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Archive-name: fonts-faq/part13
Version: 2.1.5 See reader questions & answers on this topic! - Help others by sharing your knowledge
Subject: 8. Amiga Information
Daniel Amor contributes the following sections:
Font Concepts
=============
The Amiga is able to use two different concepts of fonts. First of all
there are the bitmap fonts. These fonts are created by drawing a letter
pixel for pixel onto the screen. The advantage is that they look good
at small sizes, but are not very good for printout. Also they don't
look very good when you change their size. Therefore you have to
recreate the font for each size. Second there are the vector fonts.
They are created by curves which are stored as mathematical formula.
This has the advantage that changing the sizes does not effect the
output. But this only applies for larger sizes and print-outs. Vector
fonts also use less memory.
Amiga Font Formats
==================
1. Agfa IntelliFont (suffix: .type or .lib) is the native font format
on the Amiga. You can use it in any application and it can be
converted to the standard bitmap format using the system
utilities `IntelliFont' (OS 3.x) or `Fountain' (OS 2.x).
2. Postscript Type 1 fonts can be used within many applications, it
can be used in every word processor and DTP program. There are
two versions of the Type 1 format: Binary and ASCII (suffix:
.pfb & .pfa). The Amiga software uses the Binary format, but you
can easily convert them with TypeSmith or some PD software
products (z.B. PFB2PFA) . In Addition to the files mentioned
above, there are the metrics files with the suffixes .afm or
.pfm. They contain information about the size (width) of the
letters and most programs expect this file to be in the same
directory as the font file.
3. Postscript Type 3 fonts (suffix: .ps or nothing) are not often
used on the Amiga, but some applications do support this font
format (e.g. PageStream). There are also some download
utilities from PD sources available.
4. Truetype fonts (suffix: .ttf) are not very common on the Amiga,
there is one word processor supporting this format (Wordworth
3.0). Due to the lower quality of the format, Amiga users tend
to use higher quality for their DTP, DTV and word processing...
There are also two formats: Mac & Windows available. The Amiga
software is able to use the Windows format.
5. DMF fonts is the privat format of PageStream (suffix: .dmf), since
PageStream is the market leader in DTP programs on the Amiga, so
this format is very common!
6. Bitmap fonts (suffix: .font and numbers in a directory by the name
of the font, sometimes .otag when converted from IntelliFont)
were used in the OS 1.x, but have been replaced by the superior
IntelliFont Format in OS 2.0. Under 2.0 or higher you still are
able to use the bitmap fonts for small sizes, but for printouts
you should use the IntelliFont format or any other vector font
format mentioned above.
7. Colour Bitmap fonts (same suffixes as Bitmap Fonts, but the
numbers have in addition a C, e.g. 35C) are also very common on
the Amiga, they are mainly used for DTV applications, like the
Video Toaster and Scala.
Frequently Requested Amiga Fonts
================================
1. First place to look for fonts is the AMINET archive. This is the
biggest archive of Amiga software and there you will find also
quite a lot of fonts. The Aminet consists of many mirrors
around the world. Here are some of them:
1. ftp.wustl.edu,
2. ftp.luth.se,
3. ftp.eunet.ch,
4. ftp.uni-paderborn.de,
5. ftp.doc.ic.ac.uk.
Just log in as ftp and go to the directory
/pub/aminet/text/font.
2. Another good ftp server to look is the CICA-server:
1. ftp.cica.indiana.edu
To this server are also some mirrors around the world available.
3. Also a good place to look for is the following WWW server:
1. http://www.ora.com/homepages/comp.fonts/ifa
4. Another good place is the Fresh Fonts I CD-ROM, there you will
almost certainly find some nice fonts. The CD is available from
1. Fred Fish / Amiga Library Services (orders@amigalib.com)
2. Stefan Ossowski / Schatztruhe GmbH
The CD is for free when buying another CD from that company.
You can also access the HTML pages on the CD under the following
address:
1. http://macke.gris.informatik.uni-tuebingen.de:4711/~damor/
Commercial Font Sources
=======================
Commercial fonts can be obtained from a number of different companies,
including the large font houses: Adobe, Font Haus, Font Company,
Bitstream, and Monotype. At these companies, fonts cost about $40 for a
single face, and must be purchased in packages. Adobe, Bitstream, and
Monotype also sell pre-designated type collections for slightly lower
prices.
There are also a lot of PD reseller who have a vast quantity of fonts,
check out your local Amiga magazin for more information.
Please consult the vendor list for a more complete list of vendors.
Non-Latin fonts on the Amiga
============================
Due to the really bad information policy by C= there was actually no
information about non-latin fonts. But still it is possible to use them,
without difficulty. You just have to get yourself some additional
files. First of all you need the non-latin font files. There is a
large selection of them on the Fresh Fonts CD-ROM mentioned above. In
order to use the non-latin font files, you have to get yourself the
appropriate keymap file, this will remap the keys on the keyboard to
the appropriate letters of the foreign alphabet, e.g. in order to use
a Russian font, you should set the russian keymap file in the
preferences (via PREFS/INPUT).
Not only that you can write with a non-latin alphabet, you can also
localize your workbench. How about a Greek workbench or a Hebrew
workbench? Have a look into the AMINET archive (mentioned above) for
these files!
In addition to this you can easily use Hebrew & Arabic in any word
processor incl. writing from right-to-left! This can be easily done
by setting the kerning value to negative values (like this the cursor
moves left and not right) and moving the characters into the negativ
part! You can get fonts from me with this feature!
