The Afm2tfm program converts an AFM file for a PostScript font to a TFM file and a VPL file for a corresponding virtual font (or, in its simplest form, to a TFM file for the PostScript font itself). The results of the conversion are affected by the command-line options and especially by the reencodings you can specify with those options. You can also obtain special effects such as an oblique font.
An alternative to Afm2tfm for creating virtual fonts is Alan Jeffrey's
fontinst program, available from
`CTAN:fonts/utilities/fontinst' (for CTAN info,
see section `unixtex.ftp' in Kpathsea).