WordPerfect for DOS Updated | Site Map | Search | Troubleshooting Guide | Feedback | Voluntary Contributions | FAQ

Install Type 1 Soft Fonts for PostScript Printers


Type 1 fonts and WPDOS | Convert TrueType to Type 1 | Type 1 fonts in WPDOS 6.x | A Type 1 font installer for WPDOS 5.1 | Use the euro symbol in Type 1 fonts with WPDOS 5.1 | Use the euro symbol in Type 1 fonts with WPDOS 6.x | Convert OTF fonts to Type 1 | Find and replace fonts in WPDOS 5.1 | Advanced font storage for HP LaserJets | Home page


For further information on fonts and WordPerfect for DOS, see the separate page on TrueType fonts (for WPDOS 6.x).


PostScript Type 1 fonts and WPDOS

The methods used on this page work correctly with vDosWP and DOSBoxWP. You need not do anything additional to use PostScript Type 1 fonts with those systems.

This site's methods of printing from WPDOS to any Windows printer, and its methods of creating PDF files from WPDOS, and its methods of faxing from WPDOS to Windows fax software all use Ghostscript, a full-featured PostScript interpreter. All PostScript printers, including Ghostscript, can use disk-based soft fonts in the Type 1 font format created for use with PostScript. To use Type 1 soft fonts with WPDOS, they must be installed into your WordPerfect Ghostscript or other PostScript printer driver. This page explains how to do it, and how to create PostScript Type 1 fonts from your existing TrueType fonts.


How to convert Windows TrueType fonts into PostScript Type 1 fonts

Standard Windows fonts are in TrueType format, not Type 1 format. To convert TrueType font files to Type 1 format, choose the ones you want to convert, and copy them from the Windows \FONTS folder to some other directory before converting.

For the conversion itself, you may use a commercial font converter such as TransType or the freeware utility ttf2pt1.exe, which may be downloaded from this site through the generosity of the author, Frank Siegert. (The ttf2pt1.exe utility is part of the excellent shareware package PStill, which generates PDF files from PostScript print files. PStill is available from Frank Siegert's web site, and costs about one-tenth the price of Adobe Acrobat.) Download ttf2pt1.exe and place it in any convenient directory, preferably the directory in which you copied the TrueType fonts that you want to convert.

To use the ttf2pt1.exe program, open a DOS prompt (Help! How do I open a DOS prompt?), and navigate to the directory in which you have the program and your TrueType fonts that you want to convert. Run the program, using this syntax (explained immediately below) for converting a TrueType font to a Type 1 font:

ttf2pt1 -b filename.ttf fontname

Make sure to type -b with a lower-case b (not upper-case B); replace  filename.ttf with the filename (or the complete directory path- and filename) of the TrueType font you want to convert and replace fontname with the name that you want to become part of the output filenames fontname.pfb and fontname.afm (you will need to use both the .PFB and .AFM files that are produced by the program). When you have the Type 1 fonts that you need, you need to install them in WPDOS.

Note: For copyright reasons, ttf2pt1.exe does not convert custom hints in a TrueType font into custom hints in a Type 1 font. Instead, it applies "generic" hinting to the Type 1 font. Depending on the font, this may produce less satisfactory results than the original font when displayed on screen or when printed on low-resolution printers.


Installing and using Type 1 fonts in WPDOS 6.x

In WPDOS 6.x, you can install Type 1 fonts from either the Font dialog (press Ctrl-F8, then Shift-F1, then Install-Delete Fonts), or from the Edit Printer Setup screen (press Shift-F7/Edit/Font Setup/Install-Delete Fonts). When the WP Font Installer opens, choose Type 1, and follow the prompts. If are installing fonts for use in PostScript printers (or for this site's methods of printing to any printer, or for creating PDF files, or for sending a WP file to a Windows fax program), select the fonts you want as both "Soft font," and "Graphics" if you want accurate displays in WPDOS graphics modes and print preview; if you do not need accurate displays in graphics modes, choose "Soft font" only. (In the case of PostScript printers, Soft fonts and Graphics fonts are created from the same files, but they are handled differently by WordPerfect. See the note immediately below.)

