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Stone Font FAQs

There has been much confusion and consternation concerning Adobe Stone fonts at WSU. I'll add another "C-word" to the list: Clarification. I've worked with the Marketing Communications department to clarify the use of Stone fonts at WSU, and uncovered a little secret: Stone font licenses are not as expensive as you may have thought!

Q: Stone font is required for use in all University print materials directed to external audiences. What is included in "print materials"? Books and brochures, letters, press releases, fliers, posters?

A: Books with a short shelf life (less than 5 years) should use the Stone fonts; books with a longer shelf life are not required to use the Stone fonts. Letters, press releases, and fliers should all use the Stone fonts.

Q: "Campus users who do not produce a significant amount of correspondence directed to external audiences may use the Garamond font on their personal computers."
Please quantify "significant."

A: Significant would be someone in a recruiting or business situation that deals with external audiences on a weekly basis. For example, if you send outside of the University approximately 5-6 pieces of written correspondence per year, that would not warrant having the Stone Fonts. On the other hand, if you produce 50-100 significant publications/projects per year that all have a student recruiting spin, those projects require that you use the Stone fonts.

Q: What font do I use on the Web?

A: If you are making a graphic for the Web, use Stone. The "old," table-based Web templates have Photoshop files for various zones with the proper Stone typeface in the correct position. The new CSS templates do not give you the ability to designate font face for the Site ID Zone, so don't worry about this.
While the Photoshop files have Stone font text specified, the font is not included with the file. The Web developers must still have the Stone font loaded on their computer so the Photoshop file may access it to display correctly--just as Word or Pagemaker must do.
If you are using HTML text (non-graphic text) with the old templates, the preferred font sets are "Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, Sans Serif" (Sans serif font set) and "Times New Roman, Georgia, Serif" (Serif font set). F
or instructions on assigning these series of fonts in Dreamweaver, see my page on Editing Your Font List.

Q: Do I use Stone fonts for PDF's?

A: Yes, treat PDF's as print products.

Q: If Stone costs $200 per license, and Garamond looks very similar and is available for free, why don't we all just use Garamond?

A: There are two issues: one is the price; and the other is the font choice.

Price
The purported $200 price tag for Stone fonts is much exaggerated. While initial licenses may cost this much, WSU employees can purchase an "Extended License" with all 12 Stone faces (sans and sans serif) for $34.50. You will not be able to receive media with this; you will have to obtain a copy of the fonts from someone at WSU.

Font Choice
To the untrained eye, Garamond may look like Stone, and granted most audiences do not have the training necessary to recognize the differences. What WSU is trying to accomplish by using the Stone fonts is a subtle consistency. Through consistent use, even the untrained eye will recognize the font as being from Washington State University.
In addition, not all versions of Garamond are the same, so even within the University, there would be varying degrees of consistency with using Garamond.

Q: Can I give the other people in my office a copy of the fonts?

A: Every computer must be licensed, so you cannot simply give a person the Stone font files.

Q: How can I obtain a Stone font license extension today?

A: Go to http://www.pubforms.wsu.edu/fonts/. Use the same computer that will be using the fonts.

Q: How do I install Stone Fonts?

A: On Windows XP and 2000, go to Start, Control Panel, Fonts (Switch to "Classical View" on the left if the Control Panel asks you to "Pick a Category")

After double-clicking "Fonts," choose File, Install New Font from the menu.

Navigate to the location of your Stone fonts. Select all by Control-Clicking. Then click OK.

Q:What about Stone fonts for Windows Vista?

A: The old ITC Stone Fonts do not work on Vista.  There is a new font standard from Adobe called “OpenType” fonts that will work on Vista, and there is no free upgrade. Go to www.pubforms.wsu.edu/fonts/ to purchase the fonts; register at this page on the computer that will be using the fonts.

OpenType Stone sales will be tracked, so if you need to replace your Vista computer, contact the appropriate person from Marketing Communications or IT Site Licensing (see www.pubforms.wsu.edu/fonts/ for contact information), and you will receive the font for the new computer.

ITC fonts will continue to work on Mac OSX.

 

 

Skip to: Buying Stone fonts for cheap
Installing Fonts

Stone for Vista

For more on WSU's official policy concerning Stone fonts, please see the WSU Identity Site.


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Refer questions or comments to Bob Hoffmann, 509-335-7744. Accessibility | Copyright | Policies
CAHNRS Information Department, 401 Hulbert Hall, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, 99164-6244.