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From: [email protected] (Norman Walsh)
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Subject: comp.fonts FAQ: Amiga Info
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Date: 14 Aug 1996 10:35:18 -0400
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Summary: This posting answers frequently asked questions about fonts.
        It addresses both general font questions and questions that
        are specific to a particular platform.
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Archive-name: fonts-faq/part13
Version: 2.1.5

Subject: 8. Amiga Information

 Daniel Amor contributes the following sections:

 Font Concepts
 =============

 The Amiga is able to use two different concepts of fonts. First of all
 there are the bitmap fonts. These fonts are created by drawing a letter
  pixel for pixel onto the screen. The advantage is that they look good
 at   small sizes, but are not very good for printout. Also they don't
 look   very good when you change their size. Therefore you have to
 recreate the   font for each size. Second there are the vector fonts.
 They are created by   curves which are stored as mathematical formula.
 This has the advantage   that changing the sizes does not effect the
 output. But this only applies   for larger sizes and print-outs. Vector
 fonts also use less memory.

 Amiga Font Formats
 ==================

   1. Agfa IntelliFont (suffix: .type or .lib) is the native font format
      on   the Amiga. You can use it in any application and it can be
      converted to the   standard bitmap format using the system
      utilities `IntelliFont'   (OS 3.x) or `Fountain' (OS 2.x).

   2. Postscript Type 1 fonts can be used within many applications, it
      can be   used in every word processor and DTP program. There are
      two versions of   the Type 1 format: Binary and ASCII (suffix:
      .pfb & .pfa). The Amiga   software uses the Binary format, but you
      can easily convert them with   TypeSmith or some PD software
      products (z.B. PFB2PFA) . In Addition to the   files mentioned
      above, there are the metrics files with the suffixes .afm   or
      .pfm. They contain information about the size (width) of the
      letters   and most programs expect this file to be in the same
      directory as the font   file.

   3. Postscript Type 3 fonts (suffix: .ps or nothing) are not often
      used on   the Amiga, but some applications do support this font
      format (e.g.    PageStream). There are also some download
      utilities from PD sources   available.

   4. Truetype fonts (suffix: .ttf) are not very common on the Amiga,
      there   is one word processor supporting this format (Wordworth
      3.0). Due to the   lower quality of the format, Amiga users tend
      to use higher quality for   their DTP, DTV and word processing...
      There are also two formats: Mac &   Windows available. The Amiga
      software is able to use the Windows format.

   5. DMF fonts is the privat format of PageStream (suffix: .dmf), since
       PageStream is the market leader in DTP programs on the Amiga, so
      this   format is very common!

   6. Bitmap fonts (suffix: .font and numbers in a directory by the name
      of   the font, sometimes .otag when converted from IntelliFont)
      were used in the   OS 1.x, but have been replaced by the  superior
      IntelliFont Format in OS   2.0. Under 2.0 or higher you still are
      able to use the bitmap fonts for   small sizes, but for printouts
      you should use the IntelliFont format or   any other vector font
      format mentioned above.

   7. Colour Bitmap fonts (same suffixes as Bitmap Fonts, but the
      numbers have   in addition a C, e.g. 35C) are also very common on
      the Amiga, they are   mainly used for DTV applications, like the
      Video Toaster and Scala.

 Frequently Requested Amiga Fonts
 ================================

   1. First place to look for fonts is the AMINET archive. This is the
      biggest     archive of Amiga software and there you will find also
      quite a lot of     fonts. The Aminet consists of many mirrors
      around the world. Here are some     of them:

        1. ftp.wustl.edu,

        2. ftp.luth.se,

        3. ftp.eunet.ch,

        4. ftp.uni-paderborn.de,

        5. ftp.doc.ic.ac.uk.

      Just log in as ftp and go to the directory

      /pub/aminet/text/font.

   2. Another good ftp server to look is the CICA-server:

        1. ftp.cica.indiana.edu

      To this server are also some mirrors around the world available.

