[OS X TeX] Installing mbboard

[Don Green Dragon]

Hello and Thanks Michael,

On 04Dec2013, at 7:43 PM, Michael Sharpe <msharpe at ucsd.edu> wrote:

> 
> On Dec 4, 2013, at 6:24 PM, Don Green Dragon <fergdc at shaw.ca> wrote:
> 
> <<snip>>

> If you want Blackboard Bold upper and lower case as well as digits, the STIX symbols are very well done and will give much better on-screen results than metafont based fonts. The easiest way to use the STIX I know of to use the STIX BB in an arbitrary choice of math fonts is to say
> 
> \usepackage[bb=boondox]{mathalfa}
> 
> after loading your math package.
> 
> Michael

I do not understand you line "after loading your math package.» What package? Nonetheless, before reading your Email I had downloaded "STIXv.1.1.0-latex.zip» which when unzipped produced the directory 

~/Downloads/STIXv.1.1.0-latex

Many levels down in the above directory there exists a subdirectory stix which contains a whole mess of .pfb files including 

stix-mathbb.pfb, stix-mathbb-bold.pfb, stix-mathbbit-bold.pfb,  stix-mathbbit.pfb

which I guess are amongst the font files I need. Next I went into "Font Book.app» and choose

File -> Add Fonts…

then wandered down to that stix directory and chose `OPEN’. Something happened but I’m not sure what! But when «All Fonts» was selected under `Collection’ I could find NO stix entries.  None! Where did they go?

Then I tried your suggestion 

\usepackage[bb=boondox]{mathalfa}

and the simple source code

\mathbb{ABC \; abc \; 012}

miraculously produced the desired glyphs. I tested the above in the plain jane template LaTeXtemplate as well as the one I normally use. I both cases the glyphs were very nice.

What I don’t understand is «How is TeXShop finding those fonts files?» Does it actually use the ones that are situated deep in the ~/Downloads directory? I vaguely recall persons on this list advising where `new’ fonts should be placed.

Is there some further step that should be undertaken, or did your magic line take care of everything? If it did, then I should be able to dump the entire directory "~/Downloads/STIXv.1.1.0-latex» — I guess.

Thanks for your continuing help.


don green dragon
fergdc at shaw.ca