Defining custom fonts and TrueType fonts

If your AFP jobs contain fonts that use customized code pages, character sets, or coded fonts that are not inline or in a directory that the AFP viewer can access, or if they use TrueType or OpenType fonts, you can add references to these resources to the font configuration files for the viewer that are installed with RICOH ProcessDirector.

Custom fonts

When you view an AFP file in RICOH ProcessDirector, the file viewer converts the file to be displayed. In the process, it looks for the AFP fonts that the file uses in these places:

  1. Inline with the job
  2. In the directories specified by the AFP resource path job property, if the AFP Support feature is installed
  3. In /aiw/aiw1/resources (Linux) or C:\aiw\aiw1\resources (Windows)
  4. In /usr/lpp/psf/reslib (Linux) or C:\Program Files (x86)\Ricoh\PSF\reslib (Windows)
If it does not find the fonts, it maps them to viewable fonts. The default font configuration files provide mappings for IBM fonts, but if the job contains custom fonts that are not available to the viewer or listed in the configuration files, errors occur. If the file viewer does not find the font in the configuration files, it substitutes the font and code page specified in the DEFAULT sections of two of the font configuration files (cpdef.fnt and csdef.fnt). When those files are installed, the font listed in the DEFAULT section is Times New Roman, 8-point and the code page is EBCDIC 500, although they can be changed. The content of the AFP file is not changed, but the displayed version might not look the same as the final printed version. If the code page or the font is not defined in the configuration files and it is not an EBCDIC code page, the file viewer displays unreadable text.

If you do not need to see the exact fonts that are referenced in the document, you do not have to change your font configuration files. However, if most or all of your jobs are going to cause these types of errors to be displayed, you might want to define at least some of your custom fonts, character sets, and code pages to the viewer, so that you can reduce the number of error messages that appear.

The font configuration files shipped with RICOH ProcessDirector contain mapping information for the IBM Core Interchange Latin fonts, the Compatibility and Coordinated fonts, and the IBM Sonoran and Data1 fonts so you only need to update the files if your custom fonts are not one of those font sets. If you have generated font configuration files for the RICOH AFP to PDF transform of InfoPrint Manager, AFP Workbench for Windows, or the AFP Windows Viewer plug-in, you can just copy those files into the /opt/infoprint/ippd/afpviewer/font (Linux) or C:\Program Files\Ricoh\ProcessDirector\afpviewer\font (Windows) directory.

    Note:
  • Although it is not described here, the viewer component of RICOH ProcessDirector does use an ALIAS.FNT file. The ALIAS.FNT file that RICOH ProcessDirector uses is in the same format as the ALIAS.FNT that InfoPrint Manager uses. As a result, if you have edited the ALIAS.FNT file that you use with InfoPrint Manager, you can copy it into the /opt/infoprint/ippd/afpviewer/font (Linux) or C:\Program Files\Ricoh\ProcessDirector\afpviewer\font (Windows) directory and use it with RICOH ProcessDirector. This file is different from the ALIAS.FNT file used by the AFP Workbench and AFP Windows Viewer plug-in.

Font mapping information is recorded in several files. You might have to edit more than one of them.

TrueType and OpenType fonts

AFP files can also contain references to TrueType and OpenType fonts. When the viewer finds a reference to a TrueType or OpenType font, it searches the TrueType font configuration file (ttdef.fnt) for a mapping to a Type 0 or Type 1 font. If a mapping is found, the Type 0 or Type 1 font is used.

If no mapping is found, the viewer searches for the TrueType or OpenType font in these places:

  1. The AFP file to see if the TrueType font is included inline
  2. The path set by the TT_Font_Path entry in the viewer configuration file
  3. /opt/infoprint/ippd/afpviewer/font/truetype (Linux) or C:\Program Files\Ricoh\ProcessDirector\afpviewer\font\truetype (Windows)
  4. The AFP resource path directory for the job
If the TrueType or OpenType font is found, it is used. If it is not found, the viewer substitutes the font listed in the DEFAULT section of the TrueType font definition file. When this file is installed, the font listed in the DEFAULT section is Times New Roman, although it can be changed

    Note:
  • Because double-byte character set (DBCS) TrueType fonts are very large, you should consider mapping them to one of the DBCS fonts that the AFP viewer processes efficiently: JpnSys1 (KozGoPro-Medium) or JpnSys2 (KozMinPro-Regular).

In this section:

  1. Editing the code page definition file
    You might have to edit the code page definition file if you created a new code page.
  2. Editing the character set definition file
    You might have to edit the character set definition file if you created or modified a character set.
  3. Editing the coded font definition file
    You might have to edit the coded font definition file if you created or modified a code page or a character set and have linked them in a coded font.
  4. Editing the TrueType font definition file
    Edit the TrueType font definition file to map TrueType and OpenType fonts to Type 0 or Type 1 fonts.
  5. Editing the Type 1 and Type 0 font map
    If the TrueType font definition file maps TrueType or OpenType fonts to any non-standard Type 1 or Type 0 fonts, you must supply the Printer Font Metrics (.pfm) and Printer Font Binary (.pfb) files for these fonts and edit the Type 1 and Type 0 font map.

Related information:

Viewing jobs
Font errors when viewing AFP jobs
AFP Viewer does not display barcode
Parent topic: Viewing jobs