   3. Also a good place to look for is the following WWW server:

        1. http://www.ora.com/homepages/comp.fonts/ifa

   4. Another good place is the Fresh Fonts I CD-ROM, there you will
      almost     certainly find some nice fonts. The CD is available from

        1. Fred Fish / Amiga Library Services ([email protected])

        2. Stefan Ossowski / Schatztruhe GmbH

      The CD is for free when buying another CD from that company.

      You can also access the HTML pages on the CD under the following
      address:

        1. http://macke.gris.informatik.uni-tuebingen.de:4711/~damor/

 Commercial Font Sources
 =======================

 Commercial fonts can be obtained from a number of different companies,
 including the large font houses: Adobe, Font Haus, Font Company,
 Bitstream, and Monotype. At these companies, fonts cost about $40 for a
  single face, and must be purchased in packages. Adobe, Bitstream, and
  Monotype also sell pre-designated type collections for slightly lower
  prices.

 There are also a lot of PD reseller who have a vast quantity of fonts,
 check out your local Amiga magazin for more information.

 Please consult the vendor list for a more complete list of vendors.

 Non-Latin fonts on the Amiga
 ============================

 Due to the really bad information policy by C= there was actually no
 information about non-latin fonts. But still it is possible to use them,
  without difficulty. You just have to get yourself some additional
 files.    First of all you need the non-latin font files. There is a
 large selection   of them on the Fresh Fonts CD-ROM mentioned above. In
 order to use the   non-latin font files, you have to get yourself the
 appropriate keymap   file, this will remap the keys on the keyboard to
 the appropriate letters   of the foreign alphabet, e.g. in order to use
 a Russian font, you should   set the russian keymap file in the
 preferences (via PREFS/INPUT).

 Not only that you can write with a non-latin alphabet, you can also
 localize   your workbench. How about a Greek workbench or a Hebrew
 workbench? Have a   look into the AMINET archive (mentioned above) for
 these files!

 In addition to this you can easily use Hebrew & Arabic in any word
 processor   incl. writing from right-to-left! This can be easily done
 by setting the   kerning value to negative values (like this the cursor
 moves left and not   right) and moving the characters into the negativ
 part! You can get fonts   from me with this feature!

 Amiga Font Installation
 =======================

 The installation of Postscript, DMF and Truetype fonts is described by
 the   application that use them. Please refer to the manuals of the
 software   packages.

 The installation of IntelliFonts is very easy. Just start `IntelliFont'
  (OS 3.x) or `Fountain' (OS 2.x) and follow the guidelines from within
  the program.

 In order to install bitmap fonts, either copy them to the logical device
  FONTS: or assign the directory with your bitmap fonts:

        ASSIGN Fonts: <your_directory> ADD

 Right after this you can start your application and use them. When using
  non-latin fonts, don't forget to set the appropriate keymap file!

 Amiga Font Utilities
 ====================

   1. IntelliFont

      IntelliFont is the system program by OS 3.x which lets you install
      Agfa   IntelliFonts and converts them to bitmap fonts. The program
      is located in   the drawer `SYS:System/'. For more information
      read your Workbench 3.x   manual.

   2. Fountain

      Is the preceding program to IntelliFont and comes with the now
      obsolete   OS 2.x. Please read the section about Fountain in your
      Workbench 2.x   manual.

   3. PFB2PFA

      This neat little utility lets you convert Postscript Binary files
      to   Postscript ASCII files. This is needed in order to use DOS &
      Amiga   Adobe Type 1 fonts on the Mac!

   4. CacheFont

      This great program caches the fontlist for you, in order to save a
      huge   amount of time. The program looks for all fonts available
      on the system   and creates a special cache-file on disk.

