I tried the Pagestream version 5 from last year. When I start it and open a PDF document I only have the Lux font and it shows all chracters wrong. I went to System Preferences -> font settings and it has the checkmark for Include System Fonts but no system font is shown. Why?
Then I also added the two paths System:Fonts/ and System:MorphOS/Fonts to Installed Font Folders and saved. I also quit Pagestream and started it again. Loaded the PDF again but Pagestream only know the Lux font. What is needed to use the other fonts?

I'm not sure I understand your issue.

I have been using the MorphOS version of Pagestream daily and I frequently create PDF documents in it.

Pagestream will not load a PDF from what I remember, it creates them. I use many different fonts and graphics when saving a PDF in Pagestream and it creates a perfect PDF.

Pagestream can import PDF documents. It often crashes when it tries to open docuemnts but with simple PDFs it works. Whether you can create PDF with it is not the point. It'S about importing a PDF and showing it correctly.
I selected a PDF document and Pagestream can open it. The layout is there but no word is readable because of the font mapping. Although this is strange to me because the document should only be ASCII, so a font like Lux should also show the words correct. I also get those y letters with two dots like shown here: https://pagestream.net/?action=Forums&id=6938. But all characters in the document are Latin-1, no special Czesch characters.

Also when I load the Pagestream 5.0 leaflet in PGS format it only has one font to map to: Lux. Here the text is readable.

@ connor - OK I'll start at the first comment you made in this thread...
Quote:That is how PageStream for MorphOS is initially supplied, to only have the Lux font. I know I didn't realise that until I got my version of 5.1.2, which is not very comprehensive for a DTP package that you are paying a fair price for, IMHO!
Quote: The "Main System: (usually DH1) Fonts" folder contains fonts that are generally incompatible with PageStream, and unless some TrueType (or more commonly named nowadays as OpenType - though for PageStream the font name needs to be changed from .otf to .ttf to be recognised currently with PageStream v5) or fonts are in that folder or a sub-folder of that folder then there will be no fonts listed in the font lister when you open PageStream - especially so, when you first start PageStream with only the LUX font available.

That said, it is not entirely straightforward (simple) to add more fonts, though it is not that complicated either.

First of all you must know that with PageStream v5 for MorphOS you can no longer use the older PageStream DM fonts that came with all previous versions of PageStream up to v4, and neither can you use CGFonts (Intellifonts) with PageStream v5.

So you can use PostScript Type 1 fonts, as an alternative to TTF (OTF) fonts if you wish, and there are a large selection on Aminet at this link: Aminet - a great resource for PS Type 1 Fonts

There are also a few more PS Type 1 fonts in the Sys:MorphOS/Fonts/_pfb sub-folders

Ideally you should use TrueType Fonts (TTF) with PageStream, and MorphOS has quite a few in its own Fonts folder "_ttf". You can also download a wide variety of TTF (OTF) fonts that are compatible with PageStream from online Font resources. You should not add any additional font files into the MOSSYS:Fonts folders, you should add them either into PageStream's Fonts folder(s) or into the Sys:Fonts folders, as appropriate, so PS Type 1 fonts in a folder named "_pfb", TTFonts in a folder named "_ttf" if it doesn't already exist.
Quote: So, when you have your fonts where you need them to be, you need to open the PageStream System Preferences> Fonts dialog requester, which may have basically a blank main upper window. It may have already be assigned a Default Folder - if not then you should choose the one you want to have as this folder, by clicking on the file requester gadget and selecting an appropriate folder in line with my previous comments. You should not need to amend or adjust the Font cache options, but if you feel you need to then you might as well do that now. If you have lost your way or need some help again, don't forget that if you click on the 'lifebelt' you can access the help files that load into your browser for convenience to give you any support you need with any of these font options.

Anyway, to the right of the main input window there is an option to "Add..." which is to add, er ... fonts, so click on that gadget, and find the font files in their folders that you want to utilise with PageStream. Now here is the most important and often most overlooked step ... you need to click on the option "Update" for each addition of fonts you add to PageStream's available font files. So if you add 4 separate folders then you need to click "Update" on each of those four entries for PageStream to register them as available for you to use.

@ connor - that last step is probably where you need to go back to, and that will enable the fonts you have already added.

