NewDeal Hot Tip 1403

[Hot Tips for...] Fonts

Converting Fonts, General Information

If you have Geoworks Pro or Quick Start, then you have NINFNT.GEO, which is the Nimbus Font Converter. The converter is not included in newer versions of the software.

NIMBUS.GEO is the system library that Newdeal uses to support its own proprietary font format. NIMBUS.GEO is not a font converter.

The Nimbus Font Converter will only convert fonts from NimbusQ or URW Generic format. There is one retail package of fonts distributed in NimbusQ format that we know about: Zsoft's SoftFonts. The Nimbus Font Converter converts from Nimbus-Q format (sometimes called URW Generic) to Newdeal format. The Nimbus Font Converter will create files that contain both plain and bold styles in one file.

There are some commercial packages, besides the Nimbus Font Converter, which will convert fonts either directly or indirectly to Newdeal format.

One package is called Fontmonger, a Windows-based font conversion program, which will convert fonts to a Nimbus format that the Nimbus Font Converter will then convert to Newdeal format. Fontmonger will not convert fonts directly to Newdeal format.

The commercial programs by MicroLogic, MoreImport and MoreType, can also be used. Unfortunately, MicroLogic appears to be no longer in business.

  1. More Import (MI) will import Type 1 fonts to MicroLogic's own proprietary format. MicroLogic's More Fonts package includes MI starting with version 3.0. Owners of earlier versions of More Fonts or folks who own More Type may not have MI.
  2. More Type (MT) will export fonts from MicroLogic's own proprietary format to Newdeal format directly, or to NimbusQ (URW Generic) format, which the Nimbus Font Converter will then convert to Newdeal format.
That sounds roundabout, since MoreType will convert to Newdeal directly, but there are technical reasons why you might want to do it that way.

Another commercial package is ATech's AllType. ATech is out of business now. AllType will convert several different formats (Type 1, TrueType, etc.) into Newdeal format directly. You cannot use the Nimbus Font Converter in conjunction with AllType.

Public Domain (PD) Fonts

There are many public domain Type 1 fonts for use in Adobe Type Manager available in the software libraries on America Online and on other online services, bulletin boards, and on the Internet.

These fonts can be imported to Newdeal format if you have MicroLogic's MoreFonts Import and MoreType programs, or ATech's AllType program, or Fontmonger and the Nimbus Font Converter.

Not all of the ATM Type1 fonts will work properly in Newdeal, but most of them do.

Converting MAC Type 1 fonts to Newdeal

In addition, there are hundreds of Type1 fonts in MAC format. Using the above mentioned tools, along with a MAC to PC font converter like REFONT (a program also available on America Online and elsewhere on the Internet), the MAC Type1 fonts can be converted to Newdeal format, too. Again, not all of them work properly in Newdeal.

There are several steps to the process, and the results are not always great, but it can be done.

Some online services add a small file header to all MAC files. The first step after downloading a MAC file is to remove this header using a utility called CHOPHEAD.EXE.

Most of the MAC fonts found online are in .SIT files. .SIT is a file compression similar to .ZIP on the PC. So the next step is to decompress the file using another utility called UNSIT.EXE. Both CHOPHEAD and UNSIT are available on America Online and elsewhere on the Internet.

The .SIT files will decompress into several files. Now you need another utility called REFONT to convert the MAC Type1 into PC Type1. Type1 fonts usually consist of at least two files: the font data file (.PFB) and the metrics file (.AFM). The tricky part is figuring out which of the MAC files is which, but once you do the process a few times, it gets pretty easy.

Okay, now you've got a PC Type1 font that ATech's AllType or MicroLogic's MoreFonts Import and MoreType programs will convert to the Newdeal format for you.

One thing: Some PD fonts do not work in Newdeal format, so don't be disappointed if every font doesn't work properly--some are too complex for the converter to handle, some contain errors that cause Newdeal to crash, and some appear to work properly on screen but give trouble when printing. However, many of them are great and work beautifully.

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Last Modified 2 Mar 1999