Process for Mapping Fonts

If your document uses an AFP font that is not listed in the font definition file, if you have modified the AFP fonts, or if you have created your own AFP fonts, you must edit the font definition files to add the fonts so that documents using those fonts display correctly with the AFP2PDF Plus Transform.

For example:

  • If you created a new coded font (or renamed one), you need to define the coded font in the coded font file (icoded.fnt or coded.fnt).

  • If you created a new character set, you must define it in the character set definition file (csdef.fnt).

  • If you created a new code page, you must define it in the code page definition file (cpdef.fnt).

  • If you created a new code page or modified a code page by moving characters, you need to create a new code page map file (cpgid.cp).

If you modified an existing font component, for example, by deleting code points in the code page, you might not need to edit some of the definition files.

After determining which font files you need to modify, follow these steps to map your fonts:

  1. Gather the information needed to define the fonts in the font definition files.
  2. Make backup copies of any of these font definition files that you plan to modify:
    • afpfont.fnt
    • alias.fnt
    • coded.fnt
    • cpdef.fnt
    • csdef.fnt
    Backup copies let you restore the original file if the modified copy becomes corrupted.
  3. Assign substitutes for nonmatching characters in the code page map file.
    See Process for Mapping Fonts for information about code page map files.
  4. Edit the cpdef.fnt file and add your code page name, code page identifier, and the best matching encoding classification for the fonts you are using.
  5. If you created a new character set, edit the csdef.fnt file.
    1. Add your character set name in the CHARSET section.
    2. Specify the correct attributes for your font.
    3. Add the appropriate information in the FGID section of the file if you are naming a new font global identifier.
  6. If you have created a coded font, create or edit the coded.fnt file and add your coded font.
  7. If you use AFP raster fonts, list the corresponding AFP coded fonts, code pages, and character sets in the afpfont.fnt file.
Parent topic: Working with AFP Resources