.fd
) files, so the temptation to risk the
problems of \
newfont
is usually easy to
resist.
However, one temptation remains, arising from the way that LaTeX
restricts the sizes of fonts. In fact, the restriction only
significantly applies to the default (Computer Modern) and the
Cork-encoded (T1) EC fonts, but it is widely considered to be
anomalous, nowadays. In recognition of this problem, there is a
package fix-cm which will allow you to use the fonts, within
LaTeX, at any size you choose. If you’re not using scaleable
versions of the fonts, most modern distributions will just generate an
appropriate bitmap for you.
So, suppose you want to use Computer Modern Roman at 30 points, you
might be tempted to write:
\newfont{\bigfont}{cmr10 at 30pt} \begin{center} \bigfont Huge text \end{center}
which will indeed work, but will actually produce a worse result than
\usepackage{fix-cm} ... \begin{center} \fontsize{30}{36}\selectfont Huge text \end{center}
Note that the fix-cm package was not distributed until the December 2003 edition of LaTeX; if you have an older distribution, the packages type1cm (for CM fonts) and type1ec (for EC fonts) are available.
This question on the Web: http://www.tex.ac.uk/cgi-bin/texfaq2html?label=fontsize