Re: How to tell if a font is fixed pitch, variable pitch, serifed, sa ns, etc.

[Juliusz Chroboczek]

"Pedriana, Paul" <address@hidden>:

PP> I see that you can tell the family name of a font in FreeType2 and
PP> the style (bold, italic), but I can't see anywhere where I can
PP> find if the font is fixed pitch, sans serif, etc.

It's tricky.  From memory:

* determining whether a font is fixed pitch should be done by checking
  the post table.  If none, check the MacBits in the header.  Do not
  use the Panose data in the OS/2 table, it tends to be unreliable.

* there is no way I know of to determine whether a font is a charcell
  font.

* other stylistic data can be gathered from the Panose data in the
  OS/2 table.  Beware, the Panose data tends to be unreliable; if you
  use it, make sure you allow your users to override it.

Note that last time I checked (beta4), these table were not available
in FreeType 2.  They are available in FreeType 1.

                                        J.