FontTastic Font Installation
It's relatively easy to install PostScript Type 1 (aka ATM) or TrueType
fonts via the FontTastic font server software provided with ApplixWare.
To do so, perform the following steps:
- As root, launch ApplixWare ('applix' from an xterm).
- From the "Tools" menu, select "Font Installer," and click "OK" on the
dialog that pops up asking if you really want this.
- From the "Catalogues" menu, select "Create" and type in the name of a
font catalog. Be sure that the font path is set to your Applix font
path (applix/axdata/fontmetrics/gallium/fs/aplxfont), not to your X11
font path (/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc). Then click on "create" and
"OK" to dismiss the dialog. Your new catalog should now be listed in
the "Catalogue Manipulations" portion of the FontTastic window.
- From the "Services" menu, select "Install Fonts Into-> FontTastic Font
Server." Select the catalog you've created in the lower list box, then
click the "Select files" button.
- Using the file selector box, select the file(s) you want to install.
If these are Type 1 fonts, FontTastic seems to want to be pointed to the
.pfb files. Note that FontTastic will ultimately copy the files to the
path you selected in step #3, so you can install directly from a font
CD if you like. When you've selected the files, click on "OK" and you
should see the files you've chosen displayed in the upper list box of
the "Font Installation" window. You can check the font names and, if
necessary, correct any errors at this point.
- Click the "Install" button. If all goes well, FontTastic will copy the
fonts to the destination directory. Then click the "Close" button to
close the installation window.
- From the "Services" menu, select "Update." On my system, FontTastic
complains that it can't update the service but that it'll be done when
the server is executed again. I don't know if this step is actually
necessary, but I've always done it.
- Exit the FontTastic font installer and any open Applix windows. The
next time you re-start an ApplixWare application, the new fonts should
be available.
This procedure is relatively easy, and offers the advantage of
being able to temporarily disable a set of fonts, so you can install,
say, seldom-used Gothic fonts but still be able to get at them by
exiting ApplixWare, starting up the FontTastic font manager,
activating those fonts, and re-starting ApplixWare. This also lets
you use the fonts on both PostScript (or Ghostscript-driven) and PCL
printers, whether the fonts are Type 1 or TrueType.
Activating and de-activating fonts becomes easier if you change the
permissions on the appropriate directories and files; then you can do it
as an ordinary user, not just as root.
Unfortunately, this procedure has the disadvantage of causing ApplixWare
to download the font to the printer as a 300 dpi bitmap, so if you have a
600 dpi or better printer, you'll lose the benefits of your printer's
resolution when printing with any fonts you install this way. The 300 dpi
bitmaps also get embedded in the PostScript or PCL files you create, so if
you change fonts or font sizes a lot you can create some truly enormous
print files, which might be a concern if you're short on disk space or
have a true PostScript printer with limited memory.
It was these problems that made me look for another solution, and I
found one with some help from the mailing list and a
lot of experimentation.
Go on to the PostScript install
instructions.
Go back to the Applix fonts main page.
Copyright © 1997, 1998 Rod Smith, rodsmith@rodsbooks.com