Note: When you install Type 1 fonts as "Soft fonts" with PostScript printers, WordPerfect downloads the complete font to the printer; this is the fastest and most efficient way of getting the font data in the printer; if you also install the same font as "Graphics" when using a PostScript printer, WPDOS will also display the fonts accurately on screen in graphics, page view, or print preview modes. When installing Type 1 fonts for any non-PostScript printer, you can only install them as "Graphic Fonts," and, in almost all cases, WordPerfect 6.x will download massive bitmap graphics to the printer, not the compressed fonts themselves. (When printing to LaserJet and other PCL-compatible printers, WordPerfect 6.x generates PCL soft fonts from Graphic fonts, and downloads the generated PCL soft fonts to the printer.)

When you install a soft font with the WP Font Installer, the font is added both the printer definition file (.PRS file) and to the specific .ALL file that is the source of the .PRS file. For example. If you have more than one printer definitions (.PRS file) that derive from the same .ALL file (for example, multiple printer definitions based on this site's Ghostscript printer drivers), you only need to install your fonts into one printer definition, and then use the Update option on the Select Printer menu (under Shift-F7/Select) to add the newly installed fonts to other printer definitions based on the same .ALL file.

Note: Advanced users who customize their own Automatic Font Changes (AFCs) may need to recreate these changes for each printer definition. These changes are not saved in the .ALL file, and the method for changing AFCs in an .ALL is extremely complicated, and must be performed separately for each printer definition. If you wish to try, follow these basic instructions:

Editing AFCs in an .ALL file: To edit an .ALL file, you need the WP Printer Definition Program (PTR.EXE). Make a backup copy of the .ALL file that you want to edit, and save the backup with a different file extension (not .ALL), so that WPDOS will not list the definitions that are included in the backup copy. Open the .ALL file with PTR.EXE. Select a printer that you wish to modify; choose Edit/Fonts; from the Font Type dropdown menu, select Built-In. Choose Create, and select Non-Shared. From the list of font libraries, select the first one that is not named "Non-Shared Built-In", choose Edit, use the star key to select all the fonts, select Copy, choose Non-Shared Built-In, and choose OK. Repeat this for each font library in the list. When you have done this with each library (and have copied all the fonts to the Non-Shared Built-In library), use the star key to UNmark all of the libraries that are not named "Non-Shared Built-In" so that only "Non-Shared Built-In" is marked for use by the printer. Now, from the drop-down list of Font Types, choose Soft Font (KB), and repeat the same procedure: first, create a "Non-Shared Soft Font (Kb)" library; then copy the fonts from all the other listed libraries into it; and then UNmark all the libraries that are not named "Non-Shared Soft Font (Kb)". You may now select any font in the Non-Shared libraries that you created and create AFCs for that font; the AFCs can use fonts from the same or other Non-Shared libraries.


A font installation utility for Type 1 soft fonts and WPDOS 5.1

With WPDOS 5.1, you should use different techniques for installing (a) older commercially-sold Adobe Type 1 soft fonts and (b) all other Type 1 soft fonts, including those made by converting TrueType to Type 1. Details follow:

(a)  In WPDOS 5.1 first few hundred soft fonts released by Adobe Systems are supported by original WordPerfect printer drivers that are downloadable from Corel's page for WPDOS 5.1 printer drivers. Search for "PostScript (Additional" (without the closing parenthesis) and download all matching files. A list of supported Adobe typefaces is available in a self-extracting archive. The fonts themselves are not included in these drivers; these drivers will only be useful to you if you already own one or more of the Adobe soft fonts that are supported by the drivers, and now want to use those fonts with WordPerfect. After downloading one of these "PostScript (Additional" drivers (contained in an .ALL file) you may use it instead of any other PostScript driver, or, preferably, you can use the PTR.EXE supplied with WPDOS in order to copy the font definitions from the PostScript (Additional) driver into the .ALL file that contains the driver you prefer. Consult the WordPerfect 5.1 manual (pages 520-21) for instructions on copying font definitions between two .ALL files.

