mftrace - Man Page

mftrace [options] fontname

mftrace is a program that can convert a METAFONT font into a Type1 font. It is simply called with the name of the font (without a `.mf' suffix) and produces a Type1 font file called either fontname.pfa or fontname.pfb depending on the command line options. With the help of fontforge(1) it can produce other font formats too.

For tracing the bitmap, mftrace either uses potrace(1) or autotrace(1) (the former preferred) if available; this can be overridden with the --autotrace and --potrace command line options.

This program follows the usual GNU command line syntax, with long options starting with two dashes (`-').

-k,  --keep

Keep all output in directory `mftrace.dir'.

--magnification=MAG

The magnification to use for the PFA file. The default is 1000. The larger the magnification, the more precise the PFA file will be. However, if the magnification is too large METAFONT can crash with overflow errors.

Sadly, many MF fonts contain resolution checks

if dots_per_inch * design_size > 1500:

This check is susceptible to overflow errors. Such code should be reported as a bug, and changed to

if dots_per_inch > (1500 / design_size):

--formats=FMT1,FMT2,...

Specify which formats to generate (default is pfa). Choices are: `afm', `pfa', `pfb', `ttf', `svg'. Note that fontforge (formerly called pfaedit) must be installed to generate any format except `pfa' or `pfb'. For generating `afm' you need either fontforge or ghostscript.

--simplify

This passes the created Type1 font to fontforge (formerly called pfaedit) to simplify and autohint it.

--gffile=FILE

Use generic font file FILE instead of running Metafont. (GF is the default output format of Metafont.)

-I DIR, --include=DIR

Add DIR to the current path for searching files.

--glyphs=LIST

Process only these glyphs. LIST is a comma separated list of decimal numbers or ranges, for example `1-10,50,55,90-100'.

--tfmfile=FILE

Use FILE for the TFM file. (The default is to use fontname.tfm).

-e ENC, --encoding=ENC

Use encoding file ENC. Encoding files used by mftrace are basically in the GhostScript/dvips format, but you may use a special .notavail glyph name in order to tell mftrace not to process a specific glyph. If this option is not specified, mftrace tries to determine the encoding file automatically, from the encoding specified in the TFM file, the default being `tex256.enc'.

--keep-trying

Try to continue if external programs called by mftrace fail. If METAFONT crashes with overflow errors, but nevertheless outputs a GF file, try to process its output as is (useful for some buggy fonts, see above). If potrace or autotrace fail to trace a specific character, first try it with a less smoothed curve, and if that fails, skip the character. By default, mftrace leaves a file `trace-bug-font-char.pbm' and stops the process with a request to file a bugreport.

--dos-kpath

Try to use MikTeX's version of kpsewhich.

--potrace

Use potrace for tracing bitmaps. The default is to use potrace if it is found, otherwise to use autotrace.

--autotrace

Use autotrace for tracing bitmaps.

--no-afm

Don't read the AFM file to find font information.

--noround

Do not round coordinates of control points to integer values (use with --grid). Disabled by default.

--grid=GRID

Set reciprocal grid size in em units multiplied by ratio magnification/1000. For example, `--grid 10 --magnification 1000' rounds coordinates of control points to 1/10th of the em unit. Useful simultaneously with the --noround option. Default GRID value is 1, i.e., round to integer. This option is only used with potrace.

-D,--define=SYMBOL=VALUE

Set the font info SYMBOL to the given VALUE. For example, -DFamilyName=Foo sets the font family name to Foo. mftrace tries to fill in sensible default values for the `FontName', `FamilyName', `FullName' and `Weight' fields.

-V,  --verbose

Be verbose.

-h,  --help

Show summary of options.

-v,  --version

Show version of program.

-w,  --warranty

Show warranty and copyright.

You may redistribute copies of mftrace under the terms of the GNU General Public License <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.
This manual page is copyright © 2005,2006,2007 Julian Gilbey and is distributed under the GNU General Public License too.

mf(1), autotrace(1), potrace(1), fontforge(1).

mftrace was written by Han-Wen Nienhuys <hanwen@xs4all.nl>. This manual page was originally written by Julian Gilbey <jdg@debian.org> and has been revised by Werner Lemberg <wl@gnu.org>.

mktextfm(1).