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Xref: bloom-picayune.mit.edu comp.lang.postscript:16093 news.answers:4298 Newsgroups: comp.lang.postscript,news.answers Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!enterpoop.mit.edu!usc!wupost!uunet!brunix!brunix!jgm From: jgm@cs.brown.edu (Jonathan Monsarrat) Subject: PostScript monthly FAQ v2.01 11-30-92 [01-04 of 12] Supercedes: <1992Oct29.203929.24694@cs.brown.edu> Message-ID: <1992Dec1.044249.13508@cs.brown.edu> Followup-To: poster Summary: Useful facts about the PostScript graphics programming language Sender: news@cs.brown.edu Reply-To: jgm@cs.brown.edu (PostScript FAQ comments address) Organization: Brown University Department of Computer Science Date: Tue, 1 Dec 1992 04:42:49 GMT Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu Expires: Thu, 31 Dec 1992 00:00:00 GMT Lines: 849 Archive-name: postscript-faq/part1-4 Last-modified: 1992/11/30 Version: 2.01 -- PostScript -- Answers to Questions (the comp.lang.postscript FAQ v2.01) Jon Monsarrat jgm@cs.brown.edu This FAQ is formatted as a digest. Most news readers can skip from one question to the next by pressing control-G. Changes since the last version are marked with a '|' in the table of contents and in the sections in the text-only format of the FAQ. Please help fix the FAQ! All comments should be mailed to jgm@cs.brown.edu. My favorite way to receive a change suggestion is when it is accompanied by a section of the FAQ that is edited and mailed to me verbatim as an example. If you would like to contribute, please read the section ``about the FAQ'' first. Thank you! Books and programs are referred to by name only. See the appropriate sections for full information. Related FAQs: comp.text, comp.text.tex, comp.fonts, comp.graphics, Table of Contents This FAQ has 12 sections. It is available by anonymous ftp to wilma.cs.brown.edu:pub/comp.lang.postscript in ASCII, LaTeX, DVI, and PostScript formats. 1 General Questions 1.1 What is PostScript? 1.2 How can I tell how many pages my document will have? 1.3 How can I print just one page or a few pages from a big 1.4 How can I print more than one page per sheet of paper? 1.5 How can I edit a PostScript picture? 1.6 How can I print PostScript on a non-PostScript printer? 2 Printers 2.1 How can I get my printer to talk back to me? 2.2 Should I leave my printer on? 2.3 How do I suppress the power-on start page? | 2.4 How do I make a downloaded font ``persistent''? 2.5 How do I remove a persistent (``permanent'') downloaded font? 2.6 How do I reset the printer without power-cycling? 2.7 About saving files | 2.8 What's the control-D business? | 2.9 Why does the printer say ``still busy'' when my document is 2.10 How should I set up my spoolers? | 2.11 What are PPD files? 3 Formats and Conversions 3.1 How can I convert PostScript to some other graphics format? 3.2 How can I convert DVI to PostScript? 3.3 How can I convert HP Laserjet language (PCL) to PostScript? 3.4 How can I convert TeX PK format to PostScript? 3.5 How do I embed PostScript into troff? 3.6 How do I embed PostScript into LaTeX or TeX? 3.7 How can I convert an image to PostScript? 3.8 How can I convert ASCII text to PostScript? | 3.9 How can I convert PostScript to ASCII? 4 Fonts | 4.1 What are .PFB and .PFA files? 4.2 How can I convert a PostScript font to TeX's PK format? 4.3 Why are Adobe fonts hidden? 4.4 How do I get bitmap representations of Adobe fonts? 4.5 What are some good ftp sites for fonts? 4.6 How can I re-encode a font? 4.7 What's the difference between a Type 1 and a Type 3 font? | 4.8 What vendors sell fonts for PostScript printers? 4.9 What are ATM fonts? 4.10 What are Multiple Master Fonts? 4.11 Do I need a Level Two printer to use Multiple Master Fonts? 4.12 What are Type 4 fonts? 4.13 What are Type 5 fonts? 5 Books | 5.1 Books | 5.2 Publishers 6 About Adobe 6.1 How do I get in touch with Adobe? 6.2 What can Adobe do for me? 7 Programming in PostScript 7.1 What is PostScript level 2? 7.2 Should I learn level 2 PostScript? 7.3 Where can I find examples of PostScript code? 7.4 How do I get the physical size of a page? 7.5 Why can't I do a pathforall after a charpath ? 7.6 How do I center a string of text around a point? 7.7 How can I concatenate two strings together? | 7.8 What do I do when I get stack overflow/underflow? 