Fonts and
PrintersFonts and
PrintersI originally released this document on March 22, 1998. I've since added details on controlling the combination of bold and italic attributes. I've added information on telling WordPerfect about fonts you do (or don't) have installed in your printer, or in Ghostscript's Fontmap file. I've had time to try the TrueType-to-Type 1 font conversion utility, and have some tips on that in the recommendations section. There's some information on 1200 dpi PostScript printer drivers. I've also made a number of small textual changes to increase clarity. I've added information on WordPerfect 8.0 for Linux and on improving the clarity of fonts displayed on the screen. There's now a page on Bas Jordans' macro for creating combination characters.
If you want yet more information on WordPerfect for Linux, consider buying my book on the topic, Special Edition Using Corel WordPerfect 8 for Linux, ISBN 0789720329, published by Que. You can order it at Amazon.com (the above link leads to Amazon.com's page on my book), or you can read more about it and other books you might find interesting. Appendix B of my book is based partly on this web site, and of course there are plenty more chapters and appendices covering everything from installing WordPerfect to basic formatting to using templates and macros. Note: This book is now out of print, but you can still find used copies through the Amazon page on the book.
If your current printer just isn't cutting it with WordPerfect for Linux, your single most important resource for finding a new printer is the Linux Printing Support Database, which lists printer compatibility with Ghostscript, Linux's printer driver for non-PostScript printers. You might also want to check my Linux Hardware Handbook, which includes a chapter on printers, as well as lots of other Linux hardware issues. You can also read more about it on its own web page.
WordPerfect for Linux, published by Corel (and ported by SDCorp, which has since vanished as a separate entity), is a powerful word processor that's also common on other platforms. Unfortunately, as I discovered the hard way, there are a number of potential problems with using WordPerfect when the default set of WordPerfect fonts is modified. You may not get optimal print quality, or Ghostscript may crash. Setting up printers also presents a number of choices to the user, many of which aren't transparent. Fortunately, there are solutions to these problems, but it can take some work to find them. I'm presenting the problems and solutions here, in an attempt to reduce the effort expended by others in solving these problems again.
To fully understand the issues, it's necessary to know some of the history of WordPerfect's, and of other word processors', handling of printers and fonts; and of course to know what the problems are. I've therefore included sections on these issues, as well as instructions on installing fonts and setting up printers.
I am making every attempt to keep these web pages viewable from any web browser. Of course, not all browsers support all features used by these pages, but I've tried to make such items harmless to these browsers. These pages have been checked using weblint, as well as with a variety of browsers. If you encounter a problem accessing these pages from your browser, please notify me.
Copyright © 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002 by Rod Smith, rodsmith@rodsbooks.com