amsfonts.faq, last updated 15-Jan-1997

     Frequently Asked Questions about the AMSFonts Distribution

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(1) I'm using LaTeX---How do I get bold greek, or bold italic letters
a,A,b,B,... in math?

Get the amsbsy.sty package in the amslatex distribution, which provides
a \boldsymbol command that can be applied to Greek and Latin letters
(e.g., \boldsymbol{\beta} or \boldsymbol{M}). (This package is not
included in the AMSFonts distribution because the bold fonts that
will most often be required---cmmib and cmbsy---have since 1994 been
considered to be part of the standard LaTeX font set, so that they
should be at your disposal whether or not you have the AMSFonts
collection installed.)

If you have version 2.09 of LaTeX then you'll need to try using version
1.1 of the amsbsy package, which requires a LaTeX extension called `new
font selection scheme' (NFSS). Amsbsy version 1.1 and NFSS version 1 can
be obtained by anonymous ftp at e-math.ams.org:/ams/amsltx11. But unless
you already have NFSS version 1 installed on your system it will
probably be to your advantage even in the short run to upgrade to
current LaTeX instead of installing NFSS.

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(2) I use a 360dpi printer. Can I use one of the sets of .pk files which
are posted on the archive, or do I need to generate my own files from
the Metafont source code?

If you want pk files for a 360dpi printer, the simplest thing to do is
to retrieve the 300dpi pk files and install them. Since they include
the fonts at magsteps 0 through 5, and since each magstep is 1.2 times
the previous one, 300dpi at magsteps 0 through 5 is also 360dpi at
magsteps 0 through 4.  All you will be missing is magstephalf and
magstep 5, which most people don't use anyway.  In other words, if you
look at the contents of the 300dpi distribution, you will see for each
font a 300, 329, 360, 432, 518, 622, and 746 dpi pk file. The last five
of these are useful for a 360dpi printer.

If you wish to have pk files for magstephalf and magstep5 at 360dpi,
you will have to generate them yourself using Metafont, but you can
very likely get along without them.

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(3) How can I get PostScript outlines of AMSFonts?

Creating a PostScript outline of a font is an expensive programming
task, and the AMS does not have the resources to invest in such a
project. A commercial version was jointly developed by Y&Y Inc. and
Blue Sky Research. Address information:

Y&Y, Inc.
45 Walden St., Suite 2F
Concord, MA 01742 USA
phone: (800)742-4059 and (508)371-3286
fax: (508)371-2004
email: sales-help@YandY.com

Blue Sky Research
317 Southwest Alder, #1200
Portland, OR 97204 USA
phone: (800)622-8398 and (503)222-9571
fax: (503)222-1643
email: sales@bluesky.com

A freeware version, called BaKoMa, was created by Basil Malyshev; it
is available from CTAN sites.  It does not include the cyrillic fonts
that are part of the AMSFonts collection.

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(4) I use OzTeX. The Macintosh AMSFonts package is for use with Textures.
What do I do?

OzTeX is an implementation of TeX on the Macintosh which behaves similarly
to implementations in DOS or Unix. The files for use with DOS and Unix can 
be used in OzTeX on the Macintosh. In the installation instructions,
simply substitute "folder" for "directory" in all cases.

The OzTeX distribution includes the current version of the AMSFonts as
of when the distribution was compiled. If your version of OzTeX is not
the most recent, updating it may be the simplest way of installing the
AMSFonts.

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(5) Why isn't there a 10-point font for cmcsc, cmmib, cmbsy, or cmex
included in the AMSFonts package?

All of these fonts at 10-point are included in the standard set of fonts
with any implementation of TeX. If you do not have them available on
your system, re-install the fonts from the original distribution files
of your TeX implementation or contact the distributor/vendor of that
implementation of TeX.

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(6) What happened to the fonts msxm* and msym*?

A very early release of AMSFonts in the mid-1980s included fonts called
msxm5-10 and msym5-10. These were replaced in the late 1980s by the
fonts msam5-10 and msbm5-10 (included in this distribution). The msxm
and msym fonts were done in a very early version of Metafont which is
no longer available. The Metafont code for these fonts will not work
with current implementations of Metafont in current operating systems.
This means that the msxm and msym fonts cannot be generated. They are
not supported by the AMS, and their use or distribution is strongly
discouraged.

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(7) I've seen a fancy script font used in AMS publications. Why isn't it
included in AMSFonts, and where can I get it?

Many AMS publications use some proprietary fonts which were purchased
from commercial font vendors and are not in the public domain. This
includes the script font which appears in many of our books and
journals. Users who wish to purchase such a font in PostScript or
TrueType outline form from a commercial font vendor will also need to
convert the metrics file from the vendor into a .tfm file using one of
the available programs for doing to (Tomas Rokicki's afm2tfm is in the
public domain, and Y&Y's afmtotfm is a proprietary program).

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(8) I'm using Textures on a Macintosh, and I followed the instructions
for installing msam* and msbm*, but some of the symbols won't print or
display properly on the screen. What's wrong?

Although there are several possible causes, the easiest one to put right
is a setting for the monitor that instructs it to use more than 256
colors.  If this is reset to exactly 256, the symbols should appear as
expected.

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