View source for Adding Fonts to TeX

This wiki page describes how you can add your own fonts to use with TeX.
The instructions will depend on the type of the font:  whether it is available
as a PostScript Type 1 font, as a TrueType font, or as a font written
in MetaFont source form.

You will also need to decide whether to put the font files in a separate
directory structure (specified below), or whether just to put the files in
the directory you will be in when running TeX.  The first option allows the
fonts to be available to you regardless of what directory you are running
TeX in, but it requires a bit more work to set up.  It also leads to less
clutter in the directory where you keep your TeX source files.

This wiki page only describes how to add fonts for use with the '''tex'''
and '''pdftex''' commands (including variants '''amstex''', '''latex''',
'''pdfamstex''', and '''pdflatex''').  For adding fonts to XeTeX, see the
page [[Adding Fonts to XeTeX]].  Note that Xe(La)TeX natively supports PostScript Type 1,
TrueType, and OpenType fonts, so that installation of fonts for XeTeX is much
easier than the methods described here for ordinary TeX.

=Adding LaTeX Support for the Fonts=

Often fonts will come with files used to add LaTeX support for the fonts.
Usually these files end in '''.fd''' or '''.sty'''.  They should be put
in subdirectories of the directory '''texmf/tex/latex''' (or in your current
directory if you are not using '''texmf''').

=Installing the fonts themselves=

The main part of the procedure for installing the fonts depends on what format
they are provided in:  MetaFont, Type 1, or TrueType.

==MetaFont Fonts==

Fonts provided in MetaFont source form are easy to set up for TeX, since they
are built using a tool that is part of the TeX system.

MetaFont font files generally have names ending in '''.mp'''.  To install
them, put them in a directory '''~/texmf/fonts/source''' or some subdirectory
of this directory (often fonts will be provided in a '''tar''' or '''zip'''
file that indicates a preferred name for this subdirectory).  After doing
this, run the program
 texhash
to enable TeX and auxiliary programs to find the newly installed files quickly.

If, instead, you choose to install the files in the current directory, then
you can do so.  In this case you don't need to run '''texhash'''.

To test your installation, see the section [[#Checking the Font Installation]],
below.

==PostScript Type 1 Fonts==

The procedure for PostScript fonts is a bit more complicated, since (with a
few exceptions) PostScript fonts are not created as part of the TeX system.
As a consequence of this, their characters occur in a different ordering than
in TeX fonts.

This situation is remedied by the use of
[http://www.tex.ac.uk/cgi-bin/texfaq2html?label=virtualfonts virtual fonts].
This mechanism requires that there be (at least) two font names, one
(such as '''ptmr8r''') for the "raw" font and one or more
(such as '''ptmr7t''' or '''ptmr8t''') for the reencoded font.

Usually, PostScript fonts have been repackaged for TeX by someone else.
In that case, you can find them on [http://www.ctan.org CTAN] as a package,
with the virtual fonts, etc., already provided.  If this is the case, then
you can install them by putting them into your '''texmf''' directory
under the following subdirectories:
{| class="wikitable" border="1"
! Extension !! Directory
|-
| pfa, pfb, pfm || texmf/fonts/type1
|-
| afm || texmf/fonts/afm
|-
| tfm || texmf/fonts/tfm
|-
| vf || texmf/fonts/vf
|-
| map || texmf/fonts/map/dvips
|}
When installing a PostScript font package from CTAN, first thing to do
is always to read the provided instructions (README files and whatever
documentation is provided), and then check the provided ZIP archive
before unpacking it, by listing its contents. A lot of font packages are
prepared so that unpacking the ZIP archive at the root of the texmf
tree places all the relevant files in proper locations, greatly simplifying
the installation process. That, however, cannot be taken for granted, so
listing the contents of the ZIP archive before unpacking should be
always mandatory.

If the PostScript font has not been set up for TeX, then you should read the
documentation for '''fontinst'''.  You may also contact Mariusz Wodzicki
or Paul Vojta for assistance.

After putting the files in the indicated places, run the command
 texhash
Then, for each '''.map''' file, run the command
 updmap --enable Map='''file'''.map
or
 updmap --enable MixedMap='''file'''.map
Use the second command if and only if there are also MetaFont versions of the
fonts referenced in the '''.map''' file (see the manual page for
'''updmap.cfg''').

If there are many '''.map''' files, instead of running the above '''updmap'''
command for each of them, you can run just the one command
 updmap --edit
This will put you into a text editor, editing a file containing
lines of the form "Map '''file'''.map" or "MixedMap '''file'''.map".
You should add such a line for each '''map''' file you installed earlier.
The rules for using '''MixedMap''' instead of '''Map''' are the same as before.

To test your installation, see the section [[#Checking the Font Installation]],
below.

==TrueType Fonts==

TrueType fonts are not well supported in TeX.  However, if you wish to install
them, see the web page
[http://www.radamir.com/tex/ttf-tex.htm Using TrueType fonts with TeX (LaTeX) and pdfTeX (pdfLaTeX)].
(But: have you tried using Xe(La)TeX instead?)

=Checking the Font Installation=

To check that the fonts were installed correctly, you can run the TeX file
'''testfont''', as the following example illustrates (this example uses
the font '''punk10'''; things you type are printed in bold):
 % '''tex testfont'''
 This is TeX, Version 3.141592 (Web2C 7.5.6)
 (/usr/local/texmf/tex/plain/base/testfont.tex
 Name of the font to test = '''punk10'''
 ''[Many lines of output omitted here]''
 Now type a test command (\help for help):)
 *'''\table\bye'''
 [1]
 Output written on testfont.dvi (1 page, 5876 bytes).
 Transcript written on testfont.log.
You can then test the file by viewing it with '''xdvi''' or printing it with
'''dvips'''.  Or, (depending on the type of font file) you can use '''pdftex'''
in place of '''tex''' and use a pdf viewer.