mcba@newt.phys.unsw.OZ.AU (Michael C. B. Ashley) (06/21/91)
A couple of days ago I asked: >Hi, > >I'm trying to track down MetaFont source code for some alternative >Times Roman fonts. I have the TFM files for the following fonts: > >timesromanb.tfm timesromand.tfm timesroman.tfm timesromanbi.tfm >timesromani.tfm ps-ncs-rom.tfm romn16.tfm romn8.tfm romnb24.tfm >romni14.tfm ps-p-rom.tfm romn18.tfm romn9.tfm romnb36.tfm romni16.tfm { stuff deleted } >The reason I am doing this is that I am using TeX to produce a journal, >and the nine-point cmr9 font is not as clear as the nine-point Roman >font historically used by the typesetters (this may be due to my >300dpi printer ...) I have had over a dozen helpful replies, the main points were: (1) Just because a TFM file exists, it doesn't mean that the font was created with METAFONT. (2) The fonts in question are most likely PostScript fonts, and the TFM files were probably created with the program afm2tfm from AFM files. Bitmaps for the fonts do not appear to be readily available (a few people mentioned possible commercial sources for the bitmaps; others commented that bitmaps may not be available for legal reasons, although there are programs available for converting PostScript outlines to bitmaps). (3) To use the PostScript fonts you need to use "dvips" (a good one is "dvips, version 5.4 (C) 1986-90 Radical Eye Software"), and you will need a PostScript printer. I suspect that you also need TeX3.0 and "vf" (virtual font) files. I haven't tried this yet---I'm currently building TeX3.0 and MF2.0 (upgrading from 2.9 and 1.3). (4) Nine-point Roman is rather dubious at 300dpi resolution anyway. People recommended either photoreducing output produced with \magstep > 0, or perhaps trying a font such as New Century School Book. Thanks again for all the helpful advice, this is a friendly newgroup! Michael Ashley mcba@newt.phys.unsw.oz.au