Embedding Adobe Fonts - "PFM" vs "PFB" files

["Thibodeaux, Paul" <Pa...@ps.net>]

I followed the instructions for embedding an Adobe Type 1 font and it really
worked smoothly.

Problem is, when I open the PDF in Acrobat I get a warning :
"Unable to extract the embedded font "OCRA".  Some characters may not
display or print correctly.

However, the document displays and prints fine.

UserConfig file looks like this
 <font metrics-file="OCRA.xml" kerning="yes"
embed-file="C:\WINNT\fonts\oa______.pfm">
    <font-triplet name="OCRA" style="normal" weight="normal"/>
 </font>

I decided to try embedding the ".PFB" file instead of the PFM.  This
eliminated the warning message, but now the document does not print
correctly.  The UserConfig file looks like this

 <font metrics-file="OCRA.xml" kerning="yes"
embed-file="C:\WINNT\fonts\oa______.pfb">
    <font-triplet name="OCRA" style="normal" weight="normal"/>
 </font>

According to Adobe, both the "PFM" and the "PFB" files are required. PFM is
for printing and PFB is for screen viweing.

How do I embed BOTH of them for the same font?

Thanks,
Paul

Re: Embedding Adobe Fonts - "PFM" vs "PFB" files

[Jeremias Maerki <de...@greenmail.ch>]

On 17.09.2002 21:57:34 Thibodeaux, Paul wrote:
> I followed the instructions for embedding an Adobe Type 1 font and it really
> worked smoothly.
> 
> Problem is, when I open the PDF in Acrobat I get a warning :
> "Unable to extract the embedded font "OCRA".  Some characters may not
> display or print correctly.
> 
> However, the document displays and prints fine.
> 
> UserConfig file looks like this
>  <font metrics-file="OCRA.xml" kerning="yes"
> embed-file="C:\WINNT\fonts\oa______.pfm">
>     <font-triplet name="OCRA" style="normal" weight="normal"/>
>  </font>
>
> I decided to try embedding the ".PFB" file instead of the PFM.  

Very good idea. You HAVE to embed the PFB, not the PFM.

> This
> eliminated the warning message, but now the document does not print
> correctly.  The UserConfig file looks like this
> 
>  <font metrics-file="OCRA.xml" kerning="yes"
> embed-file="C:\WINNT\fonts\oa______.pfb">
>     <font-triplet name="OCRA" style="normal" weight="normal"/>
>  </font>
> 
> According to Adobe, both the "PFM" and the "PFB" files are required. PFM is
> for printing and PFB is for screen viweing.

The PFM only contains font metrics. To display the font the PFB is
sufficient.

> How do I embed BOTH of them for the same font?

You really don't have to.

I guess the problem is the following:
Some special fonts (like OCR-A/B fonts) don't get parsed correctly. The
XML font metrics file produced can contain inaccurate values. I'll get
back to you in about 12 hours from now with more information. I've
haven't got that stuff handy here at home. I hope this helps in the
meantime.


Jeremias Maerki