Amiga Font Installation
=======================
The installation of Postscript, DMF and Truetype fonts is described by
the application that use them. Please refer to the manuals of the
software packages.
The installation of IntelliFonts is very easy. Just start `IntelliFont'
(OS 3.x) or `Fountain' (OS 2.x) and follow the guidelines from within
the program.
In order to install bitmap fonts, either copy them to the logical device
FONTS: or assign the directory with your bitmap fonts:
ASSIGN Fonts: <your_directory> ADD
Right after this you can start your application and use them. When using
non-latin fonts, don't forget to set the appropriate keymap file!
Amiga Font Utilities
====================
1. IntelliFont
IntelliFont is the system program by OS 3.x which lets you install
Agfa IntelliFonts and converts them to bitmap fonts. The program
is located in the drawer `SYS:System/'. For more information
read your Workbench 3.x manual.
2. Fountain
Is the preceding program to IntelliFont and comes with the now
obsolete OS 2.x. Please read the section about Fountain in your
Workbench 2.x manual.
3. PFB2PFA
This neat little utility lets you convert Postscript Binary files
to Postscript ASCII files. This is needed in order to use DOS &
Amiga Adobe Type 1 fonts on the Mac!
4. CacheFont
This great program caches the fontlist for you, in order to save a
huge amount of time. The program looks for all fonts available
on the system and creates a special cache-file on disk.
5. TypeSmith
This is the best font converter on the Amiga, besides this
function it is also a full blown font editor (see below) :-).
The program is able to convert between:
1. Truetype
2. DMF
3. Adobe (Type 1 & 3)
4. IntelliFont
5. Bitmap (Amiga, Adobe, DMF)
Making Outline Fonts
====================
This is very, very difficult. Many people imagine that there are
programs that will simply convert pictures into fonts for them. This is
not the case; most fonts are painstakingly created by drawing curves
that closely approximate the letterforms. In addition, special rules
(which improve hinting, etc.) mandate that these curves be drawn in
specific ways. Even designing, or merely digitizing, a simple font can
take hundreds of hours.
The easiest way of learning how to create fonts, is to have a look at
existing fonts and try to change some letters.
Given that, there are two major programs used for font design on the
Amiga, TypeSmith 2.5 ($150) and FontDesigner ($100). These programs
will allow you to import scanned images, and then trace them with
drawing tools. The programs will then generate Adobe type 1, 3,
TrueType, AGFA Intellifont, DMF and Bitmap fonts for either the
Amiga, the Macintosh or the IBM PC. They will also generate automatic
hinting. They also open previously constructed outline fonts,
allowing them to be modified, or converted into another format.
As far as I know, there are no shareware programs that allows you to
generate outline fonts.
There are also two programs for creating bitmap fonts. Personal Fonts
Maker and Calligrapher. The second one has not been updated for several
years, but it still is a good tool to work with. The first Program was
created by adding some features to a good bitmap paint program
(Personal Paint).
There are some shareware tools to create bitmap fonts which you can
convert to outline (vector) fonts with TypeSmith.
Problems and Possible Solutions
===============================
1. Pagestream does not recognize your newly installed font.
This happens when you have two fonts with the same ID. The
solution is to load such a font into a font editor and enter a
new ID for one of the fonts. Still it might happen that you
choose another one, that has already been used by!
2. Your application does not find the IntelliFont.
This happens when you haven't set the locigal device FONTS: to
your drawer. You can change this by typing the following
command into your SHELL or add this line to your
`S:User-Startup' file:
ASSIGN Fonts: <your_drawer> ADD
3. You're using a non-latin font and the wrong characters appear when
typing.
This happens when you forget to set the appropriate keymap file.
Enter the Prefs directory and start the program `INPUT'. There
you can choose your keymap file.
Adobe Type 1 fonts for the Amiga
================================
Darrell Leland contributes the following information:
There are now three high end DTP packages for the Amiga that can
directly or indirectly use Adobe Type 1 Fonts or AGFA Compugraphic
fonts. The best of the lot in both my and Amiga World's opinions is
SoftLogik's Pagestream, currently in version 2.2 but about to go to
version 3.0. Pagestream can take Adobe fonts in MS-DOS format directly
with no format conversion needed. All you have to do is get them on an
Amiga format disk, which is very easy using the new version of
Commodore's Workbench operating system. Pagestream has import modules
for MacWrite, Adobe Illustrator, and every other format in the universe
(seems like). It is generally a very stable and well behaved program
with a lot of features. I haven't had a chance to see 3.0 yet, but they
are claiming it's going to be a real killer. We shall see. It does color
seps, twists and rotates fonts, etc. Pagestream's job has been made
easier with Commodore's (about time) release of their own Postscript
printer drivers and Preferences postscript printer control tools.
SoftLogik also sells a program called Typesmith, which is (at last!) a
structured font maker/editor for the Amiga. Typesmith will work with
both formats mentioned above plus SoftLogik's own font format, which I
get the impression they are discontinuing in favor of Postscript. They
also sell ArtExpression, a very nice structured drawing package that
does everything I can think of. I understand SoftLogik has also been
getting several Mac and PC font makers to make Amiga fonts for them too.
They even have a program system that allows programs to publish to other
programs, sort of like in Mac System 7.0. They are lisencing it out to
any Amiga developer who pays a paltry sum to lisence it.
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Last Update March 27 2014 @ 02:11 PM
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