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- From: walsh@cs.umass.edu (Norman Walsh)
- Newsgroups: comp.fonts,news.answers
- Subject: comp.fonts FAQ.7.X-Info
- Summary: This posting answers frequently asked questions about fonts.
- It addresses both general font questions and questions that
- are specific to a particular platform.
- Message-ID: <WALSH.92Dec7141657@ibis.cs.umass.edu>
- Date: 7 Dec 92 19:16:57 GMT
- Expires: 8 Jan 93 00:00:00 GMT
- References: <9212071410.WW57338@cs.umass.EDU>
- Sender: news@dime.cs.umass.edu
- Reply-To: walsh@cs.umass.edu (Norm Walsh)
- Followup-To: poster
- Organization: Dept of Comp and Info Sci, Univ of Mass (Amherst)
- Lines: 85
- Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu
-
- Archive-name: fonts-faq/part08
- Version: 1.1.1.
-
- FAQ for comp.fonts: Chapter VII: X-specific Info
-
- Version 1.1.1., Release 07DEC92
-
- Welcome to the comp.fonts FAQ. These articles, posted monthly, describe many
- of the basic questions that seem to be repeated frequently on comp.fonts.
- Your comments are both welcome and encouraged.
-
- The FAQ is divided into chapters. The first chapter is a general overview.
- Most of the remaining chapters are more-or-less platform specific.
-
- For more information about the FAQ, please consult the beginning of the first
- chapter. The FAQ is always available via anonymous ftp from ibis.cs.umass.edu
- in /pub/norm/comp.fonts/FAQ*
-
- This chapter covers the following topics:
-
- 0. Please help!
- 1. Where do I get X?
- 2. X fonts and font utilities
-
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- 0. Please help!
-
- This section needs a lot of work. At the time of this release, I'm not
- in a position to write it so I'm leaving it basically blank. Even if
- you don't have time to write it, if you know what _should_ be in this
- section, please forward it to norm <walsh@cs.umass.edu>.
-
- 1. Where do I get X?
-
- The standard location for X software is export.lcs.mit.edu.
-
- 2. X fonts and font utilities
-
- The following programs will allow you to create fonts for display under
- X. IBM has contributed Type1 font support for X11R5 but, at present,
- I have no experience with it.
-
- On any given platform, X requires specially 'compiled' fonts. The
- standard method of interchange between platforms is BDF format. The
- BDF format is defined by Adobe. A document describing the format is
- available from Adobe (send "help" to <ps-file-server@adobe.com>).
- It is also available in the standard X distribution. Look under
- ../X11R4(5)/mit/hardcopy/BDF. This document is also reproduced in any
- text describing the X standard.
-
- Once you have a file in BDF format, your X platform should have the
- tools required to convert it into your local binary format. Depending
- on your platform this may be 'snf', 'pcf', or X11/News format ('ff'
- and 'fb').
-
- Here's a quick list of possible steps to get from "what you got" to X:
-
- Mac format bitmaps:
-
- No idea. If _you_ know how to read a Mac format bitmap file on some
- other platform, please tell norm <walsh@cs.umass.edu>.
-
- PC format bitmaps:
-
- Conversion to BDF is possible from TeX PK format and LaserJet softfont
- format. Other conversions are also within the realm of possibility.
- Feel free to ask norm <walsh@cs.umass.edu> for more information if you
- have a specific conversion in mind.
-
- TeX PK format bitmaps:
-
- PKtoBDF gets us directly to BDF format from here.
-
- Mac format postscript:
-
- Under MS-DOS, conversion to PC format postscript allows the font to
- be accessed with PS2PK (under *nix or MS-DOS). See above for TeX
- PK to X conversions.
-
- PC/*nix format PostScript
-
- Conversion to TeX PK with PS2PK allows us to get to BDF (indirectly).
-
- -- END OF PART VII --
-