Fonts location on your computer
The first step is to declare the storage locations of the fonts you want ConTeXt to consider.
Either way, ConTeXt will use fonts properly stored in its tree structure (for example, any fonts you would have downloaded from Fonts Squirrel Google Fonts).
- TeX users create a new folder for each new font in
tex/texmf-fonts/fonts/
, following TeX Directory Structure.- it helps the algorithms to deal with the incredibly wide variety of fonts's variables and parameters.
- People who handle a lot of fonts can be more structured by using
tex/texmf-fonts/fonts/truetype/vendor/fontfamily
.
But it it's very likely that you also want to use the fonts already available on your Operating System:
- 1. Specify where ConTeXt should looked for fonts, by setting the OSFONTDIR environment variable.
-
- WINDOWS:
set OSFONTDIR=c:/windows/fonts/
- MAC:
export OSFONTDIR=/Library/Fonts/;/System/Library/Fonts;$HOME/Library/Fonts
- GNU/LINUX:
export OSFONTDIR=/Library/Fonts/;/System/Library/Fonts;$HOME/Library/Fonts
- Add it to your .bashrc or shell equivalent to make the declaration permanent.
- WINDOWS:
- 2. Run ConTeXt to index the files
-
- update of the file database:
mtxrun --generate
- update of the fonts database:
mtxrun --script font --reload
- update of the file database:
- 3. Check by looking for the specific font you want to use next
-
- a very common example
mtxrun --script font --list --file -pattern=*helvetica*
- a very common example
Now, let's learn how to use them for typesetting.
Practical application #1: Quick use of a new font
Let's take a example: we want to use Noto Serif. If it is already installed on your computer, go directly to #2.
It not, you have to download it first. Google website provides a zip file with the 4 alternative variations (Regular 400, Regular 400 italic, Bold 700, Bold 700 italic).
- #1. Store them is a dedicated folder indexed by ConTeXt.
-
- create a "Noto-serif" in the ConTeXt distribution
tex/texmf-fonts/fonts/
. - unzip and store the .ttf file in
tex/texmf-fonts/fonts/Noto-serif/
.
- create a "Noto-serif" in the ConTeXt distribution
- #2. Regenerate ConTeXt databases
-
- the file database:
mtxrun --generate
- the fonts database:
mtxrun --script font --reload
- and check the situation
mtxrun --script font --list --file -pattern=*noto*
:
- the file database:
familyname weight style width variant fontname filename subfont fontweight notoserif bold normal normal normal notoserifbold NotoSerif-Bold.ttf notoserif bold italic normal normal notoserifbolditalic NotoSerif-BoldItalic.ttf notoserif normal italic normal normal notoserifitalic NotoSerif-Italic.ttf notoserif normal normal normal normal notoserif NotoSerif-Regular.ttf
- #3. Your are done! You can use the font anywhere in your input files with \definedfont
-
- and add
*default
to enable default features, like for example kerning.
- and add
\definedfont[name:notoserifbolditalic*default at 12 pt] The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
Practical application #2: Use the different font variations
- It's not nice to have to write \definedfont[file:YourSuperFont-WeightStyle at xxpt] each time you want to use a particular font.
- That why it's worth defining a typescript. It's just 3 steps, and less than 5 minutes. Then, you will be able to easily switch between fonts with \tf, \it, \bf, \bi (see Font_Switching#Font_styles_and_alternatives), and all the typesetting of your document will use a consistent set of fonts.
- Many typescripts are ready for use on usual free and commercial fonts.
- #1. Define a new typescript in your input file, with \starttypescript.
-
- Define the links between filenames and People-readable names with \definefontsynonym.
- In this example, the typescript is called "mynotoserif".
