[Tex/LaTex] How to switch between Vector and Raster (bitmap) Fonts

computer-modernfontspdfpdftex

Q. What do you exactly need?

A. I need to compile twice one and the same document in PDFLaTeX using

  • vector fonts from CM-Super package
  • standard raster Computer Modern fonts

Q. Why do you need that?

A. Because CM-Super fonts are produced by auto-tracing. They are suitable for on-screen reading, but not quite for print.

Q. But then why not use AMS-BlueSky fonts or Latin Modern?

A. They either do not have Cyrillic letters, or if they have, they are of rather poor quality, and do not have optical sizes.

I have a solution – using two instances of MiKTeX Portable. One having all needed vector fonts packages, and the other with all these packages removed. Then having two PDFLaTeX profiles in the editor – on for every MiKTeX Portable instance.

But that solution is not convenient…

Best Answer

Calling the compilation of file.tex with

pdflatex "\pdfmapfile{}\input{file}"

won't read any map file and so use the pk files, possibly generating them. I don't find, however, that the CM-Super fonts aren't suitable for print.

If you need Type1 fonts other than CM, make a copy of pdftex.map, call it mypdftex.map and edit it to erase all fonts you don't want. Then put the file in the suitable search paths (the work directory is OK) and call

pdflatex "\pdfmapfile{mypdfmap.map}\input{file}"

If I compile in that way the simple file

\documentclass{standalone}
\begin{document}
abc $abc$ \emph{abc} \textbf{abc}
\end{document}

I get this

You can download the small pdf and see it's made with bitmap fonts.

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