> Shaw can jump in here anytime to correct me if I'm wrong, but my
> understanding is that a large part of the problem has to do with
> printing metrics. Some (maybe lots, depending on your installation) of
> the fonts that X uses have only the data required to *display* the font
> on the screen. Heck, that's all X is going to do, so that's all it
> needs to work.
>
> But to *print* a font, you need printing metrics. So, to guarantee
> that the fonts we're using *have* print metrics, Abiword has it's own
> copy of fonts. It can't just use X's list of fonts, because it doesn't
> know if the printing metrics are available or not.
>
> So while you could try to fault X for not requiring print metrics, the
> problem is really a *font* problem - people are using and distributing
> "incomplete" fonts.
>
> The GNOME printing framework should have the same limitations.
Okay I suggest:
1. get the font list
2. somehow probe the fonts to see if they have printer metrics
3. either:
* show only fonts with printing metrics available, or
* show fonts without printing metrics greyed, and pop up a dialog box
saying that font can only be used for display, not for printing, as currently
installed.
Is that possible?