Fonts &c. (was Re: [OS X TeX] Fonts included with Textures?)

Ross Moore ross at ics.mq.edu.au
Thu Mar 28 23:49:35 CET 2002



> I fear this response muddies some already muddy water. The issue was 
> simple: do Macs' normal .pfa outline fonts work in teTeX or do they need 
> to be converted to .pfb? It is a simple question which should have a 
> simple answer.

Ignoring the qualifier "Macs' normal", then 

     a.  Yes,  .pfa  fonts work with  dvips ;
but
     b.  No,  .pfa fonts do *not* work with pdfTeX .

(Note that it is wrong to speak of teTeX as if it were an application;
it is not. It is a well-ordered collection of related programs and
support files and documentation, etc.)  

This is not a problem, as dvips and pdftex are usually configured
to use different .map files, to find the fonts that they need.
Furthermore, both programs are very flexible in the ways that they
can be configured for font usage.
I sent a previous email with some examples of how this can be done.

Moreover, the teTeX collection normally includes font-conversion tools
(e.g. the t1utils ) to convert between .pfa and .pfb , and other
formats as well --- including LWFN, or POST resources, for MacOS.

Is this the simple answer that you wanted?

Cheers,

	Ross


> 
> Adrian Heathcote
> 
> 
> On Thursday, March 28, 2002, at 11:59 PM, William Adams wrote:
> 
> > Adrian said:
> > >Alan Hoenig, the author of TeX Unbound: LateX and TeX Strategies for 
> > Fonts, Graphics and More >has said that his NexT/LateX set up deals 
> > directly with .pfa fonts---they do not need to be >converted to .pfb.
> >
> > One of the advantages of Display PostScript.
> >
> > >My thought was: given that there is a fair bit of NexT legacy in OS X, 
> > it should not need .pfb >outline formats either.
> >
> > There's an Apple technical note which details which fonts Mac OS X can 
> > use,
> >  and NeXT's nifty .font bundles are _not_ a part of that. (nor are 
> > Multiple Master fonts)
> >
> > Google's second hit on a search of ``Apple Mac OS X supported font 
> > format'
> > '
> >
> > http://developer.apple.com/technotes/tn/tn2024.html
> >
> > Although Windows TrueType TTF / TTC fonts are supported, the only Type 
> > 1 fonts which Mac OS X makes use of are Type 1 (presumably Mac-style 
> > LWFN) with matching bitmap font suitcases.
> >
> > I'll spare everyone my rant about how this backwards compatibility has 
> > cost us the sensible, font Fontname entry derived names.
> >
> > Naturally tetex, since it uses its own routines will find .pfa ASCII 
> > encoded fonts more efficient (the binary encoding is actually 
> > encrypting done by the eexec routine so as to copy-protect Adobe's 
> > fonts back when they denied anyone else the privilege of making such 
> > (everyone else had to make do with Type 3, and if they wanted hinting, 
> > had to roll their own in PostScript)) for the reasons already mentioned 
> > in the Fonts w/ Textures thread.
> >
> > Bruce then asked:
> > >Can someone (William?) recommend a good font to invest in that:
> >
> > >a) a unix idiot (me) can easily set up for use with pdftex
> > >b) will be fully usable with other OS X apps (potentially InDesign, 
> > and/or some forthcoming >Cocoa word processor)
> >
> > >I'm thinking either Adobe Minion or Garamond (both of which I like), 
> > but am not sure which >version: OpenType?  Type 1 Expert?  MM?
> >
> > Unfortunately Type 1 OpenType fonts don't work with pdftex, only 
> > TrueType based outlines do at this time, and without the nifty 
> > fonttable support to enable contextual ligatures &c.
> >
> > As I mentioned above, Multiple Master is right out until Apple restores 
> > that functionality (which NeXTstep had, without effort on Adobe's part 
> > 'cause an MM font is ``just'' a PostScript Program).
> >
> > How do you feel about the eponymous Hoefler Text? Jonathan Hoefler has 
> > since made a Type 1 version available from his website, 
> > <http://www.typography.com> which should install easily in tetex (get 
> > the PC version with matching .afm files and no resource forks to mung 
> > this up)
> > , one could then use the Apple version in Mac OS X proper, and the Type 
> > 1 in TeX (one person on this list has manually converted the Apple 
> > font, but that probably wouldn't sit well with Apple if a lot of people 
> > started doing it or passing it around :(
> >
> > Has anyone else tried contacting the programmer of TeX/GX? I'd dearly 
> > love to see a pdftex variant on Mac OS X which could directly use ATSUI 
> > fonts (for those who haven't, install the Developer tools, (free with 
> > on-line ADC membership)) and play around with ``WorldText.app'' (nee  
> > GXWrite)---if you think TextEdit's automatic ligatures are nice, ``you 
> > ain'
> > t seen nothin' yet''
> >
> > William
> > (who has been working on a typeface design for eight years now but 
> > hasn't yet finished it :(
> >
> > --
> > William Adams, publishing specialist
> > voice - 717-731-6707 | Fax - 717-731-6708
> > www.atlis.com
> >
> >
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