Baslinux mailing list

[sindi keesan <keesan AT sdf.lonestar.org>]

On Tue, 11 Jan 2005, sindi keesan wrote:

> On Tue, 11 Jan 2005 cce.zizkov AT volny.cz wrote:
>
> > I uploaded
> >
> >    http://www.volny.cz/cce/ptrfonts.tgz
> >
> > that contains:
> >
> > - downloadable fonts for HP Laserjet 3 or later
>
>
> I don't think this will work for my HP Laserjet IIP or the deskjet series, 
> unfortunately.  But maybe there is something in here I can use to design my 
> own fonts some day.  Thanks.  I will look into using my Epson fonts with 
> linux if I can find them and extract from the WP setup.


See below for an explanation of why your Laserjet 3 fonts won't work on a 
Laserjet IIp or a deskjet.

ftp://ftp.simtel.net/pub/simtelnet/msdos/laser/
I found (from 1988/89):  hpril.zip - Russian soft font
and two printer font editors for laserjet:  gof10.zip and fntedt57.zip

And at /msdos/undefined/lqchr121.zip   to edit Epson printer fonts.

Perhaps I can find some way to import the Turbofonts Cyrillic fonts into 
this editor.  Turbofonts had some mistakes that needed correcting.


Perhaps converting from ascii to ps would be simplest, and graphics is not 
as slow to print on a deskjet as on a dot-matrix. 
-------
                        Hewlett Packard Font Formats

   Since the introduction of the original HP LaserJet printer there has
   been a demand for additional typefaces to compliment the printers'
   resident fonts. The early LaserJet printers prior to the LaserJet III
   printer in 1990 had a resolution of 300 dots per inch (dpi) and only
   supported fixed size fonts, called PCL bitmap soft fonts. The arrival
   of the LaserJet III printer saw the resolution increased to 600 dpi
   and the addition of support for Intellifont scaleable soft fonts. Both
   formats are detailed below.

     Bitmap Fonts

     For PCL bitmap fonts a separate font must be created for each
     required size. Therefore if a typeface was required to be used at
     10, 12 and 14 point and was required in regular and italic weights,
     six fonts would need to be produced.

     In addition a bitmap font is manufactured at a specific resolution
     of usually 300 or 600 dpi and a font can only be used on a printer
     with equal or greater resolution than the font. Therefore a 600 dpi
     font can not be used on a 300 dpi printer and although a 300 dpi
     font can be used on a 600 dpi printer it will produce a below
     standard image.

     Intellifont Scaleable Fonts

     The scaleable font format differs from a bitmap font because the
     character data is stored as a mathematical outline. This enables a
     single font to be used for all sizes as the outline data can be
     scaled to any required size. The other benefit of using a scaleable
     outline is that as it does not have a specific resolution, the
     printed image is always produced at the maximum resolution of the
     printer.

     The Intellifont scaleable font format is supported by all HP
     LaserJet printers from the HP LaserJet III onwards.

   A soft font is the general term given to fonts that can be added to a
   printer. Depending on the specific printer and the customers
   requirements, soft fonts can be supplied either as downloadable fonts
   on diskette or on cartridges, SIMM's or DIMM's which physically plug
   in to the printer itself. The options are covered below.

     Downloadable fonts

     Fonts that are supplied on diskette are usually referred to as
     downloadable fonts as they need to be downloaded to the printer
     before they can be used. The process of downloading is very simple
     if the printer is connected to a PC, in which case the fonts can be
     downloaded using the DOS copy command. Once downloaded the fonts
     remain resident in the printer until either the printer is switched
     off or a command is sent to the printer to delete the downloaded
     fonts.

     The major advantage to downloadable fonts is one of cost as there
     is no printer specific hardware involved. The major disadvantage is
     that the fonts need downloading each time the printer is switched
     off.

     Fonts stored in the printer

     Most LaserJet printers have a mechanism by which soft fonts can be
     stored on the printer. The early LaserJet printers had a cartridge
     slot into which a font cartridge could be plugged and newer
     LaserJet printers support either font SIMM's or font DIMM's which
     are added inside the printer. Some high end LaserJet printers even
     have a hard disk which can be used for storing soft fonts.

     All of the these methods of storing fonts on a printer are
     non-volatile which means that the fonts are not deleted when the
     printer is switched off. The advantage being that the fonts are
     always available with no user intervention required.

   Once soft fonts have been added to a LaserJet printer they are
   accessed by sending an escape sequence which selects the font ready
   for use. Data is then sent to the printer as usual and will be printed
   using the selected font.

   Although TrueType fonts are great for Windows and Apple Mac users, HP
   soft fonts are often an ideal solution for companies using other
   operating systems such as Unix and DOS.

References

   1. http://www.formula.co.uk/index.html