Type1 PC <==> Mac

[Laurent.SIEBENMANN@math.u-psud.fr (Laurent SIEBENMANN)]

 ******* Type1 PC <==> Mac *******

If you are a Macintosh user, then you want the utilities

"lwfn2pfa"  and "pfa2lwfn"

Here pfa is is a contraction of something like "PostScript font
ascii format", and "lwfn" is a Mac resource type that is a
contraction of something like "Macintosh LaserWriter font".
These utilities are a tiny fraction of the CMacTeX package.
CMacTeX by Tom Kiffe is shareware. The registration fee is US $35
for a single-user license and US $150 for a site license.

Berthold K.P. Horn <bkph@ai.mit.edu>:

 > The Font Manipulation Package for example includes MACtoPFA
 > and PFBtoMAC which convert between Mac and PC Type 1 formats

However, it is highly deceptive to suggest that this conversion
amounts to a useful conversion of Type 1 fonts between Windows
and MacOS. The Mac Type~1 format is an *orchestration* of several
sorts of file, classically "lwfn", FOND, and NFNT, all suitably
installed.  With the above alone you can do nothing much.

I believe FontStudio and Fontographer claim to accomplish the
full conversion PC to Mac. But I have witnessed pathetic failures
using several versions of Fontographer.  The Mac versions are
produced, but malfunction in many cases (but probably not all).

Can anyone report on FontStudio performance in this conversion?

Can anyone report on the Y&Y Font Manipulation Package
performance.  Incidentally, what is the price?

It is possible that Inside Mac series Font Manager volume reveals
enough about the FOND format to let someone build a set of
utilities that really do build a *robust* system to convert PC
<==> Mac.  But it seems just as likely to me that there is a
patch of mangrove swamp in there, since the virtuosos have always
fallen silent when the matter is raised. If you think you have
adequate bootstrapping PC-to-Mac conversion tools, then try them
on the Type 1 fonts recently posted by Taco Hoekwater
(ps-type1/hoekwater on CTAN) before you shout.

Cheers

Larry Siebenmann