[XeTeX] Newbie Question

Gareth Hughes garzohugo at gmail.com
Thu May 7 19:23:32 CEST 2009


Paul Burkander wrote:
> Hi all,

Hi!

> I'm new to the listserv, and to xetex.  I'm pretty well versed with
> latex, but I'm having trouble getting going with xetex.

Welcome!

> I'm running ubuntu 9.04, and I have xetex through my installation of
> texlive.  I downloaded a few sample xetex code examples, to compile on
> my computer and get a glimpse at how things work, but I have yet to
> successfully compile any of the files.
> 
> The stumbling block now, as far as I can tell, is that I don't have
> Hoefler fonts, which I gather are on Macs typically.  I considered
> getting them, since they look nice, but they're almost $300!

Change the fonts in your examples to something you do have — like Linux
Libertine or FreeSerif.
> 
> My question broadly is, how best should fonts be managed, i.e.,
> acquired, and inventoried.  I don't even know what I have on my
> system! Despite having read my latex install documentation.  Is there
> a way to find out?  Is it worth buying a set of fonts - if so which
> set?

System fonts are installed in /usr/share/fonts, while personal fonts are
in ~/.fonts. If you open any font file with Font Viewer, it'll give you
the exact name you should use with XeTeX to use that font.

I find Fontmatrix (http://fontmatrix.net) a very useful tool for font
management. It shows OpenType features too. There's also FontForge in
the Ubuntu repository, which can get you right inside the font.

> I would greatly appreciate any help on this, or other pointers for
> using xetex on Ubuntu.
> 
> Thanks all,
> 
> Paul

I hope that helps.

Gareth.

-- 
Gareth Hughes

Department of Eastern Christianity
Oriental Institute
Pusey Lane
Oxford
OX1 2LE

+44 (0)1865 610227


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