts is to drag either your FONTS folder (or whatever fonts you want inside it) from the OS9 System Folder to the equivlaent location on the 2nd computer's "System Folder" (not the folder called "System" which is OS X).

--ST

[Ender]

If you no longer keep an OS 9 System Folder on the computer, you can drag the font files into the Font Book application window.

[bernilynn]

Thanks, guys, but I'm still having problems. I'm using Helvetica, which is pretty standard, and is certainly on OS X. It comes out very light, kind of ragged, and if you look at it closely (and believe me, my eyes are now crossed from looking closely) it looks like it was done by a typewriter that had too much ink on the ribbon. Any ideas?

[Steve T.]

Helvetica is an old font and has many variations. The Helvetica your computer seems to be using is the old "bitmap" font, meaning it was designed for screen use only. Back in the day, we'd use screen fonts for designing and fonts like Helvetica were usually built-in (ROMs) into our fancy 300 dpi LaserWriter or LaserJet II printers (or printers had font cartridges you could buy). We used to use software like Adobe ATM to screen render printer fonts if we had printer fonts available, but Helvetica, Bookman, Times, New Century Schoolbook, etc. were often not available as printer fonts because they tended to be bundled into the hardware of the laser printers. But enough of the history lesson... you can probably open up the font suitcase for Helvetica in your OS9 System Folder and see that is a single "A" icon, meaning it is a screen font only. If so, trash it and use a Helvetica with a AAA scaled icon. This is the TrueType font that is both for screen and print use. It's possible you may have a printer-only font (Adobe PostScript Type I), but I wouldn't think so... it's easier to just use the TrueType version... hopefully its pre-installed in your OS so you may not have to do a thing once you trash the OS9 one.

You're running the OS X native version of FM, right? Not the OS9/Classic one? If you are using the OS9 one for some reason, your OS X font will not be accessible by your OS9 application and we'll have to try something else. Let us know how it goes!

--ST

[Steve T.]

Hmm... sorry... looks like I gave you bum advice since it's hard to tell what a bitmap/screen font is and what a PostScript or TrueType font is in OS X 10.3. If you check out their file sizes, though, you may see a bitmap screen font is like 8k while a TrueType font is more like 20k - 300k.

If you don't want to throw them away, you may be able to just move them to another folder or the desktop. Of course, you can probably use the new OS X FONT BOOK Ender mentioned, too, but I'm old school and still have not learned to use Font Book properly yet.

Hope this helps!

--ST