The Upper Case

Sean J. Safreed

Fine Print/

OPEN ANY TYPE catalog and you're likely to find a display font that suits your taste -- something ornate, something sassy. But sometimes a well-chosen drop cap is all you need to make a bold statement.

    *  Letraset has your letter in its Phototone Alphabets
       CD-ROM collection of 500 individually photographed letters.
       Used individually as an initial cap or strung together as
       display type, these 75- and 300-dpi CMYK TIFF files show
       painted, sculpted, and illuminated letters from all kinds of
       signs and buildings, be it a G in double neon or a brass E on
       a brick wall. The collection also features punctuation marks
       and numbers as well as a complete alphabet made from common
       materials such as wire and buttons. $199. 800-343-8973 or
       201-845-6100.

    *  Getting the look of cut stone takes time and talent in a
       draw program such as Adobe Illustrator -- but not if you have
       Chisels, from Kara Fonts. These Illustrator 5.0 files
       have the look of cut stone, thanks to careful application of
       gradients. The five Chisels fonts in volume one are based on
       common type designs such as Avant Garde and Optima. The
       package comes with the KF-Headsetter utility for converting
       individual letters into editable words in Illustrator. $199.
       800-475-8694 or 310-578-9177.

    *  For modern interpretations of hand-drawn or wood-block
       initial caps, try Aridi Computer Graphics' Initial
       Caps collection. The latest in the series, volume 7, offers
       six styles, including colorful Victorian block caps and
       cherubic fantasies, all delivered as CMYK or black-and-white
       EPS files. $149. 214-404-9171.

    *  Some say the height of decorative letters was during the
       era of illuminated manuscripts. Planet Art's Medieval
       Alphabets CD-ROM contains scans of the real hand-drawn
       letters from a variety of ancient sources. You have to open
       up these Photo CD files in Photoshop and selectively cut and
       paste the ones you want, but it's easier than sequestering
       yourself in a monastery to draw these ornate designs
       yourself. $90. 800-200-3405 or 213-651-3405.