(b) The PrimeType font installer: To install all other Type 1 soft fonts into WPDOS 5.1, you will need a special set of tools available from this site in this TYPEINST.ZIP archive. The files in this archive are part of a larger software package that is no longer marketed, PrimeType for WordPerfect, by LaserTools (distributed outside the United States as Adobe TypeManager for WordPerfect), and are posted here with the generous permission of the original authors. Please note that most menu items in the installer program will not work because the full package will not be on your disk. For the purposes of this installer, you do not need any files other than the ones included in the archive. (One non-essential file is included: PTKEY51.WPK; this is a WPDOS keyboard definition that includes macros for quick entry of typographic quotation marks, dashes, and other characters not included on the standard keyboard.)

Note: The original PrimeType retail package included fonts and software code that were copyrighted by Adobe, and so the full package may not legally be posted on the Internet. However, the files posted on this site contain no Adobe code, and do not violate Adobe's copyright in any way.

To use this installer, please follow these steps exactly:

(1) Create a directory to contain the Type 1 fonts that you will install into WordPerfect, typically C:\PSFONTS. If you already have a directory by that name that contains dozens of Type 1 fonts, create a separate directory to be used only for installing fonts into WPDOS. The type installer will probably crash if you use a directory containing too many fonts.

(2) Copy a small number of Type 1 fonts into the directory you created in the preceding step. You will need the *.PFB and *.AFM files, not the *.PFM files. If you have *.INF files for your fonts, copy those also, but they are not absolutely required.

Note: If you have only a .PFB and .PFM file for one of more of your Type 1 fonts, but no .AFM file, use this freeware PFM2AFM.EXE utility to generate an .AFM file from the .PFM file.

(3) Extract the files in TYPEINST.ZIP into your WordPerfect directory, typically C:\WP51. Close the DOS window.

(4) (Updated for 64-bit Windows) Using either the vDosWP Plain Dos program or the DOSBoxWP Plain DOS program, or some other DOS emulator, navigate to your WordPerfect directory and enter PTINSTAL.EXE /A (the command-line switch /A is crucial).

(5) When PTINSTAL.EXE opens, chhose "Edit miscellaneous PrimeType options" (an menu item which only appears if you added the /A switch in the preceding step), then "Edit PrimeType directory locations" and make sure the first, second, and fourth fields are correct. Do not type anything in the "WPWin printer directory" or "Dot matrix temporary file dir" fields. Go down to the last field, press Enter, then select "Return to the main menu." 

Note: If (and only if) the rest of the procedure is completed successfully, you will not need to set these directory locations again. The option to set the locations only appears if PTINSTAL.EXE is started with the /A switch.

(6) Select "Install fonts already on your hard disk," then "WordPerfect PostScript printer drivers." Choose the same driver that you use when printing to your PostScript printer (or to Ghostscript for this site's methods of printing to any Windows printer or this site's methods for printing to PDF files). Press Enter to select it, then select the soft fonts you want to install, press Enter to select them, and F10 to install them. If you see the "Success!" message, return to the main menu, and select "Save changes and exit to DOS."

(7) Start WordPerfect. Choose Shift-F7/Select Printer, and select the printer to which you installed fonts as your default printer. Choose Edit, then Update; then, under Initial Base Font, make certain that the font that you installed is listed among the other fonts. In Path for Downloadable fonts and printer command files, enter the name of the directory you created in step (1). Return to the editing screen, select your newly-installed font, and print.


How to use the euro symbol in recent Type 1 soft fonts with WPDOS 5.1

Some (not all) Type 1 soft fonts include a euro symbol, but you must take some additional steps before you can print that symbol from WordPerfect. Follow these steps only if you are certain that the euro symbol is in fact in your soft font.

For WPDOS 5.1, while installing your soft font using the method described above, take careful note of the name of the .ALL file into which you installed the font. Run the WP printer definition program PTR.EXE (which should have been installed with WP itself), and open the .ALL file into which you installed your font. Select the printer name that you chose when installing the font; press Enter to edit; select Fonts, navigate down to Soft Fonts (kb), and chose the heading "*PTWP: [your printer name"; Press Enter to edit.