7.9 The Obfuscated PostScript Contest 8 Computer-specific PostScript 8.1 Sun Workstations | 8.2 IBM PC 8.3 Apple Macintosh 9 Encapsulated PostScript | 9.1 What is Encapsulated PostScript? | 9.2 What are EPSI and EPSF? 9.3 How do I convert PostScript to EPS? 9.4 How do I get the bounding box of a PostScript picture? 10 About The Comp.Lang.PostScript FAQ (and Usenet Guide to PostScript) 10.1 The PostScript FAQ: What is it? 10.2 How to get the FAQ files 10.3 How to write a FAQ answer 10.4 The FAQ can contain LaTeX and PostScript inserts 10.5 Revising the FAQ 10.6 How to submit new information 10.7 How to add a program description to the FAQ index 10.8 How to add a book description to the FAQ 10.9 Questions that need answers 11 About PostScript 2 11.1 What printers run PostScript 2? 11.2 Introduction 11.3 What is PostScript Level 2? (contains 31 other sections) | 12 PostScript Interpreters and Utilities 12.1 How can I find a program? 12.2 How can I browse through PostScript programs? | 12.3 Keywords | 12.4 Interpreters | 12.5 Utilities Subject: 1 General Questions Subject: 1.1 What is PostScript? PostScript is a graphics programming language. It is perhaps the most popular and versatile language for printers, being used in printers world-wide. It is capable of drawing to computer screens and any kind of drawing device. PostScript is interpreted, stack based and untyped, like the computer language FORTH. A number of programmers write PostScript programs directly for a variety of drawing applications. However, PostScript programs are usually documents meant to be printed that have been generated by a program written in some compiled language. Subject: 1.2 How can I tell how many pages my document will have? The easiest way to count pages is view your document on-line with a PostScript previewer. Some previewers like Ghostview and GSPreview count the pages for you. (See Section 12, ``PostScript Interpreters and Utilities''.) If your document is generated by a professional program, you should be able to just count the number of ``%%Page:'' comments imbedded in the document. With UNIX you can type grep -c %%Page document.ps to do this counting. (See Section 9, ``Encapsulated PostScript''.) The only completely reliable way to count pages is to ask the printer. PostScript printers maintain a page counter that can be queried before and after the job is printed, and the page count is a simple subtraction. This tends to require rather sophisticated spooling systems and a communications channel that is bidirectional. However, some printers allow you to submit jobs on one port, and issue queries on another. Experts using a level 2 printer can use the SerialOff.PS and SerialEHandlder.ps programs to communicate bidirectionally to the printer. Subject: 1.3 How can I print just one page or a few pages from a big document? How can I print pages in reverse order? Try using a host-specific program, like the UNIX command psrev, which is part of the TranScript suite of software from Adobe Systems. Or use the more general utilities Ghostview, psutils or psxlate. There is no guarantee that a given PostScript document can be split in such a manner. The reason is that some programs which generate PostScript code don't conform to the Adobe Document Structuring Conventions (DSC). (See Section 9, ``Encapsulated PostScript''.) A notable example of this is Microsoft Word. Subject: 1.4 How can I print more than one page per sheet of paper? Use psnup or pstext or enscript. These programs redefine the PostScript ``showpage'' command to do multiple PostScript pages per physical page. If one program doesn't work with a complex document, try out other ones. Subject: 1.5 How can I edit a PostScript picture? If you know the PostScript programming language, just use any text editor to edit the code directly. If you want to do it visually, you can use Canvas on the Macintosh. Subject: 1.6 How can I print PostScript on a non-PostScript printer? You need a tool that converts to something that your printer knows how to print. Use Freedom of Press, GhostScript, hp2pbm, pageview, TScript, or UltraScript. Subject: 2 Printers Subject: 2.1 How can I get my printer to talk back to me? Experts using a level 2 printer can use the SerialOff.PS and SerialEHandlder.ps programs to communicate bidirectionally to the printer. Subject: 2.2 Should I leave my printer on? The general consensus seems to be that most computer equipment lasts longer if left on. This presents less thermal stress to the components. Subject: 2.3 How do I suppress the power-on start page? Disabling the start page is described in your printer's PostScript supplement. The most common sequence is ``serverdict begin 0 exitserver statusdict begin false setdostartpage end''. Subject: 2.4 How do I make a downloaded font ``persistent''? | | | %!PS-Adobe-2.0 ExitServer | %%BeginExitServer: 0 | serverdict begin 0 exitserver | %%EndExitServer | % Test for existence of font, abort if present. | % This won't work on a printer with a hard disk! | /str 32 string def | /Eurostile dup FontDirectory exch known | { str cvs print ( is already loaded!