Converting Bitmap To Outline

I was just reminded that we also have a program (in Beta) that converts HP bitmap fonts into Truetype scalable outline typefaces.

In it's current form, it assumes the Windows Latin I character set.

This technology will be used in our tools that convert PCL into vector PDF with embedded fonts. And, it will also be used in our convertafont.com service when it's launched.

Regards,
BP

We have a program that converts HP bitmap fonts into bitmap TrueType fonts.

We developed this on-the-fly converter for use in our PCL to PDF transformation tool kit. Embedding the bitmap .TTF's in a PDF was okay for printing the PDF. However, they looked horrible when rendering to a low resolution device like a screen. And, scaling these fonts look horrible.

It would not take much for us to autotrace the bitmap data to generate the scalable outline .TTF's. The problem is deciding what character mapping to use? Since the majority of bitmap fonts are mapped to an HP symbol set... how would you expect to access the cent sign character in cell 155 of .TTF mapped to the PC-8 character set? You'd have to assume to know which of 100's of symbol sets the bitmap font was mapped to before you converted it into a .TTF.

And, a unhinted .TTF isn't going to provide high quality at low resolution and/or small point sizes.

So, it depends on the your application requirements whether a font created this way is going to get you where you want to go...

Regards,
Bob Pooley
info@pcltools.com

This depends on the kind of bitmap. There are programs that convert MetaFont to Type1 like metatype1 and mftrace. You can use the auto trace feature of vector drawing programs like Illustrator or CorelDraw. Also in font creating programs like FontLab (-> Scanfont) or Fontographer there is support for this conversion. You can also consider specialized programs like Streamline or CorelTrace.

Best regards,
Ulrich Dirr