Some hints to install fonts for UNIX
Convert font outlines PFB to PFA
- On the PC Adobe Type1 fonts have the
.pfb
extension and are binary files. - On UNIX the font outlines are plain ascii files and use
.pfa
extension.
-
Method 1 (on UNIX)
- On UNIX use the program
fmAdobePCFont
from the applications directory (e.g. when you have installed FramMaker on UNIX). Here the first step is to upload the*.pfb
files to the UNIX system.fmAdobePCFont inputfile outputfile e.g. fmAdobePCFont por_____.pfb Palatino-Roman.pfa
In this method you can define outputfile as the required real PostScript name.
-
Method 2 (on the PC)
- On the PC execute the DOS program
t1ascii
. You may get it from my site here:t1ascii inputfile outputfile e.g. t1ascii por_____.pfb por_____.pfa
With this method Inputfile and outputfile can only be DOS 8.3 names. Hence the real PostScript name of the font can not be applied in this step.
No wildcarding is possible with this program. However, since this is DOS stuff, you may set up a batch file with an editor for multiple conversions.
Afterwards you need to copy the file from the PC to the UNIX system (which is an easy task in a network...).
Source: Thomas Merz, "Die PostScript & Acrobat Bibel", 1996 (chapter Font Conversions), ISBN 3-9804943-0-6.
Sources of font metric files
- On the PC the font metric files are text files with the
.pfm
extension - On UNIX the font metric files are also text files, but use the
.afm
extension
Whether these files have really the same contents, is not checked yet.
The best source for both types of files is the CD-ROM "Type On Call" from Adobe, which lists also the Windows- and Mac menu names of the fonts when installed on these systems.
On this CD-ROM you find the *.afm
files in directories such as \data\common\psfonts\351_400\357\owb_____.afm
The font files are located in the subdirectory with the font package name (e.g. \357). These subdirectories are grouped together
(e.g. in subdirectory \351_400). To get the number of the relevant font package, see the table of font names.
Real font name (PostScript Name)
For various purposes, e.g. the definition of fonts for FrameMaker under UNIX, the true font name is needed. This is noted in the font metric files, which start with the following information:
StartFontMetrics 2.0 FontName MetaPlusNormal-Roman FullName MetaPlusNormal-Roman FamilyName MetaPlusNormal- Weight Medium Notice Copr.1993 Erik Spiekermann EncodingScheme FontSpecific ItalicAngle 0 UnderlinePosition -142 UnderlineThickness 20 FontBBox -136 -208 1138 925 StartCharMetrics 223 C 32 ; WX 225 ; N space ; B 0 0 0 0 ;
Also the family name might be of use for these definitions.
Table of font names
Adobe provides a table of font names (end of 1997: approx 500 kB for about 100 pages). It looks like this:
Pkg | PostScript Name | Macintosh Menu Name | Windows Menu Name, Style Link | Prefix |
---|---|---|---|---|
038 | Univers-CondensedLight | Univers 47 CondenedLight | Univers 47 CondensedLight | UVCL_ |
038 | Univers-CondensedBold | Univers 67 CondensedBold | Univers 47 CondensedLight, Bold | UVCB_ |
038 | Univers-CondensedLightOblique | Univers 47 CondensedLightObl | Univers 47 CondensedLight, Italic | UVCLO |
- Pkg
- Adobe Type Package number. When you purchase fonts, they are packaged (some variations put together).
- Prefix
- The prefix of the 8.3 DOS font name. The rest of characters in the 8 wide
name are underscores. Hence a DOS font file name may be
uvcl____.pfm
Note: Neither the 67 versus 47 nore the "CondensedLightObl" are typing errors.
The table is sorted by font package - not by font name. Find the desired information by activating the Acrobat menu Tools > Find and enter a significant part of the font name. Be aware that extensive font collections may spread across various packages. So you need to repeat your find action until the end of the file.
The table can be found on these places: