[tex-live] dvipdf on Debian etch does not create fonts

[Zdenek Wagner]

2007/11/26, Ralf Stubner <ralf.stubner at web.de>:
> On Sun, Nov 25, 2007 at 23:37 +0100, Zdenek Wagner wrote:
> > 2007/11/25, Ralf Stubner <ralf.stubner at web.de>:
> > > Oliver Bandel <oliver at first.in-berlin.de> writes:
> > >
> > > > I used dvipdf to create a pdf.
> > > > It does not create fonts, so my pdf
> > > > was not useful.
> > >
> > > In most cases you should not use the automatically created bitmap
> > > fonts when creating PDF files, since these fonts are resolution
> > > dependent. When possible, you should use Type1 fonts instead.
> > >
> > > > When I use dvips and afterwards
> > > > ps2pdf I see my text (and while
> > > > dvips is running, I see that fontfiles
> > > > will be created).
> > >
> > > Note that dvipdf, which is not part of TeX Live, calls dvips with
> > > options -q (=quiet) and -Ppdf (=definitions suitable for PDF
> > > production). The latter option is incompatible with most metafont
> >
> > This is not true. Some MF fonts are available as Type 1 as well, e.g.
> > Computern Modern are available as Type 1 from Blue Skye Research, from
> > BaKoMa, an can be substituted by Latin Modern. Basic 35 PS fonts are
> > resident in PS printers but replacements from URW also exist. Switch
>
> That's what I was telling two paragraphs above: Use Type1 fonts, not MF
> fonts. And at least in my book a MF font converted to Type1 (like CM
> from bluesky or Bakoma) is no longer a MF font but, well, a Type1 font.
>
I disagree with your statement that -Ppdf is incompatible with most
metafont fonts. This is not true.

> > -Ppdf merely instructs dvips to include additional font maps so that
> > Type 1 fonts are embedded into the document whenever they are
> > available. If the Type 1 font does not exist and MF source can be
> > located, its bitmap font is generated. You can also ask updmap to
> > prefer outline fonts. In such a way -Ppdf is the default option.
>
> No, the -Ppdf option loads config.pdf. This file not only loads font
> maps such that Type1 fonts are used (that's the default behaviour of
> dvips since teTeX 2 IIRC), but it also sets a very high value for the
> resolution to be used:
>
> ,----[ config.pdf ]
> | % Default resolution. Attempt to make `resolution independent'.
> | % Resolution set to 8000dpi (could be as high as 10000).
> |
> | D 8000
> `----
>
> This does make sense, if only Type1 fonts are used. However,

No, this has nothing to do with fonts. Due to frequent bugs in
floating point arithmetics in various PS RIPs dvips converts all
dimensions to integer pixels according to resolution. Letterspacing
corrections and kernings accumulate and are inserted when they achieve
integer number of pixels. Take any document typeset with Type 1 font,
decrease the resolution (e.g. by the command line switch) to a very
low value, say 50, process it again by dvips and you will see that the
letterspacing will come out very ugly. I makes no sense to rasterize
bitmap fonts at such a high resolution. Anyway, metafont will most
likely report overflow with most fonts. Font resolution is controlled
by another parameter:

% Last resort sizes.
% If you accidentally include a bitmapped pk font, it will probably go
% at 600dpi.

R 300 600


> generation of bitmap fonts typically fails with this setting.
> Sometimes because no suitable mode is found, sometimes because the
> font was not meant to be rendered at that high resolution, ...
>
> cheerio
> ralf
>
> PS: Was it itentional, that you sent your message only to me?
>
It was my mistake, I selected "Reply" instead of "Reply to all"

-- 
Zdeněk Wagner
http://hroch486.icpf.cas.cz/wagner/
http://icebearsoft.euweb.cz