Boeing panel fonts

[Guest Ceawlin BSX029]

Just a quickie...For those making their own panels, what font is used for the lettering? I'm looking to print off my own panel backing sheets, but in order to do so I'd like to match the fonts with the original, and can't seem to find a suitable match! Any help will be much appreciated, not only by me but anyone else looking to do the same :)

[Lillebe 0]

Hi,Sometimes "quickies" takes time... =)Check this one: http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho...=4612&mode=full- it should answer to your question! ;)// Joni

[Guest mbessler]

If you search the forum, you'll find a few references to the fonts used.Here are a few that I know of:- Gorton (from an old engraving machine with that name, doesn't seem to be available in computer format)- Futura Medium BT and Futura Medium Condensed BT (you can buy this font from the big font vendors. If you carefully search, you might find a freeware version of it)- some MIL-STD font (MIL-M-18012B), look for MS33558FONT.ZIPManuel

[Guest Ceawlin BSX029]

Thanks for the info, but the trouble is that I can't find the font anywhere that doesn't charge extortionate prices for it. Any pointers? Or better yet, any FREE fonts that look remarkably similar?

[Guest MikePowell]

Here's an extract from Nasa'a Man-Systems Integration Standards. Not specifically Boeing, but perhaps of interest.9.5.3.1.14.1 Font Style Design Requirements{A}Requirements for the selection of font style are provided below. a. Dark-Color Characters - Futura font shall be preferred. Commercial font styles for dark-color opaque alphanumerics on light-color opaque or transilluminated backgrounds and for hardware labels are indicated below in descending order of preference.1. Fonts for engraved lettering:a) Futura Demibold.:( Gorton Normal.c) Gorton Condensed.2. Fonts for engraved numerals:a) Futura Demibold.:( Gorton Modern.c) Gorton Normal.3. Fonts for printed lettering and numerals:a) Futura Demibold.:( Futura Medium.c) Alternate Gothic No. 3.b. Light-Color Characters - Futura Medium type shall be used for transilluminated or light-color opaque markings on dark opaque backgrounds.c. Fit Problems - The use of condensed type (Future Condensed) or abbreviations shall be the preferred method for solving line length fit problems rather than a reduction in type size.d. Stenciled Characters - Stencil-type characters shall not be used on display/control panels or other equipment.Mikewww.mikesflightdeck.com

[Guest mbessler]

>Thanks for the info, but the trouble is that I can't find the>font anywhere that doesn't charge extortionate prices for it.>Any pointers? Or better yet, any FREE fonts that look>remarkably similar?Check out this:http://members.fortunecity.es/todofuentes1.../descarga/f.htmandhttp://designgraphics.org/gate.html?name=D...p=search&query=(search for futura)I neither know the quality of these, nor whether they are illegal copies of the commerical fonts, but you can download futura fonts there.I think they are truetype fonts, I prefer postscript instead.If all else fails, you might just use the glyph examples of the commercial vendors (sometimes they let you enter a string and size and you'll get a GIF of the rendered string) and use these as templates to make your own font using a font creation tool.Manuel

[Guest mbessler]

Here's another link:http://cgm.cs.mcgill.ca/~luc/freefonts3.htmlit lists pages with free fonts (lots of dead links, search for "futura", some places have futura font downloads)Manuel

[Guest MikePowell]

If you go to www.adobe.com/fonts you can find a full sample of the Futura font. You can use this to compare with other fonts. You may find that you have a very similar font on your system. For example the font "Univers" seems very similar to Futura.Mikewww.mikesflightdeck.com

[Lillebe 0]

Hi Mike,What could we do without you? I really do not know where do you get all information but I am more than delighted that you do! I was just wondering, could this issue be something to put into your site?regards,Joni

[tigert 0]

By the way, "WhatTheFont" is a very useful site for stuff like this:http://www.myfonts.com/WhatTheFont/Basically, find an image with big enough characters of the font you are looking for, crop it so it just shows the letters and make the tool find the font for you. Finds also similar ones. Though it recommends commercial ones, and as we noticed, good fonts are not cheap :-/Also many applications ship "cloned" fonts that have similar names and look roughly the same to avoid royalty payments. So if you need to find "Gill Sans" I remember seeing "Gilligans" or such in Corel Draw years ago etc.. :-)Tuomas

[Guest MikePowell]

Thanks Joni,I ran across the material while looking for mil spec fonts. Amazing what pops up.The info on fonts is on my site as part of the how to make panels page. The site's getting cumbersome to navigate. Perhaps a site map will help.Mikewww.mikesflightdeck.com