How do I use TrueType fonts with LaTeX

I need to use a font family in my LaTeX documents, that is available as 18 .TTF (TrueTypeFont) files.

Where do I have to copy the files in my MiKTeX 2.8 installation? How Do I make the fonts available for LaTeX?

I usually use pdfLaTeX. I read in Truetype-Fonts in LaTeX that TTF fonts are available without creating all the .TFM files. What is necessary for this case?

Can I install the fonts in the local-texfm directory? I would like to isolate the system installation and my manually added stuff. Probably it would be easier to copy this font family on another installation.

Solution

The easiest way would be to use XeLaTeX, for which you would just install the fonts to your system. A basic template would look like this (from https://web.archive.org/web/20111115151939/http://theotex.blogspot.com/2008/04/what-is-xetex-basic-template_15.html) :

%!TEX TS-program = xelatex
%!TEX encoding = UTF-8 Unicode
\documentclass[10pt]{memoir}
\usepackage{xltxtra,fontspec,xunicode}
\defaultfontfeatures{Scale=MatchLowercase}
\setromanfont[Numbers=Uppercase]{Hoefler Text}
\setmonofont[Scale=0.90,Ligatures=NoCommon]{Courier}

\title{Your Title}
\author{Your Name}
\date{}

\begin{document}

\maketitle
\chapter{Title}

\section{Section Title}
Your text

\subsection{Subsection Title}
Your Text
\end{document}