schwarze@UUNET.UU.NET (Jochen Schwarze) (06/13/89)
Hello!
Sorry for posting this mail to your address (which is probably the
wrong one), but it is the only one I know where to send the follwing
questions. Please forward it to to somebody familiar with the GNU
GhostScript Interpreter and PostScript fonts.
For a special graphical application I need the analytical
outline description of a font similar to to the PostScript
Avant Garde or Helvetica fonts (something like a path
description with lineto and arcto commands).
Is there a font library available together with the
GNU GhostScript Interpreter?
Is there a possibility to extract this kind of outline
description from an existing font library?
Or is there a way to get the PostScript sources of
a font definition?
Thanks very much.
Jochen Schwarze
ISA GmbH
Azenbergstr. 35
7000 Stuttgart 1
West Germany
Phone +49-711-22769-0
UUCP: schwarze@isaak.UUCP
BITNET: isaak.uucp!schwarze@unido.bitnetkarl@wheaties.ai.mit.edu (Karl Berry) (06/14/89)
GhostScript does not yet have a font library. Support for BDF format fonts might be in the next release; at any rate, that will come before anything else. The screen resolution fonts that Adobe has made public domain will probably be made available in BDF format at some point. (Actually, that could be done now.) An outline format for GhostScript is farther down the road. Adobe's outline format is a jealously guarded secret. The fonts are encrypted in the printers precisely to prevent people from easily doing things with the fonts. (Although I have heard rumours that Bitstream reverse engineered the encryption.) I don't think Adobe (or Bitstream, for that matter) ever sells unencrypted fonts, or gives ``just plain customers'' the outline format. Sun's new F3 outline format (developed by Folio) will be given out under license, supposedly. But it still won't be public domain. Ironically, Apple's outline format is at least allegedly free, although we haven't been able to track it down in the manuals yet. (Anyone with information on the topic, please write to me.) karl@wheaties.ai.mit.edu
snoopy@sopwith.UUCP (Snoopy) (06/16/89)
In article <3011@weetabix.ai.mit.edu> karl@wheaties.ai.mit.edu (Karl Berry) writes: | GhostScript does not yet have a font library. Support for BDF format fonts | might be in the next release; What is BDF format? The Hershey fonts work with Ghostscript, see your favorite archive site for (a) the collection of Hershey glyphs, and (b) Guy Riddle's program to create PostScript fonts from them. I have sent Peter code which lets Ghostscript automagically load the Hershey fonts on demand, and which substitues a reasonable Hershey font when one of the common fonts (e.g. Helvetica) is requested, warning the user (once) that it is doing the sub. The metrics will be off, but are close enough for a lot of things. Afm files are generated for *roff. I'm working on improvements to Guy's program, and on selection files for a symbol font, a single-stroked san-serif font, and serif and san-serif Greek fonts. The Hershey fonts are stroked fonts, some special effects need filled fonts. Also, gaps can appear in the multi-stroked fonts at larger sizes. So we still need a collection of filled fonts. _____ .-----. /_____\ Snoopy ./ RIP \. /_______\ qiclab!sopwith!snoopy | | |___| parsely!sopwith!snoopy | tekecs | |___| sun!nosun!illian!sopwith!snoopy |_________| "I *was* the next man!" -Indy