Typophile

.fnt file conversions

james parsley0 votes

Our company owns licenses for the Frutiger family through Monotype. We would like to convert our Frutiger font files to the .fnt file format. The .fnt file format can be used by an engraving machine we've purchased to produce facility signage.

We've come to an agreement with Monotype for a custom license that allows the conversion.

However, Monotype no longer has the capability to complete the conversion to .fnt. We need a separate font company to assist in the file conversions and any necessary font adjustments.

Any suggestions for groups that we might approach for this effort?

I've reached out to some of the more well-known foundries. So far the responses are not good. No one is equipped for .fnt creation.

I understand that the .fnt format is archaic, but it's the only format the engraver will support.

I would appreciate any insight on this topic!

Theunis de Jong0 votes

".fnt" is kind of a generic file extension. Do you have more details? Could it be the Windows 3.0 "bitmapped" type, as used as a rendering cache to quickly display monochrome fonts? (I know -- the latter doesn't really rhyme with 'engraving', but perhaps the machine's manufacturor chose this file format because it's a fairly simple one.)

Sami0 votes

jparsley, try convert using Fontmonger 1.0.8 (windows):
http://vetusware.com/download/FontMonger%20for%20Windows%201.08/?id=7917
This is an old retired program and it works only with old 256 characteres font.
Sami

Jason Campbell0 votes

I have no way to test this format, so I can't really take it on as a project. I did find this online though, which might be useful:

https://www.frictionalgames.com/forum/thread-11128.html

Jan Żurawski0 votes

[as Sami told] I made a trip .pfb -> .fnt -> .ttf and it looks OK. Important thing - .pfb with no more than 256 letters. The .ttf file with two glyphs with messed orientation, the rest looks good.

Reynir Heiðberg...0 votes

No joy, @Theunis – MS uses .fon for these.

Theunis de Jong0 votes

Oops. Too long ago :)

Those bitmaps were a welcome resource for my own graphic programming: away with those bland 8x8 characters, here comes Insignia! Not antialiased, though.

Michel Boyer0 votes

Have you guys tried with FontForge? First select
  Element -> Bitmap Strikes_Available
and choose Win and the point size ; then go to
  File -> Generate Fonts...
with No Outline Font and Win FNT. Even if I read a .fon extension before saving, the file saved is .fnt and looks ok.

Jan Żurawski0 votes

.fnt are scalable fonts aka Nimbus-Q (Digital Typeface Corp., Geo Works in the DOS times) - like Speedo, Intellifonts, Corel's .wfn, etc.

Michel Boyer0 votes

Makes sense, especially as input for an engraving machine!

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