\newfont command not working; which fonts can I substitute?

Question

I have to use a LaTeX style file that has the following:

% fonts for headings in Helvetica. Edit if you have no such fonts
\newfont{\helvix}{phvr at 9pt} % roman9
\newfont{\helvixb}{phvb at 9pt} % bold9
\newfont{\helvixo}{phvro at 9pt} % italic9
\newfont{\helvxviiib}{phvb at 18pt} % bold18

Unfortunately, on my setup (OS X + TeXShop), even after having copied the required TFM files to my working dir, I get the following errors:

mktexpk: don't know how to create bitmap font for phvr.
mktexpk: perhaps phvr is missing from the map file.

I'm assuming that getting the fonts installed properly etc. is going to be an involved process, so for now I'd like to just avoid that problem and get to writing. I tried replacing the "phvr" (and related) by the names given in the comments (roman9, etc.); this doesn't work either.

What could I put instead to get it working as fast as possible, while still respecting the basic typesetting options (helvixb must be in bold, etc.)?

Answer 1

\newfont is a quite obsolete command. Moreover you don't need only the tfm files to run pdflatex, but you have also to teach it where to find the actual fonts.

You get automatically the header fonts in Helvetica by saying

\usepackage[scaled=.9]{helvet}

and write more simply \sffamily followed by a size specification: for example

\sffamily\small

where the old style says \helvix or

\sffamily\bfseries\small

where the old style says \helvixb; for slanted use \slshape instead of \bfseries. Instead of \helvxviiib say

\sffamily\bfseries\LARGE

However I suggest a different font

\usepackage[scale=.9]{tgheros}

which is very similar to Helvetica (on my system some letters with Helvetica come out misplaced). Notice the slight difference in the keyword for scaling. Adjust the number to suit your needs. The commands for choosing the font are exactly the same as before.

Answer 2

You could try the names phvr8t, phvb8t and phvro8t. But on the whole it is certainly better to avoid this \newfontdefinition and to adapt your script to nfss.