--------------------------------------------------------------------
        Adding "generic" soft fonts to Ventura Publisher
             for use with the HP Laserjet Series II

               By Alexander Auerbach 73367,2231

   Adding Bitstream fonts to Ventura Publisher is relatively painless, 
in part because the software generates the necessary width tables that 
are required by Ventura.  To use other fonts -- for example, Swfte's 
Glyphix fonts, or public domain fonts acquired from CompuServe or from 
bulletin boards -- you have only a couple of choices.

   1.) You can buy a commercial software package, such as WYSIfonts 
($95) or VFM (a $25 shareware program available in the XEROX VENTURA 
Forum Library 7, where it is VFM12.ZIP) ...

   2.) You can do it yourself, which is nit-picking but not all that 
difficult, and is free.  Being cheap, and not liking the way VFM seems
to want me to name my font files, I opted to learn how to roll my own. 

   The first step is to generate the fonts you want, or to assemble 
the fonts you have acquired. Next you should move the fonts into your 
\VENTURA subdirectory, or whatever directory you use to store your fonts. 
(If you want Landscape versions of your Portrait fonts, but don't own the 
Landscape versions, them, the PORTOLAN utility will make them for you. It is
on the Utilities disk.)  

  When you name your fonts, you should use the naming convention that 
Ventura requires:

  -  The file extension of a Portrait font is .SFP.
  -  The file extension of a Landscape font is .SFL.

   The primary part of the file name can be constructed as per the 
following example:

          HPLJFPPW.SFP

   Breaking down the primary part of the filename, it works like 
this.  The first four characters are HPLJ. The fifth character is 
the typeface, as listed on Page K-12 of the manual; for example, 
H for Helvetica, T for Times, etc.  The sixth and seventh characters
are the point size, in two digits; 06 for six point, 14 for 14 points, 
etc. The eighth character indicates the weight of the face: B (for Bold),
I (Italic), N (Normal) or T (Bold Italic). 

   The book "Ventura Tips & Tricks," 2nd Edition (by Ted Nace and Daniel 
Will-Harris, published by Peachpit Press) says "This is not documented in
the manual, but it is necessary" to use this naming convention.

   I have tried, with success, using a more descriptive name for fonts.
For example, Palatino 12 point bold italic might be named PALAT12T.SFP.
Nace and Will-Harris don't say what happens if you ignore the HPLJetc 
naming protocol.  Any feedback on this topic would be welcome.

  Most font generating programs (e.g. Glyphix) name each font as it is 
generated. In that case, you should make yourself familiar with your 
program's naming convention.

   Copy to your \VENTURA subdirectory the HLPTOVFM.EXE program found 
in the HPLJPLUS subdirectory of the Utilities disk, and the 
VFMTOWID.EXE utility from that disk.

   The use of HPLTOVFM is described in page K-6 of the Appendix to 
the manual.  But if you just run the program it will bring up a help 
screen that is in some ways clearer than the manual.

   Next you must use HLPTOVFM to create a "VFM" (which stands for 
Ventura Font Metrics) file for each font. For example:

        HLPTOVFM PALAT12T.SFP /F=Palatino/N=21/P=12/W=T

   Because in this example we chose not to use the standard naming 
convention, we have taken advantage of the "switches" available in 
HPLTOVFM to identify the font name, typeface ID number (see page K-18 
of the Appendix), point size and weight.

   The program will produce a VFM file for each typeface.  It will 
have name such as PALAT12T.VFM.  This is an ASCII file.  

  (In all likelihood you will be processing a number of typefaces 
at one time.  The easiest way to do that is by using the nondocument 
mode of your wordprocessing program to create a batch file.)

   Your next step is to create a .LST file, which is an ASCII text 
file that lists the VFM files, with each VFM file on a separate line.  
The VFM files should be listed in the proper order: all fonts for a 
given typeface are placed together, and within each typeface you 
start with the smallest point size and go up in order to the largest.  

  IMPORTANT: Within each point size, you must list the VFM files for 
the normal typeface first, then the italic face, then bold, then 
bold italic.

   You will want to use the nondocument mode of your wordprocessing 
program to build the .LST file, but you can get a start by using DOS 
redirection, as follows:

        DIR PAL*.VFM > PALATINO.LST

The result will be an ASCII file, PALATINO.LST, identical to what you 
would see on your screen after typing DIR PAL*.VFM.  With your 
wordprocessor you will have to delete the first and last few lines of 
information in that file, plus the information about the size of each 
file in bytes, the date and time, etc.  But it still beats typing in 
each file name manually.

  You can give the LST file any identifying first name, but select 
one which will remind you of its contents.  For example, if you were 
building a bunch of Palatino fonts, you might call it PALATINO.LST.

   The next-to-last step is to use the VMFTOWID utility to create a 
width table from your LST file.  The syntax is simply:

        VFMTOWID FILENAME.LST

with FILENAME.LST being replaced by the name of your own file; in our 
example, it would be PALATINO.LST.

   The result will be (at last!!) a width table for the fonts you 
have created.  It will have a name on the order of PALATINO.WID.

   The final step is to merge your new width table into an existing 
width table, such as OUTPUT.WID. You do this from within Ventura 
Publisher, using the ADD/REMOVE FONTS selection from the OPTIONS 
pulldown menu. Once you have done this, the fonts will be available 
for your use within Ventura.

   All of this is less confusing than it sounds. Just take your time, 
and be extra-careful when typing in the file names, "switches," etc. Try 
out your width table before merging it into OUTPUT.WID, by loading it 
as an alternative width table from the ADD/REMOVE FONTS selection.  Make
a test file, and use it to be sure you are getting bold face, italic, etc.
where you expect them.

   Finally, when you are done making your .WID file you no longer need 
the LST and VFM files on your hard disk. Copy them to a floppy and then 
delete them from your hard disk, as the manual recommends.