Editing Metafont (section)

==Producing PostScript Type 1 fonts==
There are several tools for converting Metafont programs to [[PostScript Type 1]] fonts. Most make use of [[MetaPost]]'s ability to convert a subset of Metafont's language into [[Encapsulated PostScript|EPS]] outlines, which can subsequently be converted to PostScript Type 1 fonts. Generating vector outlines of Metafont pen strokes is nontrivial, as the Metafont model of a glyph is a raster image and the exact outlines of most strokes are not [[Bézier curve]]s.{{NoteTag|Technically, Metafont ''does'' generate vector outlines as an intermediate step of rasterising a stroke, but those intermediate outlines are tailored to the current raster resolution and non-simple as curves, so they are very far from being usable as Type 1 outlines. An effect of the non-simplicity is spurious pixels on the concave side of a stroke that get a value of 2 rather than 1, however the automatic culling of pictures being shipped out as glyphs in a font normally prevents this from showing up in the final bitmap.}}

* The Polish [[JNS team]] developed [[METATYPE1]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/fonts/utilities/metatype1/|title=CTAN: tex-archive/fonts/utilities/metatype1}}</ref> (based on MetaPost) for creating PostScript Type 1 fonts. Its big disadvantage is that no pens may be used which highly reduces the power of Metafont language. Initially, tool has been used by the Polish [[TeX|GUST]] typeface foundry to produce a modernized and extended variant of [[Computer Modern]], called [[Latin Modern]].
* [[mf2pt1]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/support/mf2pt1/|title=CTAN: tex-archive/support/mf2pt1}}</ref> which is also based on Metapost, was developed by Scott Pakin with some contributions from [[Werner Lemberg]]. It also has several limitations detailed in its manual, the most significant one being the restriction that each glyph must be drawn entirely from closed paths. In order to overcome the limitations of mf2pt1, the EPS output by Metapost can be post-processed with [[FontForge]], which is capable of interpreting complex PostScript paths generated by Metapost from Metafont's elliptic pens, and also capable of removing contour overlaps. Since FontForge supports scripting, this post-processing step can also be automated. This approach was used to produce Type 1 outlines for the [[MnSymbol]] mathematical font developed by Achim Blumensath; MnSymbol was designed as a companion to [[Minion (typeface)|Minion Pro]].
* [[MetaFog]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tug.org/TUGboat/Articles/tb16-3/tb48kinc.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001005030023/http://www.tug.org/TUGboat/Articles/tb16-3/tb48kinc.pdf |archive-date=2000-10-05 |url-status=live|title=R. J. Kinch, "MetaFog: converting Metafont shapes to contours", ''TUGboat'' '''16(3)''', 233–43 (1995)}}</ref> is a proprietary converter that can analytically convert pen strokes, but it requires manual post processing to eliminate degenerate cases, and it is not publicly available. It can process only Metapost output.<ref>K. Píška, 2004</ref>

The common approach to generate Type 1 fonts with pen strokes remains to generate a high-resolution bitmap and then use an [[autotracer]], implemented by packages such as [[mftrace]]<ref>[http://lilypond.org/mftrace/ mftrace] – a small Python program that lets you trace a TeX bitmap font into a PFA or PFB font (A PostScript Type1 Scalable Font) or TTF (TrueType) font. It is licensed under the GNU GPL. Created by Han-Wen Nienhuys. Versions prior to 1.0.5 were called 'pktrace'.</ref> and [[TeXtrace]]<ref>[http://pts.szit.bme.hu/textrace/ TeXtrace] – a collection of scripts for UNIX that convert any TeX font into a Type1 .pfb outline font immediately suitable for use with dvips, pdftex, acroread (and any many other programs). Created by Peter Szabo.</ref>