\n) print flush quit } | { (loading font ) print str cvs print (\n) print flush } | ifelse | %% Font follows... | | The part following " Eurostile to the name of the font. The default | PFA behavior is to use up additional VM for the new copy if another | copy has already been downloaded. Subject: 2.5 How do I remove a persistent (``permanent'') downloaded font? One trick for removing a persistent font (this requires that you knew you would need to remove it before you downloaded it) is to issue a ``serverdict begin 0 exitserver /magic-cookie save def'' before downloading and sending ``serverdict begin 0 exitserver magic-cookie restore'' when you want to reclaim all VM used since the first download. The downside of this is that is uses up a save level, but this is usually not a problem. Subject: 2.6 How do I reset the printer without power-cycling? Most printers can be reset by issuing "serverdict begin 0 exitserver systemdict /quit get exec". Subject: 2.7 About saving files Adobe recommends that driver writers do not put EOT (control-D) into files when saving to disk. Normally, the EOT is a part of the protocol for parallel and serial ports and never hits the PostScript interpreter. Drivers that do embed EOD can create problems for devices that allow other communication methods (e.g. AppleTalk, Ethernet, and SCSI) where the EOT is not part of the communications protocol. It is useful to redefine EOT in these instances so that the interpreter does not generate an error. The recommended redefinition is: (\004) cvn {} def This should convert any stand-alone embedded EOTs into a null procedure. Subject: 2.8 What's the control-D business? | PostScript printers communicating over serial lines use control-D | as an end of job indicator. The host computer should then wait for | the printer to send a control-D back to indicate that the job has | finished. Managing the serial protocol between host and printer | should be done by some form of print service, but if you're unsure | whether your print service is doing it, it's an idea to send one | yourself. | | PC type computers frequently do not have any kind of printer | manager and applications end up sending control-D characters to the | printer, sometimes before and after a job. PC applications | frequently embed a control-D as the first character in the print | file, presumably to flush out any other jobs, and thereby breaking | the Adobe Document Structuring Conventions. | | If you want to prevent applications from doing this, you could use | a spooler which would look at the end of every outgoing file and | drop the control-D on the end if there happened to be one. | | If you want a spooler, check out lprps. Subject: 2.9 Why does the printer say ``still busy'' when my document is done printing? | Sometimes when you finish a print job, the printer "Ready" light | keeps flashing for a minute or so. Somehow, the printer has | received some character(s) after the control-D which was sent | immediately after the PostScript file. The printer took these | character(s) to be another program, and eventually timed-out while | waiting for the rest of it. This can happen because of the host not | waiting for the printer to finish. Subject: 2.10 How should I set up my spoolers? Since PostScript usually is prefixed with ``%!'', it's easy to educate your spooler to autoselect between passing raw PostScript through to the printer or doing an "ASCII-to-PostScript" conversion first. There are many packages that will do this, including Transcript and psxlate. Unfortunately, many PostScript applications generate PostScript without a proper "%!" magic cookie. The spooler should be responsible for transmitting the ``job termination code'' (a control-D on serially-connected printers) to the printer, not the application. Do yourself a