CHAPTER 4
TrueType Fonts
80 TrueType Font Dictionary Entries
Table 4-1 lists the comments that delineate sections of code and indicates the classes of
printers for which they are required. <SP> indicates the space character. You must enter
a space at the beginning of each end comment line.
TrueType Font Dictionary Entries 4
In the Macintosh system software, TrueType fonts are represented as a resource, called
'sfnt' for scalable font. In PostScript interpreters, fonts are represented as dictionaries
with certain special key-value pairs. One of these entries, FontType, identifies the font
format and tells the PostScript font mechanism how to interpret the remaining entries.
The FontType entry for TrueType fonts on Class A devices is 42. This section describes
the remaining entries and their semantics for Type 42 font dictionaries.
The following tables represent possible entries in a TrueType font dictionary for Class A
or Class B devices. Class C devices use the Type 1 font format, as documented by the
PostScript Language Reference Manual. Certain entries are required either only for Class A
devices or only for Class B. Other entries have different values, depending on the type of
device. Still others are optional and are not used by the font-rendering code itself.
A valid Type 42 font dictionary must have certain key-value pairs. Table 4-2 lists the
entries common to all PostScript fonts. Table 4-3 lists Type 1 specific entries. Some of
these are supported in exactly the same way as in Type 1, and others are ignored by Type
42 fonts. Table 4-4 lists the entries specific to Type 42 font dictionaries. Table 4-5 lists the
entries in the optional FontInfo dictionary and indicates where the corresponding
information is found in the 'sfnt' format.
Table 4-1 Section code comments
Comments Description
%beginsfnt
<SP>%endsfnt
These comments bracket the creation of the common entries in
the font dictionary for Class A and Class B devices. It may be
discarded on Class C devices.
%beginsfntBC
<SP>%endsfntBC
These comments bracket the definition of entries specific to
Class B (TrueState and BuildChar) in the TrueType font
dictionary. They may be discarded on Class A and Class C
devices.
%beginsfntdef
<SP>%endsfntdef
These comments bracket the call to definefont, which
registers the font dictionary for Class A and Class B devices.
They may be discarded on Class C devices.
%beginType1
<SP>%endType1
These comments bracket the definition of the Type 1 font
dictionary for Class C devices. They may be discarded on Class
A and Class B devices.
