[XeTeX] Fwd: Re: [texhax] Defining a new font in Plain Tex

[Peter Dyballa]

Am 13.01.2010 um 21:22 schrieb Philip TAYLOR:

> Incidentally, it is also unclear to me whether one could
> have two or more fonts of identical name but of different
> technologies (say, Optima as TTF, OTF and Type-1) all
> installed at the same time.

Yes, this is easily possible. You can also have one font on the same  
type in many version(number)s... I think the limit of confusion is  
based on the size of disk/volume/network – money plays no role.

> If it were possible, then
> it would also be useful to be able to indicate through the
> font-selection switch which of the technologies was preferred,
> as there is no guarantee that all three would yield the
> same appearance or even have identical metrics.


The providers of operating systems take care that this confusion  
cannot happen. If a user decides to break this policy, who would care?

You're free to sponsor the advancement of font management systems,  
which might then be used and useful for a few years, that can  
distinguish between font types (PostScript fonts are dying out because  
of their yet limited usefulness, Unicode TT or OT fonts can be used  
optimally via their integral supporting tables). Me, I would like to  
have a font management system which does perceive PostScript fonts at  
all. XeTeX allows to load a *font file* via fontspec – which is  
sufficient to use a PostScript font once or twice (christmas, other  
birthdays, weddings, CD covers, etc.).

--
Greetings

   Pete      <\
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