[metapost] Anyone have notes / test files for METAFONT?

[William Adams]

Also asked this on tex.stackexchange --- my apologies for folks who see it
twice.

On Sun, Jun 25, 2017 at 10:23 AM, William Adams <will.adams at frycomm.com>
wrote:

> Managed to get a bit farther --- using the Making TeX Work chapter made
> the file "eight.mf" which mf would process w/o error (but I only got a
> .2602gf file out of it, not tfm).
>
> mf '\input eight.mf'
>
> This file did process correctly using gftodvi, resulting in a dvi which
> would open (previous efforts were 0 bytes in length)
>
> gftodvi eight.2602gf
>
> But, when I open it, the character is many times larger than it ought to
> be, over-flowing the page --- how do I get it to be limited to the page in
> question.
>
> Is there some better way to do this? As I noted, what I really want is to
> overlay the proof file and a vector image (though being able to also
> overlay a pixel image would be nice for some instances).
>
> William
>
>
> On Sun, Jun 25, 2017 at 9:37 AM, William Adams <will.adams at frycomm.com>
> wrote:
>
>> I've decided I really want to finally get started with METAFONT ---
>> having a hard time getting started 'cause I'm not getting some of the
>> program interactions, naming conventions, and so forth.
>>
>> It was my intent to start with the sample file from "Lessons learned from
>> METAFONT" in _Digital Typography_ but I've been having a hard time just
>> getting it transcribed accurately and getting started at running it.
>>
>> Does anyone have a cheat sheet which breaks down which program calls
>> result in what files, which are need for what aspects of the design process?
>>
>> I guess that what needs to happen is we need to update _Making TeX Work_
>> to fill in for the "local guide" http://makingtexwork.sourcefor
>> ge.net/mtw/ch11.html
>>
>> Basically, I have a _lot_ of drawings in a _lot_ of files for a typeface
>> revival I'm working on --- it's optically-sized, and I only have a couple
>> of complete sets (from memory, 28 and 72 pt.) and only one pair of letters
>> where I have all the sizes (cap and lowercase N/n) so what I want to do is
>> work up a system which allows me to:
>>
>>  - design letters as strokes in METAFONT w/ an adjustment for optical
>> size (and maybe some others)
>>  - proof these letters on-screen easily / automatically / at least
>> somewhat interactively
>>  - overlay the proof letters w/ the outlines which I do have
>>  - get a nice outline from the METAFONT design which I can then use to
>> make an Opentype font
>>
>> I've been reading through everything I can find on this for a very long
>> time, but every time I go to try something, something doesn't work /
>> breaks, and I'm never sure if it's my system, my effort at running the
>> command, a transcription error, or something.
>>
>> It doesn't help that I am now reduced to a small Windows 10 tablet as my
>> main computer --- I've been trying to get MikTeX updated to run all the
>> METAFONT programs, but would be open to some other distribution if it would
>> be better supported. (Linux isn't really an option, since I prefer to write
>> using a stylus rather than type at a keyboard).
>>
>> Any notes / sample files / links anyone has would be welcome.
>>
>> William
>>
>
>
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