Navigate to the name of your newly-installed font; press Enter to edit; select Character Map and press Enter to edit. The name of the font's character map should be selected (and will have an asterisk next to it); press Enter to edit it. In the Character Map editing window, press PgDn until you reach 4,0, then use the down arrow until you reach 4,72.

Press Ctrl-Enter to "Edit in window"; press Alt-F8 for Global; press 1 for Add; press Ctrl-Enter for default; type "euro" (without quotation marks) as the name and press Enter; press Enter to move to the right side of the window and type the following text:

"/Euro glyphshow "

Note that this begins with a quotation mark, then a forward slash, then Euro spelled with an upper-case E. Note that it ends with a space followed by a quotation mark. Do not omit the space! Do not omit the quotation marks! Do not spell Euro with a lower-case e! Press F7.

You should now be back in the character map window, and he lower part should be empty. Carefully type into the lower part of the character map window the string

euro

with a lower-case e and no quotation marks, and press F7.

Note: If, and only if, you are editing a monospaced, non-proportional font, ignore the following paragraph, and proceed from the paragraph that begins: "Press F7 until you are prompted to save the file and exit PTR.EXE."

Press F7 again, and then F7 once more, and cursor down to Size and Spacing Information. Press Enter, and then navigate down to Proportional Spacing Table, and press Enter. Press Enter again to edit the proportional spacing table for your font. Press PgDn until you see character 4,0, then use the down arrow until you see the width setting for character 4,11, Pound/Sterling; this is almost certainly the same width as the euro symbol in your font. Use the down-arrow to find character 4,72, and enter the same width number that you found in character 4,11.

Explanation: In order to print any character in a proportional font, the character must have an entry in both the Character Map and the Proportional Spacing Table for the font. If either of these two entries is missing, the character will not print.

Press F7 until you are prompted to save the file (answer Yes) and exit PTR.EXE. Open WPDOS. Use Shift-F7, then S - Select, then 7 - Update; press F7 to return to the editing screen.


How to use the euro symbol in recent Type 1 fonts with WPDOS 6.x

Some (not all) Type 1 soft fonts include a euro symbol, but you must take some additional steps before you can print that symbol from WordPerfect. Follow these steps only if you are certain that the euro symbol is in fact in your soft font.

To edit a WPDOS 6.x printer definition, you need the WP Printer Definition Program (PTR.EXE). Make certain that you have a copy of this program before you proceed.

In WPDOS 6.x, when installing your Type 1 soft font, take careful note of the name of the .PRS file into which you installed the font information. In the directory with your printer files, run the command  PTR YOUROWN.PRS  (replacing YOUROWN.PRS with the actual name of your .PRS file). If you already had a copy of PTR.EXE on your system, and it is in a different directory, use the full path of PTR.EXE in the command.) (Help! What does a "full path" mean?) Follow this sequence of menu items: Edit/Fonts/Soft Font (kb)/Non-Shared Soft Font (kb), and find and highlight the name of the font you installed. The name will be followed by "Type 1"  in parentheses.

With the font name highlighted, choose Edit/Character Map. The name of the font's character map (probably the same name as the font itself) should be highlighted. Choose Edit, then Current Character Set to Edit, and select Typographic Symbols from the drop-down list. Scroll down to character 72 Circle-U (or use Search to go directly to 72). Press Enter, use the Tab key to go to the Expression window and press F5 to enter the Global Variables menu.

Press 2 - Create, then enter the name "euro" (no quotation marks) as the name, and remove the check box, if any, next to Use Pattern. Press OK. With the highlight on euro, select 2 - Edit, and enter the following text in the Expression editing window:

"/Euro glyphshow "

Note that this begins with a quotation mark, then a forward slash, then Euro spelled with an upper-case E. Note that it ends with a space followed by a quotation mark. Do not omit the space! Do not omit the quotation marks! Do not spell Euro with a lower-case e! Press F7.

With "euro" highlighted in the list of variables, press 8 - Insert to enter "euro" into the lower part of the Edit Character Map Printer Command window.

Note: If, and only if, you are editing a monospaced, non-proportional font, ignore the following paragraphs and press F7 until you are prompted to save the file (answer Yes) and exit PTR.EXE.

