[XeTeX] OpenType fonts in Linux?

[Wilfred van Rooijen]

As far as I know, there are already several packages dealing with font spacing, kerning, for CJK (maybe each separately). For example the "zhspacing" package for Chinese, "nruby" for Japanese ruby. I've used zhspacing + nruby to make some vertically aligned material. I was perfectly happy but I don't know if it was really high quality.

I once tried to figure out how much different Japanese typesetting rules were from "standard TeX" rules. Typically each character gets its own square on a grid, so that typesetting is quite easy. In Japanese sometimes the spacing between characters is changed a little, because the hiragana en katakana make look "too small" if too closely surrounded by complex kanji.

The only thing seemingly strange is the notion of burasage, which is basically punctuation marks which are allowed to protrude into the bottom margin if typeset top to bottom, but I think it is not allowed in LTR typsetting.

As far as xetex and Japanese are concerned, there are quite a number of packages, but only downloadable from obscure websites at the University of Kyuushuu or Hokkaido and typically *everything* is written in Japanese, including the manuals, which makes it difficult to judge maturity and usability for non-Japanese (maybe Mike can read better than I). Furthermore, I have this inkling that most Japanese users are still hanging on to tetex3 + ptex - the age of Unicode seems to have not yet arrived here.

Later,
Wilfred


--- On Mon, 30/11/09, David Perry <hospes.primus at verizon.net> wrote:

> From: David Perry <hospes.primus at verizon.net>
> Subject: Re: [XeTeX] OpenType fonts in Linux?
> To: "Unicode-based TeX for Mac OS X and other platforms" <xetex at tug.org>
> Date: Monday, 30 November, 2009, 3:19 AM
> Unfortunately, I do not know any
> Asian languages, which would limit any contribution I might
> make.  But I will help if I can.  (I am curious
> about how the Egyptian hieroglyphics recently added to
> Unicode will get handled, however; they can go vertically as
> well as RTL or LTR.  But that's not 

> Etruscan, and other obscurities.)
> 
> David
> 
> Michiel Kamermans wrote:
> > David Perry wrote:
> >> I am working on a book about fonts and related
> issues; the introductory chapters that explain things like
> OpenType and AAT are virtually complete and I would be happy
> to send you a copy if you would like.  The info you
> need is much more extensive than can be made in email posts.
> 
> > Smelling opportunity here, you sound like perhaps the
> right person to pull into a discussion with Will Robertson
> on improving the vertical fonting capabilities of fontspec.
> Would this be a justified presumption?
> > 
> > - Mike "Pomax" Kamermans
> > nihongoresources.com
> > 
> > 
> 
> 


      Get your preferred Email name!
Now you can @ymail.com and @rocketmail.com. 
http://mail.promotions.yahoo.com/newdomains/aa/