1MFTRACE(1)                  General Commands Manual                 MFTRACE(1)
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NAME

6       mftrace - convert METAFONT format fonts into Type1 outline fonts
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SYNOPSIS

9       mftrace [options] fontname
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DESCRIPTION

12       mftrace  is  a  program  that  can convert a METAFONT font into a Type1
13       font.  It is simply called with the name of the  font  (without  a  .mf
14       suffix)  and  produces  a Type1 font file called either fontname.pfa or
15       fontname.pfb depending on the command line options.
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17       For tracing the bitmap, mftrace either uses potrace or  autotrace  (the
18       former  preferred)  if  available;  this  can  be  overridden  with the
19       --autotrace and --potrace command line options.
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OPTIONS

22       This program follows the usual  GNU  command  line  syntax,  with  long
23       options starting with two dashes (`-').
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25       -k,--keep
26              Keep all output in directory `mftrace.dir'.
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28       --magnification=MAG
29              The  magnification to use for the PFA file. The default is 1000.
30              The larger the magnification, the more precise the PFA file will
31              be.  However,  when  the magnification is too large METAFONT can
32              crash with overflow errors.
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34       Sadly, many MF fonts contain resolution checks
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36                  if dots_per_inch * design_size > 1500:
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38       This check is susceptible to overflow  errors.   Such  code  should  be
39       reported as a bug, and changed to
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41                  if dots_per_inch > (1500 / design_size):
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43
44       --formats=FMT1,FMT2,...
45              Specify  which  formats  to  generate (default is pfa).  Choices
46              are: afm, pfa, pfb, ttf, svg.   Note  that  fontforge  (formerly
47              called  pfaedit) must be installed to generate any format except
48              pfa or pfb. For generating afm  you  need  either  fontforge  or
49              ghostscript .
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51       --simplify
52              This  will  pass  the created Type1 font through fontforge (for‐
53              merly called pfaedit) to simplify and autohint it.
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55       --gffile=FILE
56              Use generic font file FILE instead of running Metafont.
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58       -I DIR, --include=DIR
59              Add DIR to the current path for searching files.
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61       --glyphs=LIST
62              Process only these glyphs.  LIST is a comma  separated  list  of
63              decimal numbers or ranges, for example 1-10,50,55,90-100.
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65       --tfmfile=FILE
66              Use   FILE   for   the   TFM  file.   (The  default  is  to  use
67              fontname.tfm).
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69       -e ENC, --encoding=ENC
70              Use encoding file ENC.  Encoding files used by mftrace are basi‐
71              cally in the GhostScript/dvips format, but you may use a special
72              .notavail glyph name in order to tell mftrace not to  process  a
73              specific  glyph.   If this option is not specified, mftrace will
74              try to determine  the  encoding  file  automatically,  from  the
75              encoding   specified   in   the  TFM  file,  the  default  being
76              tex256.enc.
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78       --keep-trying
79              Try to continue if external programs called by mftrace fail.  If
80              METAFONT  crashes with overflow errors, but nevertheless outputs
81              a GF file, try to process its output  as  is  (useful  for  some
82              buggy  fonts,  see above). If potrace/autotrace fails to trace a
83              specific character, first try it with a less smoothed curve, and
84              if  that  fails, skip the character. By default mftrace leaves a
85              file `trace-bug-font-char.pbm' and  stops  the  process  with  a
86              request to file a bugreport.
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88       --dos-kpath
89              Try to use MikTeX's version of kpsewhich.
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91       --potrace
92              Use  potrace for tracing bitmaps.  The default is to use potrace
93              if it is found, otherwise to use autotrace.
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95       --autotrace
96              Use autotrace for tracing bitmaps.
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98       --no-afm
99              Don't read the AFM file to find font information.
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101       --noround
102              Do not round coordinates of control  points  to  integer  values
103              (use with --grid).  Disabled by default.
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105       --grid=GRID
106              Set  reciprocal grid size in em units multiplied by ratio magni‐
107              fication/1000.  For example, --grid 10 --magnification 1000 will
108              round  coordinates of control points to 1/10 of em unit.  Useful
109              simultaneously with the --noround option.  Default GRID value is
110              1,  i.e.,  round  to  integer.   This  option  is only used with
111              potrace.
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113       -D,--define=SYMBOL=VALUE
114              Set the font info SYMBOL to the given VALUE. For example -DFami‐
115              lyName=Foo  sets  the  font family name to Foo. Mftrace tries to
116              fill in sensible default values for  the  FontName,  FamilyName,
117              FullName and Weight fields.
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119       -V, --verbose
120              Be verbose.
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122       -h, --help
123              Show summary of options.
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125       -v, --version
126              Show version of program.
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128       -w, --warranty
129              Show warranty and copyright.
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SEE ALSO

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

135       mftrace  was written by Han-Wen Nienhuys <hanwen@xs4all.nl>.  This man‐
136       ual page was originally written by Julian Gilbey  <jdg@debian.org>  and
137       has been revised by Werner Lemberg <wl@gnu.org>.
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141                                 April 5, 2004                      MFTRACE(1)