[XeTeX] simple font installation question

[Ja'n Zahornadsky']

Daniel Greenhoe wrote:
> I will read through the fontspec.pdf file that you recommended. But
> what I would like to know are things like where to download free
> fonts from, how to install them on my system; and especially Chinese
> fonts --- like fonts with phonetic markings (bopomopho or pinyin)
> next to each character, and characters written with dashed lines for
> practice in writing characters. And, if I use an obscure font to
> generate a pdf file, is that font information embedded into the pdf
> file so that it will render properly on all computers even though
> those computers don't have that font installed? How much is the pdf
> file size increased by every time I use a new font?
As far as I know the glyphs you use (so not the whole fonts) are
included into the PDF, so no worries -- it renders everywhere the same way.

As for pinyin fonts, I don't know, but there are pretty good Wang fonts
with bopomofo I use:
http://apt.nc.hcc.edu.tw/pub/FreeSoftware/free_fonts/wangttf/

However, I personally found they don't contain every single letter I
needed, so probably the best way is to write some annotation macro. I
had a short thread about those few days ago. Similar should work with
pinyin. As almost 1/4 of the characters has got multiple readings, it's
almost easier to annotate them in comparison remembering which of the
five fonts contain the reading you're looking for.

all the best,
Jan