favor and disable (or filter out) control-Ds in your applications and generate them in the spooler. This will be far more reliable in the face of arbitrary input. Subject: 2.11 What are PPD files? | | Adobe Postscript Printer Description (PPD) files describe how to | use the special features for a specific Postscript printer. They | are suppose to be human-readable, but they are really only readable | by PostScript gurus. It is the responsibility of the printer | manufacturer to supply PPD files. However, the Adobe mail server | has many of them. (see the Section 6, ``About Adobe'') Subject: 3 Formats and Conversions This section describes all formats that can be converted to and from PostScript, and how to convert them. Encapsulated PostScript and Fonts have their own sections. Subject: 3.1 How can I convert PostScript to some other graphics format? Since PostScript is not just a picture-description language, but in fact a complete programming language, you will need a complete PostScript interpreter to convert or display a PostScript graphic. (See Section 12, ``PostScript Interpreters and Utilities''.) Try using TranScript. Subject: 3.2 How can I convert DVI to PostScript? Use dvips. Subject: 3.3 How can I convert HP Laserjet language (PCL) to PostScript? Use lj2ps for simple PCL. Alternatively, another lj2ps, from psroff3.0, is a little more complete. hp2pbm can convert all of PCL4 (up to and including rasters, downloaded fonts and macros). Subject: 3.4 How can I convert TeX PK format to PostScript? Psroff3.0 contains programs that can convert TeX PK format or HP SFP format fonts into PostScript bitmap fonts. While bitmap bfonts scale poorly, this is sometimes of use in special circumstances. Subject: 3.5 How do I embed PostScript into troff? Most troffs can be ``coerced'' into including PostScript figures. The best approach is a configuration that takes EPS PostScript and can automatically scale it, or tell troff how big the picture is. Groff and DWB 3 have this built in. psfig is an add-on EPS inclusion handler that can add this capability to other versions of troff, provided that a compatible PostScript driver is used (Psroff 3.0 for ditroff or CAT troff, Transcript for ditroff). See the comp.text FAQ for more detail. Subject: 3.6 How do I embed PostScript into LaTeX or TeX? You should use an add-on program for seamless PostScript inclusion. For generic PostScript in a professional document, use psfig. If your LaTeX is simple, but your PostScript is fancy, try using LameTeX. If you need a good compromise, use pstricks. For more detail, see the comp.text.tex FAQ. Subject: 3.7 How can I convert an image to PostScript? Try PBMPLUS. To convert an image to PostScript in X windows, you can display the image on the screen and then use ``xpr -device ps'' in the resulting X11 window. For example, to convert GIF to PostScript, use xv or xshowgif (ftp from bongo.cc.utexas.edu (128.83.186.13)) and then xpr. A more general alternative in X windows would be to use the PPM, PGM and PBM utilities in the X11R4 and X11R5 distributions. Subject: 3.8 How can I convert ASCII text to PostScript? Unless your printer is smart about raw ASCII, you can't just send the ASCII to a PostScript printer, because the printer will attempt to interpret your ASCII file as PostScript code. You need a program which will wrap some PostScript code around your ASCII file. Try any of the following programs: asciiprint.ps, ato2pps, cz, ETSR, i2ps, lpp, lwf, POSTPRN, printer, psf, psfx80, PSR, ps2txt, pstext, swtext, text2ps, TranScript, spike.ps, enscript, nenscript, a2ps, asc2ps, ascii2ps, crossword.ps, double.ps, landscape.ps, numbered.ps, portrait.ps, or wide.ps. Subject: 3.9 How can I convert PostScript to ASCII? | | In general, when you say ``I want to convert PostScript to ASCII'' | what you really mean is ``I want to convert MacWrite (which makes | PostScript output) to ASCII'' or ``I want to convert somebody's TeX | document (which I have in PostScript) to ASCII''. | | Unfortunately, programs like these (if they're smart) do a lot of | fancy stuff like kerning, which means that where they would | normally execute the postscript command for | | | ``print water buffalo'' | | instead they execute the postscript command for | | | ``print wat'' (move a little to get the spacing *just* right) | ``print er'' (move a little to get the spacing *just* right) | ``print buff'' (move a little to get