ifarqhar@mqccsunc.mqcc.mq.oz.au (Ian Farquhar) (08/02/90)
Is anyone aware of any research into scaling the weight (not the size) of a font? This is an interesting area, and one which - if it were able to be efficiently implemented - would add great utility to any PDL or program. -- Ian Farquhar Phone : 61 2 805-7420 Office of Computing Services Fax : 61 2 805-7433 Macquarie University NSW 2109 Also : 61 2 805-7205 Australia EMail : ifarqhar@macuni.mqcc.mq.oz.au
dhosek@sif.claremont.edu (Hosek, Donald A.) (08/03/90)
In article <357@macuni.mqcc.mq.oz>, ifarqhar@mqccsunc.mqcc.mq.oz.au (Ian Farquhar) writes... >Is anyone aware of any research into scaling the weight (not the size) >of a font? This is an interesting area, and one which - if it were >able to be efficiently implemented - would add great utility to any >PDL or program. The most significant work along these lines that I know of is the experimentation done by various individuals with Metafont. The introduction to _Computer Modern Typefaces_ gives a brief bibliography of work done in this area. --- Don Hosek TeX, LaTeX, and Metafont Consulting and dhosek@ymir.claremont.edu production work. Free Estimates. dhosek@ymir.bitnet uunet!jarthur!ymir Phone: 714-625-0147
colin@array.UUCP (Colin Plumb) (08/03/90)
This is an area where multi-parameter font generators like Metafont and (from what I hear) Apple's Royal win big over Postscript and straight linear scaling. Somewhere around tenth on my "when I have a year to spare" list is building myself a font, probably using Metafont. Unlike the current Computer Modern fonts, I'd like to try to produce orthogonal parameters, so I could increase the point size, or change the aspect ratio or the weight of the font, without changing anything else, and get a decent-looking font. The way Computer Modern currently integrates several very different styles (sans serif, typewriter, roman, etc.) into one font description file is nice, but I'd like a system that didn't have any boolean variables, so you could really produce a font that's semi-serifed. Instead of a serifs flag, a monospace flag, and a fixed-line-width flag, have a serif width variable, a spacing uniformity variable, and a contrast variable. Anyway, when I have a year to spare... -- -Colin
larry@csccat.UUCP (Larry Spence) (08/03/90)
In article <357@macuni.mqcc.mq.oz> ifarqhar@mqccsunc.mqcc.mq.oz.au (Ian Farquhar) writes: >Is anyone aware of any research into scaling the weight (not the size) >of a font? This is an interesting area, and one which - if it were >able to be efficiently implemented - would add great utility to any >PDL or program. In addition to the obvious example (Knuth's Metafont), there is a PC font generator called Parafont that does some sort of non-linear scaling. I don't have a reference handy, but they run ads in the usual desktop publishing magazines (in the US, mags like Publish, Personal Publishing, etc.) Addison-Wesley publishes an entire set of books on TeX and Metafont, authored by Knuth. There are at least two on Metafont. One is more of a "user's guide," the other contains full source code and thorough documentation. -- Larry Spence larry@csccat ...{texbell,texsun}!csccat!larry Internet: larry@csccat.lonestar.org