[Fontinst] fontsize normalization

[Walter Schmidt]

On Sun, 7 Sep 2003 01:50:12 +0300, Popescu Cezar wrote:

>[...]the problem is that xheight of lettrght is bigger that 
>minions'.
>
>is there a possibility to ``normalize'' the sizes at fontinst 
>generation time?

You can scale the fonts there, but "general normalization" 
is not possible:  Optimal blending of fonts with different
proportions does not always mean that the x-height is made
the same.   More often it turns out to be a compromise 
between matching x-height and matching size of the capitals.  
This cannot be computed; you have to judge it optically
in each particular case.

Thus, I'd prefer to implement variable scaling at _usage_ 
time, i.e., in the .fd file.  Take a look at *phv.fd and 
helvet.sty from the PSNFSS bundle to see how it can be done.
I have to admit that this was an ad-hoc solution; I hope 
that a general interface will be provided with LaTeX3.

HTH
Walter