the spacing *just* right) | ``print alo'' (move a little to get the spacing *just* right) | | So if I write a program to look through a PostScript file for | strings, like ps2ascii.pl, It can't tell where the words really | end. Here my program would see 4 strings | | | ``wat'' ``er'' ``buff'' ``alo'' | | And it doesn't see any difference between the spacing between | ``buff'' and ``alo'' (not a word break) and the spacing between | ``er'' and ``buff'' (a real word break). | | The problem is that PostScript for text formatting is usually | produced machine generated by a text formatter. A PostScript | generator like dvips might have a special command like ``boop'' | that differentiates between a real world break and a fake one. But | every text formatter that generates PostScript has their own name | for the ``boop'' command. | | So you really want a ``PostScript -> ASCII converter for dvips | output''. | | The only general solution I can see would be to redefine the show | operator to print out the currentpoint for every letter being | printed, like gs2asc, and then make up an ASCII page based on this | by sticking ASCII characters where they go in a two-dimensional | array. That would convert PostScript to ASCII "formatted". | | But even that wouldn't solve the problem, because special bitmap | fonts and and standard fonts like Symbol don't always print a "P" | when you say the letter "P". Sometimes they print the greek Pi | symbol or a chess piece or a ZapfDingBat. Use ps2a, ps2ascii, ps2txt, ps2ascii.ps or ps2ascii.pl. For UNIX users, the following csh command will extract all of the strings from a PostScript file and print them. % usage: unps < infile.ps > outfile.txt alias unps $sed \ \''s/%.*$//g;s/^[ \t]*[^()]*$//g;s/^[^(]*(//g;s/)[^(]*(/ /g;s/)[^)]*$//g;'\' \ \| tr '\\012' '\\040' \| tr -s '\\040' '\\040' \; echo \'\'$ Subject: 4 Fonts This section answers questions about fonts as they pertain to PostScript. See the comp.fonts FAQ for more information about fonts. Subject: 4.1 What are .PFB and .PFA files? ``PFB'' stands for Printer Font Binary, and is a binary format in which Adobe Type 1 font programs are usually distributed for IBM PC and compatibles. Many application programs support fonts in this | format, and refer to them as ``downloadable''. The Macintosh uses a | different binary storage format than does the PC. PFB files are compressed, and as a result, cannot be sent directly to a PostScript printer. Application programs like dvips which use fonts in this format uncompress the font before sending it to the printer. If you would like to use a font which is in PFB format, it is necessary to uncompress it first, to make a PFA file. Adobe | Systems supply a font downloader for PC's which turns the PFB | format into PFA format on the fly as it's being downloaded. ``PFA'' stands for Printer Font ASCII, which is the uncompressed version of a PFB file. Once you have the PFA file, just send it to the printer ahead of your file, and use the font like any other. There are several programs which can do the conversion from PFB to PFA for you. Try t1utils. Subject: 4.2 How can I convert a PostScript font to TeX's PK format? Use ps2pk or try out the GNU font utilities in fontutils. Subject: 4.3 Why are Adobe fonts hidden? In PostScript level 1, Adobe's fonts were hidden because they didn't want people pirating copies instead of paying for them. That's why you can't do a pathforall on a charpath. PostScript Level Two has removed the restriction, in the words of the new Red Book, ``for most fonts''. There will still be some vendors who will want to restrict access. Japanese font vendors, for example, are concerned about piracy -- given the work that goes into an 8,000-character Kanji font. Subject: 4.4 How do I get bitmap representations of Adobe fonts? On the IBM PC, use the Font Foundary program included with the font. If you don't have it, contact Adobe for an upgrade. Subject: 4.5 What are some good ftp sites for fonts? ftp.cs.umb.edu sumex-aim.stanford.edu archive.umich.edu ftp.cica.indiana.edu /pub/pc/win3/fonts colonsay.dcs.ed.ac.uk /pub/postscript/fonts yak.css.itd.umich.edu For the NeXT platform, fonts are available on the NeXT-FTP-archives, sonata.cc.purdue.edu :/pub/next/graphics/fonts fiasko.rz-berlin.mpg.de :/pub/next/fonts For Macintosh, look in sumex-aim.stanford.edu, mac.archive.umich.edu, and ftp.cs.umb.edu (192.12.26.23), in