Textures & Fonts
Fonts Contents
Font placement
Where are my fonts supposed to go? Why do my fonts look blocky?
Font placement has been greatly simplified since the bad old days of the Macintosh, but there are still some confusing parts, especially when you have PostScript fonts. With Textures' fonts there are three pieces to keep track of: The PostScript fonts, the bitmap (aka screen) fonts, and the TeX metrics. TeX metrics always go in the TeX fonts folder; anywhere else and they will not be read. Most of the metrics you'll need are built into Textures, so you don't need to worry about them.
What follows is a list of the right places for your fonts to go, by system software version. If your fonts look blocky, then they are probably just not in their proper locations, or your ATM isn't working right. To find your system software version, select "About this Macintosh" from the Apple menu in the Finder. Those who would like to do tricky stuff (e.g. hide the fonts from other applications, or use suitcase) must look elsewhere. By the way, the version of ATM you have needs to match your system software to some degree (most notably, Mac OS 9 requires ATM 4.5.2 or higher).
(Added note: If you've installed AMS fonts 2.2, this may be the source of your problem; some of the font names here conflict with the names of the postscript fonts).
- System 6
- With System 6, you must place the fonts in two parts. One part is easy: All of your PostScript fonts simply go loose in the system folder---you can just drag them to the closed system folder. The screen fonts are not so easy. You'll need to launch the "Font/DAmover" application that comes with the system software, and use it to move all of the fonts into the system file. This procedure needs to be done to remove fonts from your system file as well. More information on this should be in your Apple system software manuals.
- System 7.0
- (This information also applies to systems 7.0.1, 7.0.2 and other such permutations.) With System 7, finally we don't need the font mover! But the font pieces still go in separate areas: PostScript fonts need to be put in the Extensions folder (inside your system folder), while bitmap (screen) fonts need to be dragged into the system file. With System 7 and higher, you can also just drag the fonts onto the closed system folder and the system will put them away for you (after asking permission).
- System 7.1 through System 9
- With the newest operating systems, all fonts are finally consolidated into one folder, the Fonts folder inside your system folder. Both the PostScript fonts and the bitmap fonts go in here. Again, the system will put them away for you if you drag fonts to the closed system folder.
Miscellaneous tips
- Always restart after moving your fonts around. This may not always be necessary, but it can't hurt!
- It helps to have only the Finder running when moving fonts.
- Cute trick: duplicate the Fonts folder, rename it, modify it---no complaints from the system! When it's ready to be the new "Fonts" folder, rename the old one, name the new one "Fonts", and restart.
- Old bitmap fonts from pre-Textures 1.4 can cause major difficulty. Remove them. They look like bitmap font suitcases and have names like CM Plain, CM Sans, Plain Fonts. Also remove the TeX metrics that cam with those old fonts.
What are all these pieces?
- Bitmap fonts (a.k.a. screen fonts)
Screen fonts are bitmaps at a specific size. They are just bitmaps; scaling them will show you a much bigger, very blocky-looking picture of the same thing. They are also called fixed-size fonts. Bitmap fonts are necessary for the system to be able to find their associated PostScript fonts.- PostScript fonts
A PostScript font file contains information for a PostScript interpreter (like the one in your printer) for printing. Adobe Type Manager (ATM) also uses the PostScript font files for your Textures typeset screen display.- TrueType fonts
A TrueType font is a lot like a PostScript font except that it uses Apple's QuickDraw scaling technology instead of Adobe's PostScript. You don't need a fixed-size bitmap for TrueType fonts, but it's better if you have them.- Font Suitcase
A font suitcase can contain fixed-size bitmap fonts and TrueType fonts. A TrueType font will usually come in a suitcase with its associated bitmap. A PostScript font will usually come with a font suitcase containing bitmaps for all the PostScript font faces.- Font Metrics Suitcase
A metrics suitcase is a special TeX-only set of font information. It should not be put into the system fonts folder, but into the TeX Fonts folder. These will look empty when you open them with the Finder, but you'll see the contents if you open them with EdMetrics. These are the Textures equivalent of *.tfm files like other TeX systems have. For more on these see your Textures User Guide and the bit about adding metrics later on this page.
Questions & Answers
See also the main printing page if your question might also have to do with printing.
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What About QuickDraw GX?
- Textures' fonts are not currently compatible with QuickDraw GX (QDGX). Right now we're recommending that our users remove QDGX entirely, rather than just disabling the extension, because simply turning it off does not revert your fonts to their standard PostScript form.
