Xref: utzoo comp.fonts:901 comp.text:5907 comp.periphs.printers:80 comp.sys.ibm.pc:40559
Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!clyde.concordia.ca!uunet!samsung!usc!ucsd!rutgers!texbell!netdev!root
From: root@netdev.UUCP (Alex Huppenthal)
Newsgroups: comp.fonts,comp.text,comp.periphs.printers,comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: Where are the HP fonts ?
Keywords: PD fonts
Message-ID: <212@netdev.UUCP>
Date: 21 Dec 89 23:21:43 GMT
References: <208@netdev.UUCP> <83643@linus.UUCP> <5728@ncrwic.Wichita.NCR.COM>
Reply-To: alex@netdev.comsys.COM (Alex Huppenthal)
Organization: Communication Systems Research, Dallas, Tx 75252
Lines: 51

In article <5728@ncrwic.Wichita.NCR.COM> mlawless@ncrwic.Wichita.NCR.COM (Mike Lawless) writes:
>In article <83643@linus.UUCP> carlson@gateway.mitre.org (Bruce Carlson) writes
>>If the PD fonts include documentation that shows the escape sequences to 
>>use to access the fonts you should be able to use MAKEPRD (comes with
>>Word) to create a driver.  I have never tried it with downloadable fonts,
>
>One more wrinkle--any fonts (downloadable or not) that are proportionally
>spaced need a width table.  If one is not provided with the font, you can
>figure it out for yourself, although the procedure is somewhat tedious.
>
>First, make a document file containing one line for each printable character
>in the font(s) in question, each line containing 30 occurrences of the same

Gary Pardum has a software / sharware utility for DOS that reads a softfont,
and creates a text file suitable for processing by Word 5.0's MAKEPRD.
 ( In fact, it makes a Word 4.0 text file that can be merged into a Word 5.0
 PRD file ) It manages the creation of the width table also.

There are several limitations. First, the point size is limited to 24. Second,
the font types are hardcoded, so if you have HP font ID-n, in the softfont,
and it isn't one of the few hardcoded IDs, then you endup with a PRD file
that indicates ITCBookman, for example, where the font is actually PDBroadway.

This can be corrected by editing the output of Gary's program, prior to
creating the PRD file with MAKEPRD, and replacing the incorrect text and
font ID's.

Not pretty, but it gets the job done. 

I've recently tried M-Soft's EXCEL with the run-time MS Windows font / printer
services. It will convert most PD soft fonts to a form that works with Windows
applications. Word for Windows ( due out next year ), will support font
selection via windows services, according to MS. 

Seems like MS windows will solve the PD font problem. 

For now, QFONT  ( a DOS font editor ) and WORDHPLJ from Pardum, allow me to
use the PD fonts from waterloo, simtel20, and various bbs's.


If you don't have this software or can find it locally, send me a note - I
will E-mail it.

-Alex

If anyone has a better way, let me know!

-- 
Alex            INTERNET:  alex@comsys.COM
Huppenthal          UUCP:  {cs.utexas.edu!texbell}!netdev!alex 
Communication Systems Research  6045 Buffridge Tr, Dallas, TX 75252