Re: Fix for PDF output

[portnoy]

Mark Hindley <address@hidden> writes:

> Where are you up to? Do you want some help?

I've converted all the existing PostScript routines to PDF specials,
and that part is working -- and a bit more readable than the set of
TeX macros we're currently using.  The font problem is the ugly bit,
though.

> One thing I have got stuck with is the feta*.pfa fonts. If you try
> to use them to produce PDF with decent screen output they cause a
> buffer overflow in pdf{la}tex. Are they really Type 1? I have just
> got a copy of the spec, but haven't waded through it yet.

The PFA fonts are not Type 1, they're Type 3.  And that's a big part
of the problem -- in order for PDFTeX to use them in a PDF file they
have to be converted into bitmaps, which kind of removes the
usefulness of having outline fonts in the first place. :-)

I've been wandering through the PDF spec myself, and it does have
support for Type 3 fonts.  It might make sense to try to convert the
existing PFA's into Type3 fonts that the PDF engine can handle.
That's the bit I was starting to map out before I got overloaded with
other work. :-)

-- 
Stephen L. Peters                                  address@hidden
  PGP fingerprint: A1BF 5A81 03E7 47CE 71E0  3BD4 8DA6 9268 5BB6 4BBE
     "Poodle: The other white meat." -- Sherman, Sherman's Lagoon