[Tex/LaTex] MinionPro on Mac OS X

fontsinstallingmacpackages

Has anyone been able to install the MinionPro package on OS X? I usually install (and update) TeX Live through MacPorts and the first package I have ever found that wasn't already included is MinionPro. Googling for this returns me "manual" instructions for a seemingly endeavour of paths, conversions, and failed installations. So I was wondering: am I missing some package already available in MacPorts?

Best Answer

Hugo, you say "I do have Minion Pro installed in my system -- although I honestly don't know how, but I suppose it either came with Adobe InDesign or Microsoft Office", however before you can use the Minion Pro OTF fonts on your system, they first need to be converted into Type1 format. I'm guessing you haven't done this yet (please correct me if I'm wrong). The MinionPro README on CTAN contains the exact instructions you'll need to step through to convert your otf files to pfb, where to place them in your texmf, how to install them, etc. Assuming you've already installed the MinionPro package, the font and map files properly on your system, the main things you'll need to do are:

  1. create a temporary directory
  2. install LCDF Typetools into it (download these from www.lcdf.org/type)
  3. install convert.sh into it (contained in scripts.zip at CTAN, although you probably have downloaded this already)
  4. make a directory under it called otf and copy your Minion Pro otf files there
  5. run convert.sh (this creates a directory called pfb containing your Type1 fonts)
  6. copy your new pfb files into the appropriate place in your texmf
  7. texhash and updmap or their equivalents on your system (see the README)

The number of steps might appear onerous compared to usual one-click package installations, but they're really not too difficult. Just follow them quite precisely and you'll be right. You'll be rewarded with a very handsome dual-purpose text and math typeface, with the added bonus of the equally handsome and quite complete MnSymbol symbols set at the end.