The reason I write this article is because I found the 3270 font converted by otftotfm program has wrong baseline. Tools you would need: To start with, we assume you stick with direct fontware: PDF output with pdfTeX or Tools needed to edit TFM DVI output with any of the and VF files. popular processors. The capability to use certain font formats are different, Wt1utils: usually DVIPDFMx is better Very handy package for at handling not so well inspecting PostScript Type formed files. 1 fonts and doing minor modification on them. First of all you would need a encoding file, which specifies how would you updmap and mktexlsr: assign glyph to at most 256 After installed new fonts code points of a TeX font you need to run these file. To handle CJK there commands to let your TeX‐ are special hacks that would Live distribution recog‐ not be covered here. You nize them. don't necessarily need to convert the font to Type 1, but many times you would not otftotfm: able to map some strange Good to have, helps you get characters from TTF or OTF to the start point. file, so it would be handy to have a Type 1 .pfb file that you could inspect it A lisp interpreter. with t1disasm and modify the So you can make quick hacks glyph IDs. to PL and VPL files. After that TFM is what Tools you don't need: TeX uses to typeset docu‐ FontForge. You won't need ments. A virtual font pro‐ this messy thing to be a duces the same TFM format professional TeXnician, if and in addition a VF file to you would ever use it to tell how to find the con‐ edit fonts, just know that crete font. you can get better fonts to start with or do it the Then the outline file, harder way. usually Type 1, but TTF or OTF would also work. Only quiche eaters use LuaTeX or XeTeX to get new Finally a map file that fonts, real TeXnichians associates the outline file, write they own kerning encoding file, and TFM file. tables for the fonts they use.