---
name: "afm2tfm"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "texlive-doc"
version: "2026.1-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/afm2tfm"
---

# afm2tfm(1)

convert Adobe font metrics to TeX font metrics

## NAME

afm2tfm - convert Adobe font metrics to TeX font metrics

## DESCRIPTION

PostScript fonts are (or should be) accompanied by font metric files such as **Times-Roman.afm,** which describes the characteristics of the font called Times-Roman. To use such fonts with TeX, we need TFM files that contain similar information. This program does that conversion.

For all the details, see the dvips manual (http://tug.org/dvips).

## FILES

*psfonts.map* in the config directory used by dvips.

## SEE ALSO

[dvips(1)](/dvips/1.md), [tex(1)](/tex/1.md), [vptovf(1)](/vptovf/1.md), [fontinst(1)](/fontinst/1.md), [afm2pl(1)](/afm2pl/1.md), [otftotfm(1)](/otftotfm/1.md)

## BUGS

An option to add letterspacing to the virtual font was rejected by Knuth because it would make the fi and fl ligatures break the normal rhythmic pattern.

## AUTHORS

Tomas Rokicki and Donald E. Knuth.

Maintained in TeX Live; please send bug reports or other correspondence to tex-k@tug.org (http://lists.tug.org/tex-k).