PostScript fonts

To be able to view or print a PostScript font in a TEX document, needs to know certain information about the font, especially the name of its corresponding TFM file. This information is specified at the end of a configuration file (see the Default file). The PostScript TFMs stored in the PS sub-folder in TeX-fonts are meant to be used in conjunction with the virtual font files stored in the VF-files folder (section [*] has more information about virtual fonts). These TFMs and VFs were created for the psnfss package by Sebastian Rahtz using Alan Jeffrey's fontinst macros. The fonts are supplied in both OT1 and T1 encodings. The default encoding is OT1; this is the old TEX text font encoding described in The TEXbook. The T1 (or Cork) encoding is the new TEX text font encoding for 256-character fonts. The T1 TFMs and VFs have names ending in ``q''. See test0.tex in the PSNFSS sub-folder in TeX-inputs for how to select either encoding. Virtual PostScript fonts like ptmr should not appear in a config file's list of PostScript fonts. Only the corresponding ``raw'' font (ptmr0) should be listed. Note that raw TFMs are indicated by names of the form *0.tfm. When is fixing VFs it will replace characters from ptmrq.tfm with characters from ptmr0.tfm according to the mapping defined in ptmrq.vf. Every PostScript printer has a certain set of resident fonts. To see an alphabetical list of the PostScript fonts available in your current printer, choose ``Send PostScript ...'' from the File menu, open the PS-files folder, and send the file getfonts.ps. The list should appear in the window. If you'd prefer to print the list then send fontlist.ps. The font you wish to use may not reside in the current printer, so provides a mechanism for downloading non-resident PostScript fonts. For example, the following entry appears in the list of PostScript fonts at the bottom of the Default file:
   =   putr0   Utopia-Regular  <putr.pfa   Utopia   Mac.enc
The file to be downloaded appears immediately after the ``<'' character. When translates a DVI file into PostScript, it checks if any fonts need to be downloaded. If putr0 is used on a selected page then the above entry tells to include putr.pfa in the PostScript output. looks for putr.pfa in the current folder first and then in the PS folder(s). can also download font information stored in a Macintosh-specific PostScript font file. It checks the type of the file specified after ``<'' and if the type is LWFN then it will download the PostScript code stored in the file's POST resources. Such files are normally kept somewhere in your System folder (e.g., in the Fonts sub-folder under System 7.1), so you will need to add a suitable path to the PS folder(s) in the Default config file. To print a DVI file that uses PostScript fonts on a non-PostScript printer you should have the corresponding screen fonts installed in your system. For example, if putr0 appears in the DVI file then will try to use the screen font Utopia. If Utopia is not installed then will display an error message and use the system font instead (normally Chicago). When previewing a DVI file, will also warn you if it can't find the screen font for a PostScript font; all characters from such a font will be shown using the system font in the missing font colour. There are some important differences between PostScript fonts and the Computer Modern fonts created specifically for use with TEX:
  1. A PostScript font can be requested at almost any size. For example, in Plain TEX you can do things like ``\font\helv=phvr at 33.3pt''.
  2. When a PostScript font is scaled to the same design size as a CM font it tends to look darker and larger. It is probably not a good idea to use the two font designs in the same document.
  3. The standard TEX commands for accents and foreign letters need to be redefined for a PostScript text font. For Plain TEX users, the file pstext.tex in the Plain sub-folder in TeX-inputs contains the required macro definitions. Another file, psfonts.tex in TeX-docs, inputs these macros and illustrates the use (and abuse) of PostScript fonts in a Plain TEX document.
LATEX users can typeset a document with PostScript text fonts rather than Computer Modern by simply adding a suitable package declaration. For example,
   \documentclass{article}
   \usepackage{times}
will switch the default text font to Times-Roman. See the documentation in the PSNFSS sub-folder in TeX-inputs for other possibilities. Note that CM math fonts will still be needed to typeset mathematics, but you can buy commercial font packages such as Lucida or MathTime that include PostScript replacements for these math fonts. Another alternative is to get the BaKoMa or CM/PS fonts; these are PostScript versions of the Computer Modern fonts. provides configuration files for switching to BaKoMa, CM/PS, Lucida or MathTime.