8 Converting TrueType fonts to a groff/PostScript format for groff

This potentially requires a bit of work, simply because it depends on some utilities that are not installed as part of the base system. They are:

Once all these utilities are in place, you are ready to commence:

1. Create the .afm file by typing:

   % gs [-dNODISPLAY] [-q] -- ttf2pf.ps TTF_name [PS_font_name [AFM_name]]
      
   

   Where, TTF_name is your TrueType font file, PS_font_name is the file name for the .pfa file, AFM_name is the name you wish for the .afm file. If you do not specify output file names for the .pfa or .afm files, then default names will be generated from the TrueType font file name.

   This also produces a .pfa file, the ascii PostScript font metrics file (.pfb is for the binary form). This will not be needed, but could (I think) be useful for a fontserver.

   For example, to convert the 30f9 Barcode font using the default file names, use the following command:

   % gs -dNODISPLAY -- ttf2pf.ps 3of9.ttf
   Aladdin Ghostscript 5.10 (1997-11-23)
   Copyright (C) 1997 Aladdin Enterprises, Menlo Park, CA.  All rights reserved.
   This software comes with NO WARRANTY: see the file PUBLIC for details.
   Converting 3of9.ttf to 3of9.pfa and 3of9.afm.
      
   

   If you want the converted fonts to be stored in A.pfa and B.afm, then use this command:

   % gs -dNODISPLAY -- ttf2pf.ps 3of9.ttf A B
   Aladdin Ghostscript 5.10 (1997-11-23)
   Copyright (C) 1997 Aladdin Enterprises, Menlo Park, CA.  All rights reserved.
   This software comes with NO WARRANTY: see the file PUBLIC for details.
   Converting 3of9.ttf to A.pfa and B.afm.
      
   

2. Create the groff PostScript file:

   Change directories to /usr/share/groff_font/devps so as to make the following command easier to execute. You will probably need root privileges for this. (Or, if you are paranoid about working there, make sure you reference the files DESC, text.enc and generate/textmap as being in this directory.)

   % afmtodit -d DESC -e text.enc file.afm \
           generate/textmap PS_font_name
      
   

   Where, file.afm is the AFM_name created by ttf2pf.ps above, and PS_font_name is the font name used from that command, as well as the name that groff(1) will use for references to this font. For example, assuming you used the first tiff2pf.ps command above, then the 3of9 Barcode font can be created using the command:

   % afmtodit -d DESC -e text.enc 3of9.afm \
                    generate/textmap 3of9
      
   

   Ensure that the resulting PS_font_name file (e.g., 3of9 in the example above) is located in the directory /usr/share/groff_font/devps by copying or moving it there.

   Note that if ttf2pf.ps assigns a font name using the one it finds in the TrueType font file and you want to use a different name, you must edit the .afm file prior to running afmtodit. This name must also match the one used in the Fontmap file if you wish to pipe groff(1) into gs(1).