Our look is the result of reader comments, our own experimentation, and feedback from distribution channels. Distinctive covers complement our distinctive approach to technical topics, breathing personality and life into potentially dry subjects. The animal on the cover of Understanding Japanese Information Processing is a blowfish, also known as a globefish, swellfish, puffer, and porcupine fish. It exists in tropical waters throughout the world. In Japan it is known as fugu, and is a treasured delicacy, usually eaten raw in thin slices. While parts of the blowfish are deliciously narcotic, other parts contain a deadly toxin. Because of this, only specially certified and licensed chefs are allowed to prepare the fish for people to eat. The skin of the blowfish is often used for making lanterns and other decorations. Computer systems and their attendant programs can be unruly beasts. Nutshell Handbooks(R) help you tame them.

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Edie Freedman designed this cover and the entire UNIX bestiary that appears on other Nutshell Handbooks. The beasts themselves are adapted from 19th-century engravings from the Dover Pictorial Archive. The cover layout was produced with QuarkXPress 3.1 using the ITC Garamond and Heisei Kaku Gothic W5 fonts.

The original text was input using Nisus 3.45 running on Apple Macintosh SE and IIci computers. Japanese text entry was performed using MacVJE Version 2.5 and MacVJE-gamma Version 1.0. Illustrations were created using Adobe Illustrator 3.2J, Adobe Photoshop 2.01J, and Aldus FreeHand 3.11. Custom typefaces were created with Altsys' Fontographer Version 4.0. Intermediate drafts of the manuscript were printed at 300-dpi resolution on an Apple LaserWriter IINTX-J printer. Typesetting was done by the author on an Apple Macintosh IIci computer running Aldus PageMaker 4.0J, and camera-ready mechanicals were produced on a Linotronic L300-J set at 1270-dpi resolution.

The English textface is 10-point ITC Garamond Light. Chapter and section titles are set in ITC Garamond Book Italic. The Japanese textface is 10-point Heisei Mincho W3, which was developed by FDPC. All of these typefaces are available in digital format from Adobe Systems.