PFB to T11 Converter

Convert PFB to T11 for TeX typesetting — free online

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TeX-Ready Fonts

T11 output integrates directly into TeX distributions, so your PFB fonts work seamlessly in LaTeX and other TeX-based document systems.

Accurate Reformatting

Glyph paths and metrics from PFB are restructured into T11 encoding without altering the typographic quality of the original font.

Instant Conversion

Processing completes in seconds — upload your PFB and have a TeX-ready T11 file downloaded before your next compilation run.

How to convert PFB to T11

1

Select files from Computer, Google Drive, Dropbox, URL or by dragging it on the page.

2

Choose t11 or any other format you need as a result (more than 200 formats supported)

3

Let the file convert and you can download your t11 file right afterwards

About formats

PFB (Printer Font Binary) is the compact binary representation of Adobe's PostScript Type 1 font format, introduced alongside PFA in 1984. Where PFA stores the entire font program as hex-encoded ASCII text, PFB wraps the same data in a lightweight binary container that uses segment headers to mark regions as ASCII or binary. The encrypted glyph outline section (eexec) is stored as raw bytes rather than hex characters, cutting the file size roughly in half compared to PFA. Each segment begins with a marker byte and a 32-bit length field, making the format simple to parse while still significantly more compact. PFB became the dominant Type 1 distribution format on Windows and DOS platforms, used in combination with PFM (Printer Font Metrics) or AFM files that supply the character width and kerning data needed for text layout. One advantage is storage and transfer efficiency — the binary encoding means a typical text font occupies 30-50 KB rather than the 60-100 KB its PFA equivalent would require. The segmented structure also allows PostScript interpreters to stream font data efficiently, processing ASCII and binary portions with their respective handlers. Adobe Type Manager (ATM) on Windows relied on PFB files to render smooth Type 1 text on screen, a capability that transformed desktop publishing on the PC platform. While OpenType fonts have largely replaced Type 1 for new work, PFB files persist in established print workflows, archival font libraries, and systems that depend on PostScript output.
Developer: Adobe Systems
Initial release: 1984
T11 (Type 11) is a PostScript font type defined by Adobe Systems as part of the CID-keyed font architecture, combining CID glyph addressing with TrueType outline data wrapped in a Type 42 PostScript shell. In Adobe's font type numbering, Types 9, 10, and 11 are CID-keyed counterparts to Types 1, 3, and 42 respectively — so Type 11 is essentially a CID-keyed Type 42, designed for TrueType fonts that contain very large glyph sets, particularly CJK (Chinese, Japanese, Korean) character collections. The format allows PostScript interpreters with TrueType rasterizer support to render CJK TrueType fonts while using CID numeric indexing instead of glyph names, which is critical for character sets numbering in the tens of thousands. Glyph outlines remain in native TrueType quadratic spline format, preserving the original hinting instructions, while the CID layer provides efficient glyph access and subsetting through CMap resources. One advantage is direct TrueType rendering quality — unlike converting TrueType outlines to PostScript cubics, Type 11 passes the original outlines to the rasterizer intact, preserving hand-tuned grid-fitting instructions. The CID indexing provides another benefit by supporting multiple encoding schemes (Unicode, national standards) mapped to the same glyph collection without data duplication. Type 11 fonts appear primarily in professional CJK print production and PDF document workflows where large TrueType-based character sets must be embedded in PostScript-derived output.
Developer: Adobe Systems
Initial release: 1993

Frequently Asked Questions

Why convert PFB to T11?

T11 reformats Type 1 data for TeX and CID-keyed environments — necessary when your publishing pipeline expects this specific font encoding for academic documents.

How to open T11?

T11 files are consumed by TeX distributions (TeX Live, MiKTeX) and can be inspected with FontForge or text editors that understand PostScript font streams.

Is this useful for LaTeX users?

Yes — if your LaTeX setup requires explicit Type 1 / CID-keyed font files rather than system-installed fonts, T11 provides the expected structure.

Will glyph quality be affected?

No — the underlying cubic Bézier outlines remain identical. Only the file structure and encoding are adjusted for TeX consumption.

Can I batch convert PFB to T11?

Yes, Convertio supports multiple simultaneous uploads so you can prepare an entire font set for your TeX distribution at once.