   5. TypeSmith

      This is the best font converter on the Amiga, besides this
      function it is   also a full blown font editor (see below) :-).
      The program is able to   convert between:

        1. Truetype

        2. DMF

        3. Adobe (Type 1 & 3)

        4. IntelliFont

        5. Bitmap (Amiga, Adobe, DMF)

 Making Outline Fonts
 ====================

 This is very, very difficult. Many people imagine that there are
 programs that will simply convert pictures into fonts for them. This is
  not the case; most fonts are painstakingly created by drawing curves
 that closely approximate the letterforms. In addition, special rules
 (which improve hinting, etc.) mandate that these curves be drawn in
 specific ways. Even designing, or merely digitizing, a simple font can
 take hundreds of hours.

 The easiest way of learning how to create fonts, is to have a look at
 existing fonts and try to change some letters.

 Given that, there are two major programs used for font design on the
 Amiga, TypeSmith 2.5 ($150) and FontDesigner ($100). These programs
 will allow you to import scanned images, and then trace them with
 drawing tools.  The programs will then generate Adobe type 1, 3,
 TrueType,   AGFA Intellifont, DMF and Bitmap fonts for either the
 Amiga, the Macintosh   or the IBM PC. They will also generate automatic
 hinting. They also open   previously constructed outline fonts,
 allowing them to be modified, or   converted into another format.

 As far as I know, there are no shareware programs that allows you to
 generate outline fonts.

 There are also two programs for creating bitmap fonts. Personal Fonts
 Maker and Calligrapher. The second one has not been updated for several
  years, but it still is a good tool to work with. The first Program was
  created by adding some features to a good bitmap paint program
 (Personal   Paint).

 There are some shareware tools to create bitmap fonts which you can
 convert to outline (vector) fonts with TypeSmith.

 Problems and Possible Solutions
 ===============================

   1. Pagestream does not recognize your newly installed font.

      This happens when you have two fonts with the same ID. The
      solution is   to load such a font into a font editor and enter a
      new ID for one of the   fonts. Still it might happen that you
      choose another one, that has already   been used by!

   2. Your application does not find the IntelliFont.

      This happens when you haven't set the locigal device FONTS: to
      your drawer.    You can change this by typing the following
      command into your SHELL or add   this line to your
      `S:User-Startup' file:

             ASSIGN Fonts: <your_drawer> ADD

   3. You're using a non-latin font and the wrong characters appear when
       typing.

      This happens when you forget to set the appropriate keymap file.
      Enter   the Prefs directory and start the program `INPUT'. There
      you can   choose your keymap file.

 Adobe Type 1 fonts for the Amiga
 ================================

 Darrell Leland contributes the following information:

 There are now three high end DTP packages for the Amiga that can
 directly or indirectly use Adobe Type 1 Fonts or AGFA Compugraphic
 fonts. The best of the lot in both my and Amiga World's opinions is
 SoftLogik's Pagestream, currently in version 2.2 but about to go to
 version 3.0.  Pagestream can take Adobe fonts in MS-DOS format directly
 with no format conversion needed. All you have to do is get them on an
 Amiga format disk, which is very easy using the new version of
 Commodore's Workbench operating system. Pagestream has import modules
 for MacWrite, Adobe Illustrator, and every other format in the universe
 (seems like). It is generally a very stable and well behaved program
 with a lot of features. I haven't had a chance to see 3.0 yet, but they
 are claiming it's going to be a real killer. We shall see. It does color
 seps, twists and rotates fonts, etc. Pagestream's job has been made
 easier with Commodore's (about time) release of their own Postscript
 printer drivers and Preferences postscript printer control tools.

 SoftLogik also sells a program called Typesmith, which is (at last!) a
 structured font maker/editor for the Amiga. Typesmith will work with
 both formats mentioned above plus SoftLogik's own font format, which I
 get the impression they are discontinuing in favor of Postscript. They
 also sell ArtExpression, a very nice structured drawing package that
 does everything I can think of. I understand SoftLogik has also been
 getting several Mac and PC font makers to make Amiga fonts for them too.
 They even have a program system that allows programs to publish to other
 programs, sort of like in Mac System 7.0. They are lisencing it out to
 any Amiga developer who pays a paltry sum to lisence it.

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