True type fonts are very easy to come by, and large amounts of them are typically included in packages like Microsoft Word and Word Perfect. Getting Word Perfect is an easy way to get an enormous amount of fonts ( and if you're really cheap, you could buy a legacy version of Word Perfect for windows. The fonts on the CD are readable. )
Microsoft have also made several TrueType fonts available. The
.exe file is simply an archive, you can extract it
using unzip.
You can get them from
the download site
Luc Devroye's webpage has links to several sites with free fonts available. What's unique about these fonts is that a lot of them are really free, they are not ``warez fonts''.
There are several web sites offering freely available downloadable fonts. For example, the freeware connection has links to a number of archives.
Several foundries sell TrueType fonts. However, most of them are quite expensive, and for the same money, you'd be better of with Type1 fonts. I'll discuss these more in the Type1 fonts section. The one place that does do sell true type fonts at low prices is buyfonts. Please read the section on ethics before you buy cheap fonts.
Many foundries ship fonts with Windows and Mac users in mind.
This can sometimes pose a problem. Typically, the ``Windows fonts''
are fairly easy to handle, because they are packed in a zip
file. The only work to be done is converting the pfm file
to and afm file ( using pfm2afm ).
Macintosh fonts are more problematic, because they are typically
made available in .sit.bin format -- stuffit archives.
Unfortunately, there is no tool for Linux that can unpack stuffit archives
created with the newer version of stuffit.
The only way to do it is run Executor ( Mac emulator ), or try running
stuffit in dosemu or Wine.
Once the sit.bin file is unpacked, the Macintosh files can
be converted using t1unmac which comes with the
t1utils package.
Unfortunately, some vendors only ship Type1 fonts in Macintosh format ( stuffit archives ). However, according to font expert Luc Devroye, all major foundries make Type1 fonts available for Mac and Windows.
ctan have a number of good fonts, many of which are free. Most of these are in Metafont format, though some are also Type1 fonts. Also, see Bluesky who have made available Type1 versions of the computer modern fonts. ( The computer modern fonts are of excellent quality -- to purchase anything of comparable quality and completeness will cost you around $500-. They are comparable to the premium fonts. )
Luc Devroye's webpage has links to several sites with free fonts available. What's unique about these fonts is that a lot of them are really free, they are not ``warez fonts''.
URW have released the standard postscript fonts resident in most printers to the public domain. These fonts are quite good.
The Walnut Creek Archive has several freely available fonts, and shareware fonts. Some of these are obvious ripoffs ( and not very good ones ). If a font doesn't come with some kind of license, chances are it's a ripoff. Also Winsite have several Type1 fonts ( in the fonts/atm subsection of their windows 3.x software ). Unfortunately, several of these have afm files which have mistakes and are missing all kerning pairs ( you can fix the afms by editing the "FontName" section of the afm files. It should match the fontname given in the font shape file. Of course, adding kerning pairs is a topic beyond the scope of this document. )
Luc Devroye's webpage includes several free fonts he designed, as well as a lot of links, and fascinating discussion on the topic of typography. This site is a ``must-visit''. There are also several links to many foundries.
So you're wondering -- why do some fonts cost a lot and others are cheap ? These fonts are the ``standard postscript fonts'' resident in most postscript printers. Also the famous Why should I buy the more expensive ones ? My take on it is that for a casual user, the value fonts ( such as those on the Bitstream CD ) are just fine. However, if you're using the fonts for ``real work'', or you're just a hard core font junkie, then the better quality fonts are a must-have -- and most of the quality fonts are either free ( for example, Computer Modern ), or they are upmarket commercial fonts.
The advantage of the cheaper fonts is self evident -- they are cheaper. The quality fonts also have their advantages though.
For links to a bunch of other foundries, see Luc Devroye's page