Hi Tammy, welcome!
First, to get an understanding of how fonts work check out the
basics in this file:
Type Basics including Fonthead FAQ (differences between TrueType &
Postscript fonts, etc.).
Additionally, these links will help: Prepress/Preflight (preparing files for the
printer) and Printing: Commercial (including links to
articles on working with service bureaus).
Basically, the font files are stored on your computer in a folder
or perhaps multiple folders. TrueType fonts will have the .TTF
extension. Type 1 fonts have two files, a .PFM and a .PFB file. In
sending a file to the Service Bureau you send all the font files with
your document.
A couple of ways to go. Each have advantages and disadvantages.
1. Send all the font files used in your document to the
service bureau along with your file. You would identify every font
that is actually used in your document and put a copy of that font
file on a disk with your Quark file (or whatever).
Actually finding all the font files can be tricky. On a PC
running Windows 95 your TrueType fonts are probably in the
/Windows/Fonts folder. Postscript (Type 1) fonts may be in a folder
called PSFONTS (I believe that's the default installation folder when
using Adobe Type Manager). The files themselves may have
incomprensible names -- even numbers. A font manager (or with Quark,
there are extensions available that can help -- they'll tell you
exactly which fonts the document uses, gather them up, etc.) can help
you match font names with obscure font file names.
See Software: Quark for links to sources for
extensions and tips on working with Quark.
See PC Type Utilities for links to font managers
for the PC or Mac Type Utilities.
Although the SB may already have the same fonts -- there could be
subtle differences between them if they came from different vendors
or if you use TrueType and the SB used a Type 1 version. So sending
your own font files is best. And talk to your SB too to find out if
they have any special preferences or requirements.
Disadvantage: In a document that uses lots of fonts it can
get tedious finding them all and it's easy to overlook one or two
(don't forget to include italics, bold versions, etc. if used).
2. Include the fonts in a Postscript file. When sending
your file to the SB you may choose to send a Postscript file (such as
when the SB doesn't have the same program or same version that you
used to create the file). One of the options when saving your file in
Postscript format is that you can include all fonts in the actual
file. I used to do this all the time with my magazine and it worked
great -- most of the time.
Advantage: You don't have to worry about missing font
files because the information is embedded in the single file. You
don't have to worry about the SB loading their own font instead of
yours and having differences creep in.
Disadvantage: It can create a very, very large file! A big
document with lots of fonts creates HUGE PS files when you include
all the fonts (and even bigger if you include all the original
graphics too). Plus there are opportunities for things to go wrong --
sometimes a font doesn't get processed properly and you won't know
it's missing until you see a proof (unless you get an error message
while processing the PS file -- then you have to track down the
problem).
Hope this helps get you started!
