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1.31

TableofContentsIntroduction

WhatIsaFont

TrustingYourEyes

PlanningYourProject

TheEMSquare

InstallingFontforge

ConfiguringFontforge

GeneralUIintroduction

UsingtheFontforgeDrawingTools

DrawingWithSpiro

Creating“o”and“n”

FontInfo&Metadata

WordSpace

CreatingYourTypeDNA

CapitalLetters

LineSpacing

PunctuationandSymbols

CompleteingtheLowerCase

DiacriticsandAccents

Numerals

BoldandOtherWeights

Italic

Spacing,MetricsandKerning

MakingSureYourFontWorks,Validation

TheFinalOutputGeneratingFontFiles

WhenThingsGoWrongWithFontforgeItself

DesigningDevanagariTypefaces

ImportingGlyphsfromOtherPrograms

AddingGlyphstoanArabicFont

FurtherReading

Glossary

2

Introduction

Thisbookhasbeenproducedtohelpmaketheprocessoftypedesignavailabletoanyone.Typedesignisvisuallycomplexaswellashighlytechnical–howeveritiseasiertobeginmakingtypenowthanever,partlybecauseoftheavailabilityoffreetoolslikeFontForge.Whilebeingahandytoolwithwhichtobegin,FontForgeisnotjustforbeginners.Ithasanadvancedtoolsetandisrapidlyimprovingatthetimethisbookisbeingwritten.

Thisbookaimstooffertechnicalhelpandgeneralinsightintoplanningatypedesignproject,andalsooffersadviceabouthowtomakeyourworkflowmoreefficient.

Ifyouwishtohelpus,youcancontributetomakingFontForgebetterbygivingfeedbackorevenbycontributingcontentandfixesonGitHub.IfyoufaceanybuginFontForge,searchtheissuetrackeronGitHubtoseeifyouhitaknownbugandwhatthestateofitsresolutionis.Otherwise,seehereforbugreportingguidelines.

Wehopeyouwillenjoyreadingthistutorialasmuchaswedidwritingit.

—TheFontForgeProjectContributors

Introduction

3

WhatIsaFont

—Whatmakestypefacesdifferentfromhand-writing,calligraphy,lettering,andlogos?

Thesinglebiggestissuethatmakestypedesigndifferentistheneedforeveryglyphinthetypefacetoworkwitheveryotherglyph.Thisoftenmeansthatthedesignandspacingofeachpartofthetypefaceendsupbeingaseriesofcarefulcompromises.Thesecompromisesmeanthatwecanbestthinkabouttypefacedesignasthecreationofawonderfulcollectionoflettersbutnotasacollectionofwonderfulletters.Inotherwordswemustthinkaboutthegroupandhowitwillperformtogetherandprioritizethisoveranyquestionofwhatiswonderfulinasingleletter.

Thisneedtoprioritizewiththesystemratherthanwithanysinglepartalsoleadstoaneedtoanalyseourdesignprocessonthelevelofthesystem.Characteristicswhichspanlettersbecomethethingswewanttofocuson,particularlyatthebeginningofthedesignprocess.

Theotheroddityintypedesignisthattoaverylargeextenttheformswearedesigningarealreadysignificantlyestablished.Ourtaskastypedesignersisnotsomuchtocreateanutterlynewformbutrathertocreateanewversionofanexistingform.Thiscanperplexnewtypedesigners.Findingjusttherightamounttochangeinordertoexcitebutnottoalienateareaderisatrickything.Oftendesignersgetstuckinletter-specificthinking.Thismistakecanbeeasilyavoidedifyourealizefromthestartthatwhatismostmeaningfulinatypefacearethepartsofitthatrepeatthemost.Typefacedesignisnotjustaboutdesigningthecharacteristicsappliedtothecommonformsweallrecognize,butalsototheformsthatoccurmostoften.

Itisalsousefultorecognizethatthesecharacteristicsnotonlyhelptocreateafont’svoiceoratmosphere,butalsodeterminewhatthefontwillorwillnotbeusefulfor,andtheysometimeshelpdeterminethetechnologicalcontextsforwhichafontissuitable.

Itmayseemintimidatingorexcessivelyabstracttothinkaboutthedesignofafontinthisway.However,gettingusedtotheseideasisthekeytoafaster,moreeffective,andsatisfyingtypedesignprocess.

Let’sbeginbyidentifyingthemainsystemiccharacteristicsintypedesign.

