Outline fonts are the two types of fonts. First one is PostScript Type and another one is TrueType. These fonts are vector outline fonts. This means that they contain instructions for constructing outlines from lines and curves which are filled to make the solid shapes of letters and other glyphs. The benefit of representing shapes this way is that they can be scaled to close to any size and still keep hold of smooth edges (unlike bitmap fonts which exhibit jagged edges when enlarged).

The TrueType font format is supported inside on present versions of both Windows operating systems and Mac. No outside software is required. TrueType fonts are made up of split blocks of information called tables. Each and Every different type of data has its own table. Every TrueType font file contains all metric information for the font -widths,kerning, etc. This truetype fonts can contain information specific to each platform it supports - names, encoding tables (in different languages), etc.

Windows need only one file for every TrueType font. The truetype file has a TTF extension. The Mac also requires only one file for each and every TrueType font, but it is a source file. Each resource file can contain many resources. A Mac TrueType font file must have a FOND resource along with the TrueType data resource. The FOND is used by the Mac font rendering mechanism.

Type1 fonts are the resident font format for the PostScript page description language. Type 1 fonts have been supported on the Mac OS starting with OS X and in Windows since Win2000. For older versions, Adobe makes software to support this format on both operating systems. This type of operating system is called Adobe Type Manager (ATM). Type 1 font files don't contain as much information as TrueType fonts do. Kerning is stored break up from the font drawing information, so more than one file is compulsory to use them on either machine.

The Adobe type manager (ATM) requires two files to use a Type 1 font under Windows. The PFB file contains the real font outline data. The PFM file contains information about metric data including kerning. There are two files to use a Type 1 font on the Mac for the adobe type manager (ATM). Both are resource files. The font sketch out data is stored in a file with type LWFN and is analogous to the PFB file on a PC. A separate file with both a FOND resource and bitmap font is also required. The FOND resource and bitmap font is a separate file.