- Reminder: you find the filenames for the Noto Serif fonts with
mtxrun --script font --list --file -pattern=*noto*
:
\starttypescript [mynotoserif] % \definefontsynonym[Human readable] [file:filename without extension] \definefontsynonym[NotoSerif-Regular] [file:NotoSerif-Regular] \definefontsynonym[NotoSerif-Italic] [file:NotoSerif-Italic] \definefontsynonym[NotoSerif-Bold] [file:NotoSerif-Bold] \definefontsynonym[NotoSerif-BoldItalic] [file:NotoSerif-BoldItalic] \stoptypescript
- #2. The boring step, define the links between ConTeXt basics names and the People-readable names.
-
- It's good to add a fallback.
\starttypescript [mynotoserif] \setups[font:fallback:serif] % security: if not found==> bask to defaults % \definefontsynonym[ConTeXt bascics name] [Human readable] [features=default] \definefontsynonym[Serif] [NotoSerif-Regular] [features=default] \definefontsynonym[SerifItalic] [NotoSerif-Italic] [features=default] \definefontsynonym[SerifBold] [NotoSerif-Bold] [features=default] \definefontsynonym[SerifBoldItalic] [NotoSerif-BoldItalic] [features=default] \stoptypescript
- #3. Define the pack of the 4 variations as the roman typeface of the typescript "mynotoserif"
\starttypescript [mynotoserif] \definetypeface [mynotoserif] [rm] [serif] [mynotoserif] [default] \stoptypescript
- #4. You are done! Finally, we have the following input file
\starttypescript [mynotoserif] \definefontsynonym[NotoSerif-Regular] [file:NotoSerif-Regular] \definefontsynonym[NotoSerif-Italic] [file:NotoSerif-Italic] \definefontsynonym[NotoSerif-Bold] [file:NotoSerif-Bold] \definefontsynonym[NotoSerif-BoldItalic] [file:NotoSerif-BoldItalic] \stoptypescript \starttypescript [mynotoserif] \setups[font:fallback:serif] \definefontsynonym[Serif] [NotoSerif-Regular] [features=default] \definefontsynonym[SerifItalic] [NotoSerif-Italic] [features=default] \definefontsynonym[SerifBold] [NotoSerif-Bold] [features=default] \definefontsynonym[SerifBoldItalic] [NotoSerif-BoldItalic] [features=default] \stoptypescript \starttypescript [mynotoserif] \definetypeface [mynotoserif] [rm] [serif] [mynotoserif] [default] \stoptypescript \setupbodyfont[mynotoserif] \setupbodyfont[12pt] { The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog}\\ {\it The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog}\\ {\bf The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog}\\ {\bi The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog}\\
And it gives:
Install your new typescript to use it anywhere
You will probably want to use your new customized typescript definition across different documents, so you have to install them in the distribution. Here is the definition.
\starttypescript [mynotoserif] \definefontsynonym[NotoSerif-Regular] [file:NotoSerif-Regular] \definefontsynonym[NotoSerif-Italic] [file:NotoSerif-Italic] \definefontsynonym[NotoSerif-Bold] [file:NotoSerif-Bold] \definefontsynonym[NotoSerif-BoldItalic] [file:NotoSerif-BoldItalic] \stoptypescript \starttypescript [mynotoserif] \setups[font:fallback:serif] \definefontsynonym[Serif] [NotoSerif-Regular] [features=default] \definefontsynonym[SerifItalic] [NotoSerif-Italic] [features=default] \definefontsynonym[SerifBold] [NotoSerif-Bold] [features=default] \definefontsynonym[SerifBoldItalic] [NotoSerif-BoldItalic] [features=default] \stoptypescript \starttypescript [mynotoserif] \definetypeface [mynotoserif] [rm] [serif] [mynotoserif] [default] \stoptypescript
- Save your file as
type-(fontname|foundry).tex
, for example heretype-mynotoserif.tex
- Copy the typescript files into
tex/texmf-fonts/tex/context/user/
- Run
context --generate
to update ConTeXt file database - You are done!
- you can add \usetypescriptfile[mynotoserif] at the beginning of any input file
- and \setupbodyfont[mynotoserif] will declare to typeset with your new font.