Construction

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Constructionreferstothestructureoftheunderlyingstrokesthatformaparticularglyph.Perhapsyoucanimaginetheglyph’sskeleton.Thekindofconstructiontouseisarguablyoneofthemostimportantquestionstothinkabout,becausetheconstructionaffectssomanyoftheremainingchoices,particularlyifyourdesignisgoingtofeelsomewhatfamiliartoreaders.Intheexampleabove,thewhitelineinsidethelettersindicatetheapproximateconstructionsuggestedbytheshapeofthelettersthemselves.

However,thewaystrokesend(the‘terminals’)andthe‘serifs’(seebelow)aregenerallynotpartofwhatismeantby‘construction.’Constructionistheskeletonoftheglyph,whilerest–width,weight,terminals–areallpartsoftheflesh.

ProportionofX-heighttoCap-height

ThelettersontheleftcomefromPlayfairDisplay,whichhasalargex-heightrelativetoitscap-height.ThelettersontherightarefromEBGaramond,whichhasasmallerx-height.Inthesampleabove,thesizeoftheHhasbeenadjustedsothattheymatch.

AscenderHeight

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Intheexampleabove,thex-heightshavebeenmatchedinordertoillustratetherelativedifferenceinascenderheights.

Ascendersusuallyexceedthecap-heightbyatleastalittle,especiallyintextdesigns.Insomecases,however,theycanmatchorevenbelowerthanthecap-height.Longerascenderscanaddelegancetothelookofatypeface.Theyoftengowithsmallerx-height.

Descenderdepth

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Likeascenders,descendersthatarelongcanfeelelegant.

Takentogether,longascendersanddescenderscanbecomedifficulttomanage.Ifthetypefacewillbeusedwithsmalllineheights,theelongationmeanslettercancollideacrossrowsoftext.

Width

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Thewidthofatypedesignwillalternotjusthowitfeelsbutalsowhatitisusefulfor.Theexampleontherightisfromatextface.Theexampleontheleftisfromadisplaydesignmeanttobeeyecatching.Lettersthataremorenarrowthanthetextfaceexamplearealsopossibleandcanbeusedtosavespaceortofitmoretextinasmallerspace.

Widthregularityversusvariability

Thelettersinthetoprowofthisexampleshowagreatervarietyofwidththandothelettersinthebottomrow.

Weight

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Slant

Contrast

Contrastreferstohowmuchvariationinstrokewidthisfoundwithinaglyph.Noticeinthebelowtwo‘O’glyphsthattheoneonthelefthasmuchgreatervariabilityinlinethicknessbetweenthetopandsidesoftheglyph.Bothglyphshavesomecontrast,buttheoneonthelefthasmuchmorethantheoneontheright.

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Typewithconsistentweight(strokewidth)initsletterformsornovisiblecontrastproducesasheerdistinctionfromcontrastedtype.Likethechoicebetweenserifsorsans-serifs,contrastisanearlychoiceoftypedesign.Itisinterestingtonotethat‘slab’serifdesignsgenerallyuseconsistentstrokewidthintheirletters,andthatthedesignofslabserifsisnotmerelyabouttheserif,asitsounds!Itmustberememberedthattherulesofperceptionapply(see“Trustingyoureyes”)–contrastisabouthowtheweightlooksbutnothowitmeasuresouttobe.

Angleofcontrast

Inthebelowimage,weseethatthethinpartsofthelowercaseletter‘o’shapesaredifferent.Intheglyphontheleft,thethinpointslieonaperfectlyverticalaxis.Intheglyphontheright,theaxisisdiagonal.

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Weightdistribution

Ifyourfontusesverylittletonocontrast,youdon’treallyneedtothinkofit.Mostfonts,however,haveatleastsomedegreeofcontrast.Inthesecases,youhaveawidevarietyofoptionstochoosefromwhenitcomestohowtodistributetheweightinyourfont.

Vertical

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Verticaldistributionofweightisverycommon.The9and8aboveareaparticularlyintenseexample.

Horizontal

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Horizontalweightdistributionismuchlesscommon,butisnonethelessseeninmanyfonts.

Bottom-heavy

Top-heavy

Irregular

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13

Stems

Itiseasytoassumethatyourstemswillsimplybestraightandthatthisisn’tarealconcern,butboththeweightandtheshapeofyourstemsarethingsyoucanandshouldmakedeliberatechoicesabout.

