User`s manual

TransType Pro

If you select the Default item TransType will refer to the codepage

selected as the default in the Defaults/Codepages & Scripts Page of

the Preferences dialog:

If you select Use Names (the default option for the source encoding pop-

up menu) TransType will try to convert character names to Unicode

indexes and later apply Unicode-based reencoding algorithms. We

recommend that you always use the names-Unicode method unless you

know that the source font has symbol or simulated encoding, in which case

you will manually select a codepage from the codepages list. Remember

that you may use the font preview feature to look at the encoding.

As in TrueType, after you define the source codepage you should select a

destination codepage to completely define the reencoding process.

All the characters now have some Unicode index assigned, so you can

follow the same process described in the TrueType section.

Metrics Files

TransType uses the following sequence to create known font metrics:

AFM+INF, PFM, PFB. If metrics for a particular character are not present

in the PFM file, then they are extracted from the font file (PFB). After

conversion the metrics information is stored in the FOND resource, as

required by the Mac OS. Here is a more detailed description of the

algorithm that is applied by TransType to find a metrics file:

1. It looks for the name.AFM file (name is the name of the PFB file:

name.pfb) located in the same folder. If it locates the file, it extracts

the metrics from it.

2. If the AFM file is not present, it looks for the name.PFM file in the

same folder and, if the file is not found there, in the PFM subfolder of

the current folder.

3. If the PFM file is found, it reads the kerning and metrics data from it.

Then TransType opens the PFB file and partially interprets it to extract

the metrics for the characters that are not covered by the PFM.