comp.fonts FAQ: Unix Info

From: norm@ora.com (Norman Walsh)
Newsgroups: comp.fonts
Subject: comp.fonts FAQ: Unix Info
Date: 14 Aug 1996 10:35:00 -0400
Sender: norm@ruby.ora.com
Message-ID: <font-faq-10_840033248@ora.com>
Reply-To: norm@ora.com (Norman Walsh)
Summary: This posting answers frequently asked questions about fonts.
         It addresses both general font questions and questions that
         are specific to a particular platform.
X-Web-Homepage: http://www.ora.com/homepages/comp.fonts/

Archive-name: fonts-faq/part10
Version: 2.1.5

Subject: 5. Unix Information
  
  See also the 'utilities' section for more information.  Most of the
  utilities described in that section run under Unix.
  
  The bulk of this section was contributed by Johannes Schmidt-Fischer in
  Jun 1993.
  
  Unix Font Formats
  =================
  
  Most printers attached to Unix hosts are PostScript printers.  As a
  consequence, most Unix users are also using PostScript fonts.  If you
  are not using a PostScript printer, you need a front-end, like
  GhostScript, to convert the PostScript into a format compatible with
  your printer.
  
  There is no Unix specific Postscript Type 1 format. The most often used
  (and most easily usable) format is Adobe's PFA format.  The other often
  used format is PFB format. The PFB format is more compact (by about
  50%), but in order to use it you need make sure that your font
  downloading tools are prepared to convert PFB to PFA on fly.
  
  Postscript Type 3 fonts are no problem, they can be handled the same
  way as Type 1 fonts.
  
  Most Unix tools expect to get character metric information from AFM
  files.  You may have difficulty using fonts collected off of the 'Net
  if they do not include AFM files
  
  Font Installation
  =================
  
  Application
  -----------
  
  It depends. (Well, what did you expect me to say? ;-)
  
  Printer using an ExitServer
  ---------------------------
  
  Convert PFB fonts into PFA format if necessary and then send them to
  printer inside a wrapper like so:
  
             %!PS-Adobe-2.0 ExitServer Job
             serverdict begin 0 exitserver  % 0: substitute your password
             ...                            % font in PFA-format
             %%EOF
  
  Or include them directly in your print job:
  
             %!PS-Adobe-2.0
             ...                            % font in PFA-format
             ...                            % other initialisation
             %%Page: 1 i                    % beginning of your job...
             ...                            % ...
             %%EOF