There are circumstances in which a Mac font may not be identical if it is zipped and then unzipped. This may not break it, but contrary to some statements above, the process may not provide an identical file.

The circumstances are discussed here:

http://xahlee.org/UnixResource_dir/macosx.html

http://ask.metafilter.com/59789/How-to-email-my-font

But in short:

1. If they are much older fonts that contain resource forks and the user has an older version of Mac OS X, typically 10.4 or earlier. Legacy fonts like this work on OS X though they were originally intended for OS 9 and earlier versions of the Macintosh operating system. It is entirely likely (and, in my experience, common) that some folks are still using a font library they built as long as 20 years ago. Typically these are artists and art director types. For example, I have a few fonts with creation dates of 1993 and hundreds with creation dates of 1998, most with resource forks. Certainly I should have converted these to more modern formats or stopped using them, but let's face it: once you buy the Adobe Font Library, you never want to buy it again. In my years working with art directors in advertising, I learned to respect the font folder as if it were an art director's diary, commonplace book, or superego.

2. Some metadata will be stripped in certain versions of the operating system. Metadata may be things added to the information field of the file. This will not break the file, but again, nor will the roundtrip zip-unzip produce an identical file.

PS: I am assuming here that if one is zipping a PSD file for delivery to another person, that it has not been flattened and that the font has not been converted to outline, which means that one would also deliver the font files with the PSD so that the person on the receiving end could make their own changes to the file. This is a common practice.

There are circumstances in which a Mac font may not be identical if it is zipped and then unzipped. This may not break it, but contrary to some statements above, the process may not provide an identical file.

The circumstances are discussed here:

Link

http://ask.metafilter.com/59789/How-to-email-my-font

But in short:

1. If they are much older fonts that contain resource forks and the user has an older version of Mac OS X, typically 10.4 or earlier. Legacy fonts like this work on OS X though they were originally intended for OS 9 and earlier versions of the Macintosh operating system. It is entirely likely (and, in my experience, common) that some folks are still using a font library they built as long as 20 years ago. Typically these are artists and art director types. For example, I have a few fonts with creation dates of 1993 and hundreds with creation dates of 1998, most with resource forks. Certainly I should have converted these to more modern formats or stopped using them, but let's face it: once you buy the Adobe Font Library, you never want to buy it again. In my years working with art directors in advertising, I learned to respect the font folder as if it were an art director's diary, commonplace book, or superego.

2. Some metadata will be stripped in certain versions of the operating system. Metadata may be things added to the information field of the file. This will not break the file, but again, nor will the roundtrip zip-unzip produce an identical file.

PS: I am assuming here that if one is zipping a PSD file for delivery to another person, that it has not been flattened and that the font has not been converted to outline, which means that one would also deliver the font files with the PSD so that the person on the receiving end could make their own changes to the file. This is a common practice.

There are circumstances in which a Mac font may not be identical if it is zipped and then unzipped. This may not break it, but contrary to some statements above, the process may not provide an identical file.

The circumstances are discussed here:

http://xahlee.org/UnixResource_dir/macosx.html

http://ask.metafilter.com/59789/How-to-email-my-font

But in short:

1. If they are much older fonts that contain resource forks and the user has an older version of Mac OS X, typically 10.4 or earlier. Legacy fonts like this work on OS X though they were originally intended for OS 9 and earlier versions of the Macintosh operating system. It is entirely likely (and, in my experience, common) that some folks are still using a font library they built as long as 20 years ago. Typically these are artists and art director types. For example, I have a few fonts with creation dates of 1993 and hundreds with creation dates of 1998, most with resource forks. Certainly I should have converted these to more modern formats or stopped using them, but let's face it: once you buy the Adobe Font Library, you never want to buy it again. In my years working with art directors in advertising, I learned to respect the font folder as if it were an art director's diary, commonplace book, or superego.

2. Some metadata will be stripped in certain versions of the operating system. Metadata may be things added to the information field of the file. This will not break the file, but again, nor will the roundtrip zip-unzip produce an identical file.

There are circumstances in which a Mac font may not be identical if it is zipped and then unzipped. This may not break it, but contrary to some statements above, the process may not provide an identical file.

The circumstances are discussed here:

http://xahlee.org/UnixResource_dir/macosx.html

http://ask.metafilter.com/59789/How-to-email-my-font

But in short:

1. If they are much older fonts that contain resource forks and the user has an older version of Mac OS X, typically 10.4 or earlier. Legacy fonts like this work on OS X though they were originally intended for OS 9 and earlier versions of the Macintosh operating system. It is entirely likely (and, in my experience, common) that some folks are still using a font library they built as long as 20 years ago. Typically these are artists and art director types. For example, I have a few fonts with creation dates of 1993 and hundreds with creation dates of 1998, most with resource forks. Certainly I should have converted these to more modern formats or stopped using them, but let's face it: once you buy the Adobe Font Library, you never want to buy it again. In my years working with art directors in advertising, I learned to respect the font folder as if it were an art director's diary, commonplace book, or superego.

2. Some metadata will be stripped in certain versions of the operating system. Metadata may be things added to the information field of the file. This will not break the file, but again, nor will the roundtrip zip-unzip produce an identical file.

PS: I am assuming here that if one is zipping a PSD file for delivery to another person, that it has not been flattened and that the font has not been converted to outline, which means that one would also deliver the font files with the PSD so that the person on the receiving end could make their own changes to the file. This is a common practice.