The use of text on METAGRAF can be discussed acording with two "big" classifications. On one side there is the usual, standard straight text; on the other there is one of the "strongest" points of MG: the capability to write and include in any metapost drawing, curved text in the simplest and easiest way. The former will be explained in what follows and afterwards there will be a complete revue of curved text.
To begin with, it will be included a listing of the possibilities allowed by METAGRAF with "normal" text.
- Text can be used trough the standard tex fonts, so, from the computer modern family.
- Also the usual postscripts fonts included in most of the TeX distributions, that is, "Times", "Palatino", "Helvetic", "Utopy", "AvantGarde", "ZapChancery", "Bookman", "NewCentury" and "Charter", are allowed without restrictions.
- New fonts can be implemented in a simple way, or, at least, with no greater difficulty as installing them for use with TeX/LaTeX.
- All kind of mathematical text allowed by TeX is also allowed in MG.
- The use of postscript fonts don't create any difficulty if compared with the computer modern fonts. They can be visualize trough ghostview in the same way and included in drawings to be used in a LaTeX file with no differences.
- Using any kind of fonts, text can be scaled with no practical limits. And this as a general scaling or a horizontal-only or vertical-only or mixed (different-horizontal-vertical-scale) way.
- It is possible to create any type of "slanted" text with any of the mentioned fonts.
- It is possible to create "special-effects" fonts, as, for example, transforming an italic font in a vertical, roman, one, obtaining curious shapes.
- All the above capabilities can be used also with mathematical fonts.
- Any straight text can be rotated to any angle with a simple rotation of the its support-line. From 0 to 360 degrees.
- Any color is allowed for its use with any font, including math ones.
Any of this possibilities can be used in the simplest way, just clicking a couple of buttons or choosing from a clear menu.
Regarding curved text, there is also a big amount of possibilities to choose from with just one restriction. This last is clear: No mathematical text can be curved (how will be a square root of a big fraction curved 90 degrees along its axis?...althought, why not?, perhaps some day...).
Text along a curved path has in MG the possibilities that follows:
- Everything mentioned about straight text and related with the different family of fonts, applies equally to curved text.
- Exactly the same applies in relation to scaling or slanting of fonts.
- Also, the same possibilities regarding colors.
- Once the curved text created and visualized trough ghostview, the support curve can be modified in the simplest way to improve the final result.
- The path along which the text is placed -usually a curve open or closed- can be placed at the level of the text-middle-line or this late can be placed over the curve or under it, with different and interesting consequences.
- The beginning of the text can be the same as the beginning of the curve or not. It is possible to choose where the text begin.
- It is possible to modify the distance between the glyphs as much as wanted.
- It is also possible to show the support line or to hide it. So, it is possible to give a curved name to a curved line in a drawing with nice effects.
Finally it must be said that it is possible to use different fonts in the same drawing, straight or curved, scaled or not...etc. Hereby this example of a draw done exclusively with fonts.