[XeTeX] Kannada with XeTeX on Debian GNU/Linux

[Jonathan Kew]

On 8 Jul 2009, at 13:11, Alok G. Singh wrote:

>
> So, I installed texlive-xetex and obtained the Akshar font [1]. I've
> added a \setmainfont[Script=Kannada]{Akshar} in my file and the  
> error I
> get is,
>
>    ! Font \zf at basefont=Akshar/ICU at 10.0pt not loadable: Metric (TFM)
>    file or ins talled font not found.
>
> I have not been able to figure out how to create the required TFM  
> files
> from the TTF file. Any guidance would be most appreciated. I have
> attached the test case and the log.

xetex does not need or use TFM files in order to use an OpenType font.

It looks like the font name is actually "Akshar Unicode", so try  
calling it by that name:

	\setmainfont[Script=Kannada]{Akshar Unicode}

You can check the name (and whether the font is installed  
appropriately on your system -- e.g., in ~/.fonts, I expect -- by  
running fc-list; use sort or grep to make it easier to find things:

	$ fc-list | grep Akshar

(If you think you have installed the font, but fc-list does not show  
it, you might need to run fc-cache to refresh fontconfig's cache, but  
I think most systems do this automatically.)

JK