Contents of Creating new TFM files

Creating new TFM files

If the distribution doesn't provide a TFM file for a font you would like to use then there are a number of things you can do:

If you have access to the Internet then look for the TFM file in the nearest CTAN site (see the ``Related Software'' item in the Help menu). If the font is called foo then look for foo.tfm. If it is a PostScript font then you might have to search a bit harder; using Karl Berry's scheme it might be called something like pfo.tfm. If you find it, remember that a TFM file must be transferred as a binary file.
If you can't find foo.tfm then look for foo.mf. Such a file can be used by ${\logo METAFONT\null}$ to create foo.tfm (and a corresponding set of PK files). See section $[*]$ .
If foo is a PostScript font then look for foo.afm. An AFM (Adobe Font Metric) file contains very similar information to a TFM file. Use AFM2TFM in to convert foo.afm to foo.tfm; see the dvips manual for detailed information about AFM2TFM. Alan Jeffrey's fontinst package can also convert an AFM file into a PL or VPL file which can then convert into a TFM file using PLtoTF or VPtoVF.
As a last resort you could even create a PL file from scratch. A very tedious job.

Having found or created a new TFM file, you need to place it in a suitable folder so that can find it. If you put it in one of the subfolders in TeX-fonts (or create a new subfolder) then you won't need to change the tfm_folders list in the Default config file. If the TFM file is for a PostScript font then you must add a suitable entry to the list of fonts at the bottom of the Default config file. If you have a PostScript printer then dvips needs a similar entry added to psfonts.map in :DVIPS:Inputs:. The examples in those files will show you what to do.