Path: utzoo!dciem!nrcaer!sce!sunray!roberts
From: roberts@sunray.UUCP (Robert Stanley)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Converting Graphics Characters from DOS
Summary: Can be done, but there are ramifications
Keywords: IBM-PC, PostScript font, screen font, down-loadable font
Message-ID: <6747@sunray.UUCP>
Date: 7 Aug 89 21:51:46 GMT
References: <26991@agate.BERKELEY.EDU> <4101@ogccse.ogc.edu>
Reply-To: roberts@cognos.UUCP (Robert Stanley)
Organization: Cognos Inc., Ottawa, Canada
Lines: 74

In article <26991@agate.BERKELEY.EDU> ichiro@codon7.berkeley.edu () writes:

>Someone in my office is preparing a program on a DOS machine (don't ask
>me why!) and he'd like to transfer the listing over to a Mac for
>printing on our Laserwriter. But here's the rub: the listing includes...

>I wonder if there might be a font out there (preferably
>one with constant spacing, like Courier or Monaco) which has the same
>graphic character set as in DOS.  Then I could just convert the whole
>document to this font and print it out...or does anyone have a better
>suggestion?

There are two parts to this problem: a down-loadable PostScript font for
the LaserWriter which has the IBM screen character-set correctly defined,
and a Macintosh screen font which provides sufficient visual cues to enable
re-formatting using a Mac word-processor.

The only commercially-available PostScript font that I have been able to
find was created by Michael J. Sullivan of DesignSystems:

                     DesignSystems
                     One Kendall Square Suite 2200
                     Cambridge, MA 02139
                     (617) 577-8128 --- changed to (617) 577-8039

I telephoned them last month, and the most recent version of the font costs
(US)$69.95 for a single PostScript device licence.  It also turns out to be
included as part of Sun Microsystems' TOPS NetPrint package.

I have used an early version of this font, and it works well, albeit quite
slowly, on an Apple LaserWriter.  I have also tested it on a LaserWriter
Plus.  The font appears as a slightly emboldened Courier, and most of the
special characters work, although there are obvious problems with very
small point sizes.

(Disclaimer: I have absolutely no connection with DesignSystems, other than
             as a satisfied user of one of their products.)

For a Macintosh screen font, the easiest thing is to use a tool such as
Fontastic Plus to hack up a version of Courier.  If all you are going to be
doing is print pre-formatted extended ASCII files, all that is needed is a
change of name; the DesignSystems font has the name "IBMextended".

If you are going to be doing extensive re-formatting using some Macintosh
word-processing tool, you will have to devote considerable attention to the
metrics of each character, at least if you expect to achieve usable WYSIWYG.
The IBMextended font comes as readable PostScript, so the basic information
is available.  Yes, IBMextended is a mono-spaced font, but it is not quite
Courier; you do need to pay attention to the details.

You will also need some Macintosh application to download the PostScript
font to the printer, if your word-processor of choice does not support
down-loadable fonts.

Other posters have suggested using a Mac screen font alone, but this
approach tends to yield very poor print quality on a laser printer, even
when the printed point size exactly matches that of the screen font.  It
is, of course, the simplest solution, and one you can achieve on your own
with a copy of Fontastic Plus, or other font editing tool.

I have posted this rather than replying by e-mail because this problem
bugged me for nearly two years, and no-one ever had any suggestions.
Perhaps this will save one of you the same grief.  Note, the PostScript
font is the key, and also enables printing of IBM-PC-generated documents
on PostScript printers without necessarily using the  Mac;  I used this
approach to enable printing from PCs onto a LaserWriter that is served by
a Sun UNIX network host.

Robert_S
-- 
Robert Stanley - Cognos Incorporated: 3755 Riverside Drive, P.O. Box 9707, 
Compuserve: 76174,3024                Ottawa, Ontario  K1G 3Z4, CANADA
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