pub/tex/ps-screenfonts.tar.Z. Color PostScript samples and many other PostScript programs are available from irisa.irisa.fr. Subject: 4.6 How can I re-encode a font? See ddev.ps for an example for code that does this. Subject: 4.7 What's the difference between a Type 1 and a Type 3 font? The Type 1 font format has nothing to do with TrueType, which is another font format defined by Apple. The Type 1 font format has been around quite a while, and is used on a wide variety of platforms to obtain scalable fonts. The Type 1 font format is a compact way of describing a font outline using a well-defined language that can be quickly interpreted. The language contains operations to provide the rasterizer with additional information about a character, known as hints. The Type 1 font format is defined in the book "The Adobe Type 1 Font Format", also known as the black-and-white book, for the colors on its cover. Most clone interpreters will not have Adobe's proprietary rendering technology which interprets font hints to improve the appearance of fonts shown at small sizes on low-resolution devices. The exceptions are PowerPage and UltraScript. The Type 3 font format is a way of packaging up PostScript descriptions of characters into a font, so that the PostScript interpreter can rasterize them. It is often easier to create a Type 3 font program by hand than to create the corresponding Type 1 font program. Type 3 font programs have access to the entire PostScript language to do their imaging, including the 'image' operator. They can be used for bitmapped fonts, although that is certainly not a requirement. The Type 3 font format contains no provisions for 'hinting', and as such Type 3 font programs cannot be of as high a quality at low resolutions as the corresponding Type 1 font program. Both formats are scalable formats, and both can be run on any PostScript interpreter. However, because of the requirement that a Type 3 font program have a full PostScript interpreter around, Type 3 font programs cannot be understood by the Adobe Type Manager. Only Type 1 font programs can. Because of Adobe Type Manager's wide availability on a large number of platforms (PC, Mac, and Unix), the Type 1 font format makes an excellent cross-platform scalable font standard. Subject: 4.8 What vendors sell fonts for PostScript printers? PostScript font vendors are many and varied. Here is a partial list. Adobe Systems sells a variety of fonts. With the huge number of third-party Type 1 vendors, in recent years Adobe have specialized in creating their own ``Adobe Originals'' -- high-quality fonts, some of which are their renditions of classic faces (Adobe Garamond) and some of their own devising (Stone, Utopia, ...). Adobe Systems, 1585 Charleston Road, Mountain View, CA 94039. (415) 961-4400 AGFA Compugraphic, 90 Industrial Way, Wilmington, Massachusetts 01887. (508) 658-5600. Bear Rock Technologies | specializes in bar code fonts. 4140 Mother Lode Drive, Suite 100, Shingle Springs California 95682. Bitstream, Athenaeum House, Cambridge, MA 02142. (617) 497-6222. Casady and Greene, 22734 Portola Drive, Salinas, CA 93908. (408) 484-9228. Ecological Linguistics, specializes in non-Roman alphabets. Ecological Linguistics, P. O. Box 15156, Washington D. C. 20003. | Emigre Graphics | 4475 "D" Street / Sacramento CA 95819 (800) 944 9021 ] Over 70 | faces, all PostScript Type 1 ATM compatible, including the | omnipresent Modula and infamous Template Gothic. Almost all faces | are "must haves" for graphic designers. Call for free catalog. Image Club, # 5 1902 11th St Southeast, Calgary, Alberta T2G 2G2, Canada. (403) 262-8008. Lanston specializes in display faces. Letraset specializes in fancy kinds of script fonts, Letraset, 40 Eisenhower Drive, Paramus, New Jersey 07652. (201) 845-6100 Linguists Software specializes in non-Roman alphabets (Farsi, Greek, Hangul, Kanji, etc.) Linguists Software, P. O. Box 580, Edmonds, Washington 98020-0580. (206) 775-1130. Monotype, 53 West Jackson Boulevard, Suite 504, Chicago, IL 60604. Page Studio Graphics, Chandler, Arizona, specialize in symbols fonts such as Mac icons, keyboards, and others, Page Studio Graphics, 3175 North Price Road, # 1050, Chandler, Arizona 85224. (602) 839-2763. RightBrain Software, Palo Alto, CA (415 326-2974) carry the Adobe Type library for the NeXT platform. If you're working on NeXT, getting fonts in the correct form with all the ancillary