If you need to use GX for something, Textures will work with it in. The key is that installing GX bolluxes up Type 1 PostScript fonts. If you install the fonts after installing GX, everything should work fine.
If you'd like to remove QDGX completely, here's how:
- Launch the QuickDraw GX installer. (counterintuitive, no?)
- Select "Custom Remove" from the pop-up menu in the upper left corner.
- Select all of the items except ATM. Click the remove button.
You must now restore your fonts to their original condition. All the TrueType fonts will be fine (e.g. Chicago, Palatino) but all your PostScript fonts will have been "enabled" and will need to be restored.
- Open your System folder's Fonts folder and the •Archived Type One Fonts• folder.
- Any suitcase you see in both folders should be removed from the Fonts folder and trashed.
- Now move all the items from the •Archived Type One Fonts• folder to the Fonts folder and restart.
If everything is still broken, try reinstalling Textures, or custom-reinstalling the fonts.
- I have too many fonts in the menus of my other applications. Is there a way to solve this problem?
- Yes, there are several:
- You can, of course, remove any of the Computer Modern fonts you don't need. You should note, however, that the LaTeX format in particular uses a lot of CM fonts. You can get the list of fonts in use in any document by selecting Show Fonts from the File menu and clicking the 'Only fonts in use' checkbox. (This checkbox is available in the Textures 1.6 dialog box, but not in the dialog boxes of earlier versions.) The following fonts are particularly rarely used: cmdunh10, cmff10, cmfi10, cmfib8, cminch, cmvtt10.
- To make the Computer Modern fonts visible only to Textures and not to other applications, you can place the CM/PS Screen fonts suitcase file in the "TeX fonts" folder. (You must place the suitcase file itself in the TeX fonts folder: if you place the individual fonts loose in the folder, Textures will not find them.) Do not move the PostScript fonts to the "TeX fonts" folder. IMPORTANT NOTE: You must also turn off background printing in the Chooser. The Print Monitor won't be able to find the fonts and will substitute Courier if the fonts are not where it expects to find them.
- Adobe Type Reunion, available from Adobe Systems, will condense the Computer Modern fonts from 75 fonts to only 16 'families,' with sub-menus showing the remainder. You can further reduce this list by removing the rarely-used fonts listed above.
- Suitcase, from Fifth Generation Systems/Symantec, lets you access (or remove access to) fonts at will. If you put the PostScript outlines and the CM/PS Screen Fonts suitcase into one folder and 'open' the CM/PS Screen fonts suitcase, your applications, ATM, and your printer driver will have access to the fonts. You can remove access to the fonts by 'closing' the CM/PS Screen fonts suitcase.
- WYSIWYG Menus, from Now Software, combines fonts into families the same way Adobe Type Reunion does. It allows you to choose which ones will appear in the Fonts menu of any program. This can be used to hide as many of the CM/PS fonts as desired. It also allows you to rearrange the order in which fonts are listed in the Fonts menu so you can put the most commonly used fonts on top.
- Get our "hidefonts" package from our ftp server. This will make the fonts invisible and unavailable to other applications, but will allow you to use background printing. (I think this is the most elegant solution. - ed)
- I have just purchased 578 PostScript fonts from Adobe! Can I use them with Textures? They don't show up in the Show Fonts dialog box.
- Yes, you can use them with Textures, and can do so automatically with Textures 2.0. But if you are using a previous version, you will have to create a special piece called a metric so that TeX can typeset with your new fonts. The way to create metrics for Textures is to use the program EdMetrics. Edmetrics can create a TeX metric from a *.pl file, a *.vpl file, a FOND metric (this is what Macintosh fonts use, and will be available for any Mac font. It is not nearly as good as the others, however), or a *.afm file. Adobe Font Metrics (.afms) should come with any set of PostScript font, but they often don't. You can get them from Adobe's ftp server sometimes.
Once you get ahold of the input item you need (hopefully an .afm or a .pl) you need to
- launch EdMetrics
- make a new file (save it in your TeX fonts!)
- uncheck "Use CM Layout" (for most fonts)
- and choose "Add AFM" (or .pl, or FOND if necessary).
EdMetrics will open a big dialog box. The default options are a good start, so just close it. Now you have the metrics available next time you restart Textures. More complete details are available in your Textures User Guide.
If none of these solutions helps, write to us: help@bluesky.com.