I know OT CFF (TrueType) fonts have been created and developed for some years now, but they seem to be seldom used with Windows system fonts, in preference to standard TrueType Fonts, but is PageStream supposed to be able to utilise OT CFF fonts, and all their available character glyphs on specific systems, or on all systems, or none of them?

Yes, PageStream supports OTF fonts (*). All the glyphs are available on all the platforms. As I recall, most glyphs beyond the usual have the entered one at a time using the Insert Character dialog or the keyboard mnemonic that allow you to enter the Unicode glyph number. PageStream Manual: Typing Text

(*) What is not supported (for the most part) are various intercharacter tables that allow complex writing systems like Arabic. So you can insert all the glyphs, but complex layout is not done automatically.

@ Deron - Thanks for your update, but I should also have asked more specifically which version of PageStream were OTF fonts supposed to be fully supported, and have CFF OTF fonts been catered for specifically?

I was passed a font from a legal source at MonoType who supplied the SyntaxLTPro-Roman font to see which MorphOS program could read the font, it being an OTF CFF rather than a standard OTF TTF font, but when I loaded the font via font preferences in PageStream v4.1.5.6 from the _ttf folder of the MorphOS system fonts then PageStream v4.1.5.6 failed to see it, and obviously was unable to use it.

I should also add that there was only one other MorphOS native wordprocessor/office program that could read/display the CFF OTF font, so there seems to some issue with this Compact Font Format that may affect PageStream's font engine recognising it.

Is there something else that I need to do, other than use the font preferences in PageStream to install it, as I can use all the other OTF TTF fonts in that drawer, just not the CFF TrueType Font I mention, or is this a limitation of PageStream that was not anticipated affecting the program's font engine using such CFF OTFonts thus far?

I cannot use PageStream v5 currently due to the limitations of that version, so my day-to-day PageStream version has to be v4.1.5.6 Pro, so even if v5 supports CFF OTF/TTF fonts I cannot use that font engine to check its viability of v5 of PageStream because I cannot get that version to work stably/correctly, which is why I am still waiting for v5 for MorphOS, probably like a good few other PageStream users.

I can only speak about the latest release. I don't remember what 4.1 did or did not do . Obviously if you tested it and the font does not work to your satisfaction, then that is that. You should be able to convert the font to a compatible format. If the font is something you can send me, I'll be happy to test it and let you know but otherwise we can cross that bridge when we get to it.

@ Deron - OK, I've sent an email to the person at Monotype to ask if he will let you have the font in question - Syntax LT PRO ROMAN CFF OT Font for testing purposes with PageStream. So, hopefully you'll hear from him, via your usual emails - deron@ or support@ (pagestream.org) in the next day or so, or sooner.

By the way, thanks for your quick reply, and offer to test the font, which I consider to be very helpful of you, and is much appreciated.

As an updated, I did receive this font from Monotype along with two others. They appear to work in my in-house PageStream5 update. I've attached a PDF and a PNG that was generated by me using these three fonts and the latest PageStream5.

The real test will be to see if the forum will keep the attachments, and if others can download them and see for themselves

Thanks for arranging this Neil!

Deron

Attachments

Monotype Font Test.pdf (418.4 kB, 659 views)

Monotype Font Test.png (215.4 kB, 525 views)

Thanks Deron, for your kind comments (and your extremely friendly email) and for re-opening this thread in the forum, and updating it with these results, which are very nice to see.

It'll be even nicer to be able to use them, with the correct licence or authority from Monotype in the longterm, or use similar OT CFF fonts with PageStream version 5.x.x.x for MorphOS, and hopefully other releases once you've got the troublesome teething problems resolved.