Press F7 until you are back at the Edit Font dialog. Choose Size and Spacing Information/Spacing/Proportionally Spaced/Proportional Spacing Table..., and press Enter to bring up the list of tables. Your font's proportional spacing table (probably with the same name as the font itself) will be highlighted. Choose Edit. If the Character Set is not Typographic Symbols, choose Character Set and select Typographic Symbols.

In the list of symbols, scroll down to character 11 Pound/Sterling. Note the number in the right-hand column that indicates the width of the character; in almost all fonts, the width of the euro will be the same as the width of the Pound/Sterling character, and also the same width as the dollar sign and other currency symbols. (In the Impact font that we are using as an example, the width is 27; it will almost certainly be different in your font!) Scroll down to, or search for, character 72 Circle-U. Press Enter and type in the same number that you noted as the width of the Pound/Sterling character. Press F7 until the program prompts you, "Save File?" Answer Yes, save the file, and exit PTR.EXE.

Explanation: In order to print any character in a proportional font, the character must have an entry in both the Character Map and the Proportional Spacing Table for the font. If either of these two entries is missing, the character will not print.

Note for expert users of WPDOS 6.x: When the WP Font Installer installs a Type 1 font for a PostScript printer, it modifies both the .PRS file and the .ALL file from which the .PRS file is derived. An expert user should probably make the changes described above in the .ALL file, and then Update the .PRS file from within WPDOS. When modifying a font setting in the .ALL file, if the character map for the font is "Adobe Standard Encoding", then you may want to change the character map to "PostScript 1 euro" or, for monospaced fonts only, "PostScript fixed euro", if you find either of these in the .ALL file. For monospaced fonts, no changes are required in the Spacing options, but the changes described above will be required in the Proportional Spacing Table for any proportional-spaced fonts.


Convert OpenType fonts (OTF) to PostScript Type 1 fonts

Many modern fonts from Adobe and other vendors are packaged in the new OpenType Format (OTF), which is not recognized by WPDOS. The OTF format can be either TrueType-flavored (meaning that it serves as a package for TrueType fonts) or PostScript-flavored Type 1 fonts (meaning that it serves as a package for Type 1 fonts); if, and only if, an OTF font is PostScript-flavored font, you can extract from it traditional Type 1 fonts that WPDOS can recognize.

To perform this feat, you will need the freeware cfftot1.exe program which is documented here and may be downloaded from the links on its author's main page. I have not tested this program.


A macro for finding and replacing fonts in WPDOS 5.1

A macro for finding and replacing fonts in WPDOS 5.1 is available on this site's additional features page. (A similar macro may be found in the Macros keyboard supplied with WPDOS 5.1+. WPDOS 6.x has built-in features for finding and replacing fonts.)


Advanced font storage techniques for HP laser printers

Warning: This section is only for advanced users who manage high-end HP LaserJet printers. Do not try these techniques if you do not know exactly what you are doing!

On most high-end HP LaserJet printers, you can store Type 1 (and PCL) fonts semi-permanently on flash memory (DIMM, Compact Flash, or USB storage) or an internal hard disk. After installing the same fonts in WordPerfect, you can then setup WPDOS so that it understands that the fonts are already present in the printer and do not need to be downloaded to the printer by WPDOS itself. This will make printing much faster than it is when WPDOS downloads the fonts with each print job.

To manage fonts on high-end HP LaserJet printers that include Compact Flash, USB, or other forms of storage, use HP's obscure printer management software. Only attempt this if you are willing to read the manual and experiment until you are certain that you know what you are doing. Begin by downloading and installing HP Web JetAdmin 10.2 or later software. Use this program's its storage management features to download PFB files to your printer. This is a brief summary of the procedure: First, add Type 1 fonts to the Repository. Then on the Storage tab of the software's display of your printer, view Media, then use Secure Erase to erase any file or file system on the device; the fast non-secure erase option is adequate. Then Initialize File System. Then view Fonts and Macros, and download the fonts from the Repository to the storage device. Prepare to spend a lot of time in trial and error, mostly error.


Home Page Edward Mendelson Site Map