information and downloaders and such is important. You can convert a Mac font to NeXT (PFA) format, but the NeXT demands an AFM file as well, and many Mac/PC font vendors omit AFM files because Mac/PC apps don't use them. For Adobe fonts for the NeXT, save yourself a lot of hassle by getting the fonts from RightBrain -- they often have sales. The Font Company TreacyFaces URW supplies high-quality fonts at low prices. They are also the creators of the top of the line font creation and editing software called Ikarus. URW, 4 Manchester Street, Nashua, New Hampshire 03060. (603) 882-7445. Many more font vendors exist. Look in magazines and other sources. Look in U & lc, published by ITC, for long lists of vendors. Subject: 4.9 What are ATM fonts? There has been a rash of misunderstanding about the nature of Type 1 fonts and what people call ATM fonts. ATM fonts are Adobe Type 1 fonts. ATM stands for Adobe Type Manager -- a utility to render smooth characters on Macintosh and PC screens, from font outlines (Type 1 fonts) instead of using bitmap fonts. In one sense, there's no such thing as an ``ATM font'' -- ATM interprets Type 1 fonts, so there's no need to create a new name. A correctly constructed Type 1 font can be interpreted by ATM. Subject: 4.10 What are Multiple Master Fonts? Multiple Master Fonts are an extension to the Adobe font format. providing the ability to interpolate smoothly between several ``design axes'' from a single font. Design axes can include weight, size, and even some whacko notions like serif to sans serif. Adobes' first Multiple Master Font was Myriad -- a two-axis font with WEIGHT (light to black) on one axis, and WIDTH (condensed to expanded) along the other axis. In the case of Myriad, there are four ``polar'' designs at the ``corners'' of the design space. The four designs are light condensed, black condensed, light expanded, and black expanded. Given polar designs, you can set up a ``weight vector'' which interpolates to any point within the design space to produce a unique font for a specific purpose. So you can get a ``more or less condensed, somewhat black face''. Subject: 4.11 Do I need a Level Two printer to use Multiple Master Fonts? No -- Multiple Master Fonts can be used on any PostScript printer. Multiple Master Fonts need a new PostScript operator known as makeblendedfont. The current crop of Multiple Master Fonts supply an emulation of this operator so the printer doesn't need this operator. A short tutorial on Multiple Master Fonts and makeblendedfont appears in PostScript by Example, by Henry McGilton and Mary Campione, published by Addison-Wesley. Subject: 4.12 What are Type 4 fonts? Type 4 fonts are actually Type 1 fonts, but stored on hard disk in a special way to save space when they're loaded into printer RAM by findfont. Subject: 4.13 What are Type 5 fonts? Type 5 fonts are actually Type 1 fonts, but stored in printer ROM in a special compressed format. They're also known as CROM fonts (for Compressed ROM fonts). Acknowledgments This FAQ was compiled based heavily on the contributions of and with the help of Henry McGilton, Howard Gayle, Carl Orthlieb, Ed Garay, Robert Lerche, Bruno Hall, and Chris Lewis. Also thanks to contributors Karl Berry, Jerry Black, Charles Cashion, Jim DeLaHunt, Leonard Hamey, Elliotte Harold, Chris Herborth, Steve Kinzler, Bill Lee, Timo Lehtinen, Carl Lydick, Bill Pringle, Tony Valsamidis, and Jamie Zawinski. Special thanks to Ken Porter, who originally compiled and organized this FAQ. Ver Date Reason ---------------------------------------------------------------- 1.00 12-18-90 Creation by Ken Porter 1.06 5-29-91 expanded on EPS explanation, general updates 2.00 10-25-92 Brought up to date and expanded, by Jon Monsarrat This FAQ is copyright (C) 1992 by Jonathan Monsarrat. Permission is granted to freely edit and distribute as long as this copyright notice is included. This document was written with the LaTeX language and formatted by LameTeX, the PostScript hacker's LaTeX. Jonathan Monsarrat %! Jon Monsarrat jgm@cs.brown.edu Brown University %! Obfuscated PostScript /p 4/f{{}forall moveto gsave{dup 32 mod dup 15 mul rotate sub p div 0 rlineto} forall fill grestore}def 4 scale 1 def(``f`f`f)dup( )f( i).3 setgray f/p 8 def 1 setgray/h(F!6! 2477!W)def h("4)h(,C)h(6O)h(LT)h(^O)h(tC)h(~6)(7!6!"7#$&6!7 #) (9~)(""""""""""")(}~)(fTV``Vt)(9!)(e!FR"n&44ED-w@-7&&b)(C2)11{f}repeat showpage