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From: tml@tik.vtt.fi (Tor Lillqvist)
Newsgroups: comp.text.tex
Subject: Re: Using virtual fonts to accomodate Postscript fonts.
Message-ID: <TML.91Jan11104104@nyyti.tik.vtt.fi>
Date: 11 Jan 91 15:41:04 GMT
References: <676@shum.huji.ac.il>
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In-reply-to: maschler@VMS.HUJI.AC.IL's message of 10 Jan 91 18:07:55 GMT

In article <676@shum.huji.ac.il> maschler@VMS.HUJI.AC.IL (MICHAEL MASCHLER) writes:
   Hi,

   We are in the process of preparing an English/Hebrew TeX.
   One of the difficulties -- perhaps the main one -- is that we do not
   have good fonts in metafont.

   We do have, however, nice Postscript fonts, so at least meanwhile
   we would like to use them.

   From scanning the discussion groups and TeXHaX, it seems that this can be
   done either by using the virtual font concept or by employing a program
   that converts Postscript fonts to metafont.

No.  You can use postscript fonts in TeX without virtual fonts.  All
you need are the AFM files (Adobe Font Metrics), from which the
afm2tfm program produces TFM files that TeX uses.  It's then up to the
dvi-to-Postscript driver to note that a font is in fact a PostScript
one and act accordingly (download the font together with your
document).  Rokicki's dvips includes afm2tfm.  Dvips and most other
dvi-to-PS drivers support PostScript fonts.

Virtual fonts can be an aid if you want to remap the PostScript font,
but are not necessary.

It might be conceivable to turn a PS font (after decryption, if it's
in Type 1 form) into METAFONT source, but I don't know of any such
work.  Besides, the font manufacturer wouldn't like it.

Isn't the writing direction a bigger problem when using TeX for
Hebrew, or have you already a solution to that?
--
Tor Lillqvist,
working, but not speaking, for the Technical Research Centre of Finland