Re: Adobe Type Basics

Am 17.11.2004 um 01:46 schrieb Aaron Jackson:

> The afm/tfm files included with latex may not be in sync with what is  
> included in the Adobe Type Basics.  The version preinstalled with my  
> tex is Version 001.007, but the version that came with my Type Basics  
> is Version 003.000.  I was advised bt Walter Schmidt (or at least  
> somebody using his name) to recreate the files as the afm specs have  
> change.  I don't know if this will be a problem, but he should know...

Hello!

The AFM files are of no use -- except you want to do a complete font  
installation. In that case fontinst needs them to create the PL  
(property list) files. They're too are needed to create TFM files with  
the raw encoding. So the mismatch of the versions should not matter.

The TFM files just contain the measures of the box into which the glyph  
fits plus a few other measures, I think, where to place this box on the  
often horizontal line of writing and how much this box can overlap with  
those to the right or left. Since the size of the glyphs does not  
change (that much) and the encoding is 8a or 8r or whatsoever since  
years quite stable, no changes are needed, the supplied ressources are  
OK. Otherwise you'll see with 8bit chars (T1 font encoding) when the  
wrong glyphs are chosen.

Care must be taken when the printer has none of the fonts built-in. In  
that case the font(programme)s need to be downloaded -- the right ones!  
The "download" named maps use the urw++ fonts! Usually a PostScript  
printer comes with a set of built-in 35 fonts (then it's old PostScript  
1) -- otherwise it most likely wouldn't be a PostScript printer! Any  
PostScript font programmes on diskettes or CD are for screen use or to  
teach your word processing programme a new script. Or to integrate them  
into TeX, probably the best destiny such a file can find. Some  
manufacturers added some extra fonts and (HW related) extras to the PS  
language, HP for example a lot for their big ones. This and a few other  
things ("better/easier" PDF and "workflow" for example) led to  
PostScript 3 with 136 built-in fonts. The first PS3 printer, Apple's  
LW8500, had the complete set. See youself:  
http://www.adobe.com/products/postscript/pdfs/ps3fonts.pdf and/or  
http://www.adobe.com/products/postscript/pdfs/ps3datasheet.pdf or  
http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/product.jsp? 
product=44&platform=Macintosh for PPD files.

So Herb, please don‘t use the "download" named maps! If your printer is  
PostScript then you don't need to download any fonts to the printer,  
except those it has *not* built-in. If your printer is not PS then you  
should download the fonts from Adobe you recently installed and try to  
use in TeX -- and pass them to dvips because dvips is probably  
preparing the print job. PdfTeX uses it's own scheme to include thes  
base fonts into the PDF file, or not. Besides this your Mac needs the  
correct PPD (PostScript Printer Description) file for your printer. The  
earlier mentioned "*35" maps are old because the mechanism dvips uses  
to handle PostScript fonts in Tex is already 10 or 20 years old and  
nothing really new happened since then. The download maps are younger  
because urw++ donated them after dvips and TeX were already using the  
Adobe fonts (few of them were integrated into X11 or came with Acrobat  
Reader).

Updmap creates the map files which dvipfm or dvips or pdftex actually  
use in  
/usr/local/teTeX/share/texmf.local/fonts/map/{dvipdfm,dvips,pdftex}/ 
updmap. Take care that the correct fonts are listed there. If you want  
to know from where a false list/map comes from, just run 'updmap  
--listmaps' and you can see its various sources. Then it's easy to  
correct this via 'sudo updmap --disable mapfile'. And, of course, 'sudo  
updmap --enable Map mapfile'.
--
Greetings

  Pete

  It's not the valleys in life I dread so much as the dips.
                --      Garfield

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