How to convert a bitmap font (.FON) into a truetype font (.TTF)?

Question

My program (win32, Delphi) needs to display special chars in some columns of a table. To do that I use a special font for those columns. I got the font from my client. It is a .FON font. It works good on the screen but I often get problems as soon as I want to use it to print something.

I would like to convert this .FON font into to truetype font (.TTF) to avoid the problems. I don't care if the font does not scale good. I should just looks exactly the same when used on the screen with the same size as the default size of the original font. Do someone know a way to do that?

(It don't necessary need a source code solution. The font won't change. It's enough if I find a tool to do it)

Edit: Ideal would be to get a truetype font where each pixel of the original font is converted into a vectorial black square (I tested by redrawing a few chars manually, it would works as I want).

Edit 2, solution used: Using FontForge + Autotrace and then making corrections manually I was able to get a vector font that follow the outline of the pixels of the bitmap font. This vector font scales somewhat better than the original font and solve my printing problems. See accepted post for details.

But I'm still interested if someone knows a fully automated solution.

Solution 1

Use FontForge + Autotrace then make some corrections manually.

First integrate Autotrace in Fontforge, see Autotracing bitmaps in FontForge. Here is how I have done it, as I wasn't able to use the win32 version of FontForge:

1. Download, unzip and start Portable Ubuntu Tres. It's a special linux version that works under Windows!
2. Choose System->Administration->Add/Remove Applications, search for FontForge and install it (administrator password is 123456). I got FontForge version 20090622 installated.
3. Download autotrace-0.31.1.tar.gz from http://autotrace.sourceforge.net/index.html#download and copy it in your home directory in Portable Ubuntu.

4. In Portable Ubuntu choose Applications->Accessories->Terminal to compile and install autotrace:

   sudo bash  (password is 123456)
   gunzip autotrace-0.31.1.tar.gz
   tar xf autotrace-0.31.1.tar
   cd autotrace-0.31.1
   ./configure
   make
   make install
   

Then convert your font:

1. Start FontForge in Portable Ubuntu and open the .FON font.
2. Save your font as a .BDF font (Loading a .FON file as background didn't work for me so I had to convert the font first): File->Generate Fonts and choose BDF as format.
3. Create a new font and import the BDF Font as background font: File->Import and don't forget select "As Background".

4. Select all characters and start an autotrace while holding the shift key so that you can enter parameters for autotrace. I used following parameters, which improved the recognition of the outline of the pixels but I didn't found the perfect parameters:

   -corner-surround=1 -line-threshold=10
   

5. Correct the chars manually using mostly the function "Add a curve point". Activating View->Show->Almost Horizontal/Vertical Lines makes the work much easier.
6. Generate a truetype font: File->Generate Fonts and choose truetype as format.

Solution 2

I know this question is old, but for what it is worth I was able to easily convert an old .fon to .ttf using PixFont. I ran it as an administrator (no installs - an old school executable in place) and it generated a good TTF even though the original .fon was missing some correct glyphs.

And, while it isn't free, at $29 it almost is, especially compared to the very expensive commercial products out there.

Solution 3

For those that do not want to compile fontforge (for windows) grab a download here: http://www.mpetroff.net/software/fontforge-windows/

That build uses potrace instead of autotrace. The best parameters I got for the font that I was converting (vgasys.fon) were:

--turdsize 0 --opttolerance 0 --unit 1 --longcurve --gamma 0 --blacklevel 0 --cleartext

It was still hours of manual work to get the font looking good (by adding and removing points).

Solution 4

Using FontForge I was able to generate a corresponding truetype font, which gives exactly the same chars as the original font when used at the good size. May be I still need to tweak some options, because I used my original font at size=11. The new font works good only at size=10.5, which is impossible to use in delphi. The font looks really horrible at every other size.

1. Load the .FON font in FontForge
2. Choose File->Generate Fonts
3. Select "(faked) MS bitmap only sfnt (ttf)" as type, entre a file name and click "save".

Apparently it uses a possibility to store bitmap fonts in a truetype-font. The resulting font doesn't have the problems I had with the bitmap fonts, but it is completly blank on the printer so that it doesn't solve my problem.

A note about FontForge: I didn't manage to install the Windows Version of FontForge (based on cygwin). Instead of that I Installed Portable Ubuntu Tres, which is a linux version that works on Windows. It's easy to install: unzip the file and start the exe. Then choose System->Administration->Add/Remove Applications and search for FontForge and install it (administrator password is 123456). I got FontForge version 20090622 installated.

Solution 5

I found that the easiest route to getting a good TTF version of a FON is to use one of the free online bitmap font editors. You have to manually enter each glyph, but the process is much simpler than coming to grips with FontForge. There are two editors that I know of, and they both produce TTFs that work fine on Windows and Linux.

BitFontMaker is the simpler of the two. I like its clean interface, but I ended up not using it because monospaced fonts can only have cell widths of 10 to 14 pixels.

FontStruct requires registration and uses a Flash interface. I was able to make new fonts quite fast once I got used to the interface. (It might be coincidence, but I noticed an uptick in spam on the email account I used to register.)

Both editors set the line spacing automatically. A trick to get the spacing you want is to add a high pixel on one character, then use a vector font editor to remove it from the TTF. (Type light works well and is much easier to use than FontForge.)

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Comments

[Name]

Thank you for your answer. Fontlab is the make of BitFonter.

[Spudley]

gotta love a program that has an option called "turdsize". hehe.

[Name]

Good point as "Portable Ubuntu Tres" seems to have disappeared... And thanks for the params.

[Name]

Portable Ubuntu doesn't exist anymore, but it is possible to do the same thing with a real Linux installation (eventually in a virtual machine)

[Name]

Meanwhile the Windows version of FontForge including potrace is avaible on the official FontForge website: sourceforge.net/projects/fontforge

[jørgensen]

autotrace is unmaintained, but you can install potrace which acts as a drop-in replacement. Be sure to choose "Prefer potrace" in the FontForge Preferences dialog, since ff won't detect potrace on its own.

[victmo]

This actually worked! Installing and using FontForge was difficult. This tool got the job done with only a few clicks.