Re: Optical size information in Emmentaler-nn OpenType fonts

[Werner LEMBERG]

>> [...] it seems that Pango doesn't support this currently out of the
>> box which means that lilypond doesn't directly benefit.
> 
> Well, I'm not sure about that anymore.
>
> The feature makes sense if you have several variants of the same
> family, and these variants are designed to be used at different
> point sizes.

This is exactly the case with the Emmentaler fonts.

> What I'm now starting to doubt is that you can have this relation
> between font version and point size in our case. Which one would be
> the suitable Emmentaler version for a particular point size (in
> continuous text of another font)? I don't think there is a useful
> relation.

There are two issues:

  (1) The Emmentaler fonts provide optical sizes.  A mechanism to
      automatically select the right font can be implemented using the
      `size' feature.

  (2) The relation between a text size and the Emmentaler size.  I
      fully agree that it is not possible to define this one to one.
      However, you have exactly the same problem even with different
      text fonts.  In other words, the Emmentaler fonts must be scaled
      in relation to the text font.

> For my purpose (embedding Emmentaler in continuous LaTeX text) it
> seems to make more sense to conceive the different .otf versions as
> 'weights' that could be made selectable (maybe s.th. like 1 through
> 7, corresponding to Emmentaler-26 to 11). This will be implemented
> either as an option for the commands or as a command to change
> weight somewhere in the document.

I think this is the wrong concept because it mixes up (1) and (2).
Just think of combining, say, Computer Modern Roman with Times Roman.
You aren't going to assign `weights' to cmr, are you?


    Werner