[metapost] MetaPost and XeTeX

[Taco Hoekwater]

José Carlos Santos wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> Yesterday, Taco Hoekwater made a reference to MetaPost 2.0. I would like
> to know if this new version will be able to work with XeTeX. [...] and I
> wanted to be able to use within the graphics the same fonts that were
> used within the text.

For label typesetting, I assume?

For the standalone MetaPost the answer is no (unless you limit xetex
to traditional TeX (Type1) fonts and find a way to make it output
traditional dvi). MetaPost is based on PostScript, and as such it does
not support OpenType/TrueType fonts, nor are there short-term plans to
add such support.

It would be possible to combine the library component of metapost
with xetex, much like it is integrated into LuaTeX. Then the label
typesetting can be done in the typesetting engine itself. This would
work even with the current metapost, but you will have to contact a
xetex developer for that.

Best wishes,
Taco