Re: [Groff] Musings on the adding of fonts

[Sigfrid Lundberg, NetLab]

On Tue, 26 Feb 2002, P. Alejandro Lopez-Valencia wrote:

> At 06:51 p.m. 26/02/2002 +0100, Sigfrid Lundberg, NetLab wrote:
>
>
> >2. Then I tried some TrueType fonts, and software (the freetype library,
> >pfaedit, autotrace and the like). Pfaedit is not even version 1 yet, but
> >still very useful. To get the font metrics for a truetype font is a piece
> >of cake. To get a type 1 font out of it is also OK. But where is the
> >kerning table? Any pointer to info on kerning and ttf would be much
> >appreciated!
>
> The kerning table is not where you imagine... As it is an integral part of
> the font, you need a dedicated tool to get at it. The best procedure to
> obtain the needed AFM metrics file from a truetype font is to either use
> ttf2afm (part of the ttf2pk utilities set) or using ttftopt1, which you can
> find at Sourceforge. The latter tools will generate good Type 1 fonts
> (6.5-8 in a scale of 10) from the TTF files, including AFMs in the vector
> encoding of your choice.

I actually tried both those tools, in addition to pfaedit, on at least
three fonts, including a (I think) commercial version of garamond we got
on the CD with our HP 1200 laser printer. None of them yielded a kerning
table, only type widths.  To reformulate my query:

        Is the kerning info embedded in a ttf so sofisticated that it
        cannot be exported into an .afm file?

Or

        Is it more likely the fonts that I tried are of inferior quality,
        and thus lacking kerning info?

Or

        Is the software wanting?


Cheers

Sigge