Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!lll-winken!lll-lcc!ames!ll-xn!mit-eddie!bu-cs!bzs
From: bzs@bu-cs.BU.EDU (Barry Shein)
Newsgroups: comp.windows.x
Subject: Re: creating new font files in X11
Message-ID: <20162@bu-cs.BU.EDU>
Date: 24 Feb 88 18:02:35 GMT
References: <439@hub.ucsb.edu> <975@pasteur.Berkeley.Edu>
Organization: Boston U. Comp. Sci.
Lines: 22
In-reply-to: leres@cory.Berkeley.EDU's message of 24 Feb 88 08:52:10 GMT



I was asked to submit a program for the R2 tape which converts
MetaFont's GF output format to BDF. I suppose the question remains
whether anyone really wants to design fonts in MetaFont, but at least
once you do you can mechanically reproduce them for various resolution
output devices. In theory it should be a very powerful way to produce
fonts but no doubt a few more little pieces are needed (like finishing
the GF to PostScript download format.) Not to mention figuring out
MetaFont itself.

My real goal was to be able to produce fonts which were true to the
resolution of various screens (and printers) rather than the current
situation in the X11 distribution which just punts the issue and
distributes a single resolution font. I find this important if one
wants to be able to calculate screen positioning based upon what the
font should be, etc.  Ideally you should be able to throw a font up on
the screen and print it on a piece of paper, hold them side-by-side
and they at least should take up exactly the same space (resolution
differences will make the quality somewhat different.) This approach
seems to allow this although it's not unique. If postscript stroke
fonts existed for public consumption I probably would have used that.

	-Barry Shein, Boston University