OTF format or name sorcery (in Polish)

Bogusław Jackowski
Gdańsk, Poland
Play (45min) Download: MP4 | MP3

TeX users were accustomed to a font name being a font name. And that the name of the *.tfm file is simply the font name. A small problem arose from one of the operating systems insisting on not differentiating between lower and upper case letters in file names. Even more trouble was introduced with PostScript fonts — three names joined the action: the name of the *.tfm file, the name of the *.pfb file and the internal name of the font written into the *.pfb file. It shouldn’t be too easy: the *.pfb file sports three names: the name of the font (FontName), the full name (FullName) and the family name (FamilyName). Because PostScript programs refer to the font name, TeX users put it (along with the *.tfm and *.pfb file names) into the config files such as DVIPS psfonts.map. The PostScript fonts introduced — what wasn’t in good old times — spaces in font names.

It’s already interesting. The real fun begins with OpenType type fonts, and especially so with those which have the “size” feature feature implemented, like the Latin Modern fonts. Using the example of the Latin Modern family, this presentation will explain what are names all about in OpenType fonts.