METAFONT is a system for the design of symbols and alphabetic characters suited to raster-based devices that print or display text. The construction of a typeface is an art form and this manual is written for people who wish to advance the quality of mathematical typesetting.
The METAFONTbook enables readers, with only minimal computer science or word processing experience, to master the basic as well as the more advanced features of METAFONT programming. With this manual, readers will learn how to write a program using METAFONT that can customize a type design that already exists, create an entire alphabet from scratch, and create logos or special symbols.
Customer Review: Well, if you care about archaic technology
Once upon a time, MF represented the best hope for outline font technology. Then came PostScript, Type 1 fonts, ATM and it became moot. It's a nice graphic programming language and for some mathematically-derived designs it's easier to work with than is, say, Fontographer or Fontlab, but the output is mired in the bitmap world (valiant MF2PS efforts notwithstanding).
Serious students of MF will also need the Computer Modern Typefaces book. And possibly a healthy dose of liquor. But as I said, the language is actually kind of nice (and MF can be used as a simple algebraic calculator if you're so inclined).
Customer Review: It's really paperbound
Most of the people who order this book will already know quite a bit about it, so I won't say much about the book itself. I will point out, though, that it is softcover, not hardcover. (The book linked to by the "softcover" link is spiral bound.) On the other hand, I haven't succeeded in locating any copies of the "real" hardcover edition.
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