Tex Fonts, especially 17pt

For a start find where the fonts are stored. On the Digital Unix platforms that is: /usr/local/TeX/texmf/fonts/tfm. The directory public contains cm the TeX Computer Modern font that Knuth designed and which MetaFont generates on the fly.

By the way, the Type1 version of those fonts can be found at:
usr/local/TeX/texmf/fonts/type1/public/cm. Using the option -Pcms with dvips causes these fonts to be used -- as might be the case for PDF documents headed for the NSF.

Constructing at TeX font family

1. Scale a font to fill a missing font size. So if you had no 17pt fonts, you could do the following:

   
   \font\seventeenrm=cmr12 scaled 1728    \font\seventeeni=cmmi12 scaled 1440
   \font\seventeensy=cmsy10 scaled 1728    \font\seventeenex=cmex10 scaled 1728
   \font\seventeenbf=cmbx12 scaled 1440    \font\seventeensl=cmsl12 scaled 1440
   \font\seventeentt=cmtt12 scaled 1440    \font\seventeenit=cmti12 scaled 1440
   

2. Scaling a font distorts it.

   In other words, an 5pt 't' does not scale perfectly to a 17 pt 't.' There are subtle adjustments in the thickness and shape of the lines to make the font look "good." But the scaling above will not cause you trouble.

3. Define the seventeenpoint family. (See example at bottom).

   Note that it uses smaller fonts for subscripts and such. These are defined in jnl. Again you may find a missing font and have to create a scaled substitute. I have put a sample seventeenpoint familty at the bottom. The spaces were adjusted by me for use in viewgraphs. You may want to change them.

   Finally, if metafont is installed, it will sometimes generate missing fonts on the fly if it understands the definition. However, jnl aim is to avoid this, since metafont is often not installed or impropertly installed by using fonts known to be available locally.

Appendix A: All cm fonts on Digital Unix TeX

---------- 10pt-------------
cmapl10.tfm    cmbxti10.tfm   cmmi10.tfm     cmssbx10.tfm   cmti10.tfm
cmb10.tfm      cmcsc10.tfm    cmmib10.tfm    cmssbxo10.tfm  cmtt10.tfm
cmbcsc10.tfm   cmcscsl10.tfm  cmr10.tfm      cmssdc10.tfm   cmu10.tfm
cmbsy10.tfm    cmdunh10.tfm   cmsl10.tfm     cmssi10.tfm    cmvtti10.tfm
cmbx10.tfm     cmex10.tfm     cmsltl10.tfm   cmsy10.tfm
cmbxcd10.tfm   cmfi10.tfm     cmsltt10.tfm   cmtcsc10.tfm
cmbxsl10.tfm   cmitt10.tfm    cmss10.tfm     cmtex10.tfm
------------- 12 pt -------------
cmbx12.tfm   cmitt12.tfm  cmr12.tfm    cmss12.tfm   cmti12.tfm
cmex12.tfm   cmmi12.tfm   cmsl12.tfm   cmssi12.tfm  cmtt12.tfm
-----------   17 pt ------------
cmr17.tfm    cmss17.tfm   cmssi17.tfm
------------ 5pt -------------
cmbx5.tfm  cmmi5.tfm  cmr5.tfm   cmsy5.tfm
------------ 6pt -------------
cmbx6.tfm  cmmi6.tfm  cmr6.tfm   cmsl6.tfm  cmsy6.tfm
------------ 7pt -------------
cmbx7.tfm    cmmi7.tfm    cmr7.tfm     cmssi17.tfm  cmti7.tfm
cmbxti7.tfm  cmr17.tfm    cmss17.tfm   cmsy7.tfm
------------ 8pt -------------
cmbx8.tfm    cmmi8.tfm    cmss8.tfm    cmssqi8.tfm  cmti8.tfm
cmfib8.tfm   cmr8.tfm     cmssi8.tfm   cmsy8.tfm    cmtt8.tfm
cmfibs8.tfm  cmsl8.tfm    cmssq8.tfm   cmtex8.tfm
------------ 9pt -------------
cmbx9.tfm    cmmi9.tfm    cmsl9.tfm    cmss9.tfm    cmsy9.tfm cmti9.tfm
cmitt9.tfm   cmr9.tfm     cmsltt9.tfm  cmssi9.tfm   cmtex9.tfm cmtt9.tfm
---------------------------------------------------------

Appendix B: Sample 17pt familty

---------- 10pt-------------
\def\seventeenpoint{\normalbaselineskip=20.8pt plus 0.2pt minus 0.2pt
  \abovedisplayskip 20.8pt plus 3pt minus 9pt
  \belowdisplayskip 20.8pt plus 3pt minus 9pt
  \abovedisplayshortskip 0pt plus 3pt
  \belowdisplayshortskip 7.7pt plus 3pt minus 4pt
  \smallskipamount=5.2pt plus1.2pt minus1.2pt
  \medskipamount=10.4pt plus2.4pt minus2.4pt
  \bigskipamount=20.8pt plus4.8pt minus4.8pt
  \def\rm{\fam0\seventeenrm}          \def\it{\fam\itfam\seventeenit}%
  \def\sl{\fam\slfam\seventeensl}     \def\bf{\fam\bffam\seventeenbf}%
  \def\mit{\fam 1}                 \def\cal{\fam 2}%
  \def\tt{\seventeentt}
  \textfont0=\seventeenrm \scriptfont0=\twelverm
\scriptscriptfont0=\tenrm
  \textfont1=\seventeeni  \scriptfont1=\twelvei \scriptscriptfont1=\teni
\textfont2=\seventeensy \scriptfont2=\twelvesy \scriptscriptfont2=\tensy
\textfont3=\seventeenex \scriptfont3=\seventeenex 
                        \scriptscriptfont3= \twelveex
\scriptscriptfont3=\tenex
  \textfont\itfam=\seventeenit
  \textfont\bffam=\seventeenbf \scriptfont\bffam=\twelvebf
  \scriptscriptfont\bffam=\tenbf
  \normalbaselines\rm}