mftrace - convert METAFONT format fonts into Type1 outline fonts

NAME

       mftrace - convert METAFONT format fonts into Type1 outline fonts

SYNOPSIS

       mftrace [options] fontname

DESCRIPTION

       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.

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.

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.

AUTHOR