[OS X TeX] Some Font Questions

[Gerben Wierda]

On Tuesday, Nov 5, 2002, at 14:41 Europe/Amsterdam, Bob Kerstetter 
wrote:

> What are the CM Super fonts? They are included as one of  Gerben's 
> ipackages. Have been through the archives, read stuff found through 
> google and read Gerben's site, but find it all confusing. What is the 
> difference between the CM and CM Super and why would someone use one 
> over the other?

CM, when included in a PS/PDF document are normally included as bitmaps 
at a certain resolution. Type 1 fonts are in a vector format (and 
optional bitmap for small sizes I think). The CM-Super set are type 1 
vector versions of the CM fonts, created automatically by producing 
them at a high resoluton and then tracing the results with the 
autotrace program. They are not perfect, but they have the advantage 
that they work very well in PDF documents.

In general, the best output with TeX using CM fonts is still to use the 
bitmaps in exactly the resolution you are using to print. This looks 
best. However, they will look awful in other resolutions, like screen 
resolution.

> Can TeX use any type 1 font? Do these need to be converted or 
> something?

Yes, I think you need the AFM information to be able to convert them 
automatically. Other people may know more.

> "The TeXBook" says  TeX can use any system font. Really? As in "Lucida 
> Grande" and "Marker Felt"? That would be cool. If so, how?

As far as I know, essential information, needed for conversion is 
missing on Mac OS X. I think it *is* possible to convert many of the 
Mac OS 9 fonts, but I am uncertain if this is the case and if so how. I 
woul dlike to include automatic conversion of system fonts for use with 
TeX in the configure stage of my TeX distribution, but so far I do not 
have a clear recipe.

If someone can tell me how Mac OS 9 fonts should be converted 
(automatically) for use with TeX, I can add the procedure to the 
configuration stage of the TeX packages.

G


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