The TrueType font format was developed by Apple Computer and has been adopted by Microsoft. The built-in “core” fonts that ship with the Macintosh and Windows operating systems are TrueType.

Originally code-named “Bass” (because these are scalable fonts and you can scale a fish), the TrueType format was designed to be efficient in storage and processing. It was also designed to be extendible, making it easy to add improvements and features to the basic technology.

TrueType fonts are one piece - both the printer outline (usually called the printer font) and screen font (actually, screen bitmap data) are created from the same information. TrueType fonts are also built to allow for the use of hinting, which allows a type designer to fine-tune the on-screen quality of the font.

TrueType font technology consists of two components: the TrueType fonts themselves and the TrueType rasteriser. The latter is a piece of software built into the Macintosh and Windows operating systems. Both components - the font and the rasteriser - are necessary for printing and displaying TrueType fonts on a computer system. It is the interaction between the TrueType fonts, the TrueType rasteriser and the software program in which the TrueType fonts are used that determines the appearance of the letterforms in the font.

Newly added TrueType capabilities include features such as font smoothing (or grayscale rasterisation) to further improve the on-screen image in some instances.

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