On Sat, 11 Dec 1999, luctaesch wrote:
Disclaimer: I'm still pretty new to latex, so take everything with a
grain of salt. I hope more experienced users jump in...
[discussing use of type1 fonts with latex]
>can they be generated by latex, or i have to get them around ? where would
>be the ideal place ? do i have to do something special to access them from
>lyx ?
No, latex doesn't generate type1 fonts, like most things in this world
you have to buy them, steal them or search for a free version ;)
The font you get by default is cm (not the type1 version, but there
are type1 versions of cm too). If you specify a different font in lyx,
e.g. times, and export your file as latex, you'll see that lyx puts
'\usepackage{times}' in the preamble. Now if you take a look at the
times package (times.sty) you'll see three commands:
\renewcommand{\rmdefault}{ptm} % <- new default roman font
\renewcommand{\sfdefault}{phv} % <- new default sans serif font
\renewcommand{\ttdefault}{pcr} % <- new default typewriter font
You could enter these commands in your lyx preamble to get the same
result and that's what you do if you want to use a font not offered by
lyx' pop-up menu. At this level, the font type (metafont, type1, or
even truetype) doesn't matter, that is you have to know that ptm is a
type1 times roman and you have to make sure it is properly installed
(when installing fonts however, the type does matter to a certain
extend). The actual mapping happens in *.fd files, in this case in
ptm.fd, phv.fd, and pcr.fd.
All of these files and the files they call in turn (the actual font
files, font metrics, virtual fonts etc.) have to be installed and they
have to be known to latex (not lyx). The times package and similar
packages are provided for convenience only, they're not required to
use the fonts. See a latex FAQ for information on how to install fonts
and fntguide.dvi (comes with most latex distros) for the commands used
for font selection.
But first of all you need to get some fonts ;) BTW: Search your
harddrive for *.pfb and *.pfa files, these are type1 font files. Latex
distros, ghostscript and a few other apps come with type1 fonts, so
chances are that there already are some on your hd. You can get
metrics and everything else required to use them from a CTAN mirror or
generate the stuff yourself.
Anyway, a decent FAQ is probably the best way to get started. See
http://adept.cs.twsu.edu/doc/tetex-doc/texmf/help/faq/uktug-faq/
and maybe browse
http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/help/comp-fonts-FAQ/
HTH
--
Philip Lehman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
