Re: partial font downloading

[dhosek@quixote.com (Don Hosek)]

On Fri, 8 Sep 95 23:40:29 PDT you wrote:

>Don Hosek <dhosek@quixote.com> writes:
>> Personally, I find the issue of partial font downloading to have
>> unrecognized pitfalls. Many programs which create EPS files will NOT
>> include the fonts in the EPS files. This is in fact legal EPS behavior.
>> Unless dvips or dvipsone or whatever reads the DSC comments and
>> recognizes that fonts A, B and C are required (which I know dvips does
>> not), then the only way to get the fonts into the TeX-generated
>> PostScript file is to print something in the required fonts (one letter
>> NORMALLY suffices) in white off the edge of the page. Bingo, the font
>> is now included and all works. With partial font downloading, the
>> issue becomes much more problematic.

>This doesn't make sense to me. You seem to be saying that we shouldn't
>adopt a new feature because of the work-around for another problem. It
>seems to me to be much better to fix the other problem properly.

No, I'm saying that because of this problem, we should be aware of the
consequences in adopting the other new feature & that we should be
aware that partial font downloading should not be blindly applied.

>First off, I'd say that applications which include EPS files should read
>any relevant DSC comments. But I'd also say that font inclusion for EPS
>files should follow the same rules as it does for PS files. That is, if
>it's not one of the standard 35, you should probably include the font in
>the PS file, unless you have a DSC aware spooler with access to the
>fonts.  Similarly, unless you have a DSC aware program that'll be using
>EPS files, and one that'll have access to the required fonts, you should
>take the conservative route and include the fonts in the EPS file. After
>all, it's just as possible that you could create an EPS file which you'll
>take to a place that doesn't have the font as it is that you could create
>a similarly destined PS file.

To rephrase more succinctly: An essential dvips feature before partial
font downloading is implemented is the reading of DSC information and
downloading of additional fonts (in toto) as necessary.

>If you have a program which lets you create EPS files that use fonts
>outside of the standard 35, yet doesn't let you include the fonts in
>the EPS file, then I'd say your complaint should be with the authors of
>that program. (And similarly for any programs you have that generate PS
>files).

Program: Illustrator 4
Authors: Adobe

They write the rules. What they are doing is valid. It's dealt with by
the mainstream. Bad news, friend, they aren't going to make changes
for TeXies. That's reality.

>If you want a problem to worry about, it might be that there aren't good
>DSC (and/or font naming) conventions for dealing with partially downloaded
>fonts. For example, we'd want an intelligent spooler to spot when a
>partial font is already resident (in its full incarnation) in the printer
>and can be removed, and yet not do anything like ever download the
>partial font permanently into the printer (since it's incomplete and
>may screw up later files).

Or, to rephrase more succinctly: Partial downloading of fonts is not a
standard PostScript practice. Any changes to implement such a feature
should be taken with an understanding of the context in which they
appear.

-dh

--
Don Hosek                          dhosek@quixote.com
909-621-1291                       fax: 909-625-1342
Quixote Digital Typography         http://www.quixote.com/
Publishers of _Serif: The Magazine of Type and Typography_