Also, bear in mind that if you are expecting to use 'exotic' fonts then it is wise to ensure that they contain the special characters that you expect them to display, and to do so you should choose the menu option ... with a section, or at least one character, of text highlighted, and right click Type> Insert> Character... as this brings up a dialog (requester) that will show you the full character set of that font to be able to assess if the font will do what you want and expect it to.

I hope this helps you assign your fonts correctly with PageStream v5.1.2 for MorphOS.

If you have any other questions then by all means ... just ask. ... OR ... click on the lifebelt in one of the dialogs, or just load up the help files manually or visit the PageStream FORUM pages
or Refer to PageStream's more comprehensive documentation

Though bear in mind that some of the images, text and instructions MAY be outdated or not fully implemented as some features of PageStream v5.1.2 are not fully useable, most are, but there are still a few issues that are still in the works to be fixed or added.

Puuh, a novel as a response! Why so complicated and long? MorphOS comes with True Type fonts, so the easiest thing is that Pagestream looks into the two directories and loads these fonts. Most MorphOS software does that. It should not ask the user to rename all the font suffixes to be able to open them. That’s the wrong way. And if they are all incompatible, why is Lux compatible? Also I do not want to install fonts from 1991 that do not have Unicode. Simply use what is already there in MorphOS. That would be the easiest thing. And it does not need 3 screens full of text to describe how to work around the straight solution.
About the PAgestream forum, this is technically very much behind and uncomfortable, and I see many threads with no responses, so I tried here first.

@newsense

Thanks for letting me know. I never used that feature and now I understand it in case I do.

@connor

You should reach out to the Author of Pagestream directly, as he is very accessible and good to work with. If you don't have his contact info, PM me and I will send it to you.

[ Edited by matt3 08.09.2023 - 08:35 ]

Quote: Well it's better to get a novel with a happy ending than a horror fairy tale, like something from Stephen King don't you think? :
Quote: PageStream is a complicated program, and some mechanisms are more complicated to achieve the desired results . . . that's just the way it is!
Quote: Of course, use the MorphOS (MOSSYS:Fonts) TTFonts - link them to PageStream using the System Preferences> Fonts mechanism of PageStream to load fonts for PageStream to use.
Quote: I think you misunderstood that part, or I didn't explain it well enough, in that, you ONLY need to rename the suffix for any fonts that you add that are Open Type Fonts (OTF with the suffix .otf) as currently for some reason even though they are in principle TTF fonts the suffix misleads the use of such fonts into the system considering that they are either a datatype or something other than a font.
Quote: Of course, who doesn't like the easiest way of doing something, but sometimes things are complicated and there is no easy way to either explain or overcome a method other than the one that is necessary to achieve it. Besides, no-one is forcing you to use PS Type 1 fonts. I just mentioned that PageStream can use them if you want to use them, and they are easy to access from Aminet.

Do you think I took about 30 to 40 minutes of my own time to try to explain something to you to make you do it the hard way?

A little gratitude for my explanation, as matt3 has expressed would be appreciated, as you were stuck with discovering how to fix your font issue, and I have taken the time to explain to you what you need to do to make it work, and avoid some of the pitfalls you might encounter along the way!

Quote: Are the "3 screens full of text" you mention to describe how to "work around the straight solution" the novel you had to read, to find your answer to your problem that I posted?
Quote: I agree that some threads do not get either timely or any reply at all, on the rarer occasions, and that is a problem, but I do try to respond to questions that I can answer to anyone on there. I also know that Frank Mariak (MOS Developer) who has worked long and hard on this software to fix the major issues it exhibited (unfixed or even looked at) for several (many) years, and is still working on it behind the scenes, also replies to queries posted there by new and established users, in an attempt to support the program. Frank has done this despite being unpaid for all these considerable efforts, and he has done all this for our MorphOS community, that has taken him on a repair journey that he has struggled with and considerable effort to achieve the stability that the program now has.

That's not to say it is perfect, there are issues and they need fixing, but seeing as Frank is virtually doing this for our community to some extent on his own, along with improvements to MorphOS itself for each update and registrations. So, consider that there is some way to go, and issues like the OTF identification when used with PageStream is just one of many issues that he has been working on behind the scenes - unpaid, and with no bounty or other direct financing for his efforts.

I hope you have enjoyed my second novello much more.