Joins

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Bowls

Notethatbowlsarethestrokepartinthebelowillustrationsandnottheblackinnerforms.Theinnerstrokesarereferredas“counters”.Whiledesigningtype,youwilloftenfindyourselfalteringyourworknotbecauseoftheshapeorwidthofthestrokebutduetotheshapeandsizeofthecounter.

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Terminals

Terminalsaretheendformsofthestrokes.Theyarenotsameastheserifs.Theyareoftenperpendiculartotheangleofthestrokeatitsend,orshearedhorizontallyorvertically.Theymayalsoreflecttheshapeoftheniborothermark-makingtoolthattheletterformsevoke.

Speed

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The‘n’ontheleftseemstobewrittenmuchfasterthantheoneontheright.Speedisdiscussedinmoredetailinthechapteronitalics.

Regularity

Thefollowingcharacteristicsarenotpresentinalltypedesigns,howevertheyarevariablesthatmaybeapartofyourdesign.Ifthisisthecase,itisworthconsideringthedegreetowhichtheywillplayaroleasavariable.

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Flourish

Noticethatinthefontontoptheflourishismorepresentinthecapitalletterandthesecondonetheflourishismoreinthelowercase.

Serif-Tobeornottobe

Serifsareoneofthemostdistinctaspectsofatypeface,andoftenthefirstclassificationoftypeisbetweenserifandsans-seriftype.

Thischoiceaffectshowtheendterminalswilllooklike.Serifscanbetwosidedoronesided.Theycanbeperpendiculartostrokeorhavetheirowndirection(likebeingalwayshorizontalorvertical).Serifscanbewithorwithoutbrackets.Anyserifdesignisamixofalloftheaboveappliedconsistentlytothetypedesignwithsomedeviationsforparticularletters,especiallythe‘S’,‘C’and‘Z’(e.g.atypewithhorizontalserifsforallletterswilloftenhaves,candztohaveverticalserifs).

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Thereisaurbanlegendassertingthatseriftypesareeasiertoreadthansans-serifs–itisasolemyth,untilfurthernotice.

Theformoftheserifsarerelatedtotheformsoftheterminals.

Brackets

Thecornerportionsofaserifwhereitconnectstothemainstrokearecalled‘brackets’.Aparticulardesignmayhavethemgivingasoftfeeltotheserif(TimesNewRomanisanexample)ormaychoosetonothaveanybracket.Somedesignsalsousebracketsonlyononesideorwithdifferentproportionsonthetwosides.

Thisisarelativelystrongparameterthatrendersfeeltothetype–elegance(smoothorlargebracketsofTimesNewRoman)orchunkycrisp(absentbracketsofArvo).

Slab-serifs

AlsocalledmechanisticorEgyptiantype,slabsarethick,block-likeserifs.Slabserifsdon’tusebrackets.Generallyspeaking,typedesignwithsuchserifsareseentohavelesscontrastintheirglyphs–Rockwell,CourierorAmericantypewriterreflectthat.

Itmaybesafetoassumethatslabserifshavebeenusedtoaddsomeornamentorrhythmtoanotherwiseno-contrasttypedesign.Butthisisnotanabsoluterule.

SerifTerminals

Justlikeletterterminals,theendshapeoftheserifsthemselvescontributetothefeelofthetype–eithersoftorchunky.Serifterminalscanbesoftandrounded(Courier)orbluntandangular(Rockwell).

Decoration

Dimension

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WhatIsaFont

20

TrustingYourEyes

Fontdesignistheprocessofiterativelytestingtheindividualchoicesthatcollectivelyadduptoacompletedesign.Youwillbetestingyourfonttoseeifthecombinationofdecisionsyouhavemade:

AllowsyoutoreadthefontMakesthefontfeelrighttoyouMakesthefontusefulforthethejobsyouwantthefonttobeabletodo.

Asyoutestthedesign,youwillhavetotrustyourperceptionsanddesignsomewhatpractically.Muchoftypedesignrequiresthatyoumakeletterssimilarandthatyourepeatforms.

Itistemptingtoassumethatifyoumeasurethepartsandthespacesbetweentheglyphs,thenyouwillgetreliableresults.Whileveryuseful,thisapproachhasreallimitations.Youshouldexpecttomakeadjustmentsifsomethinglookswrongtoyou.Furthermore,youshouldfeelconfidentthatmakingchangesuntilit“looksright”isthecorrectthingtodo.

Thereasonthisistrueisthatthereareanumberofnaturalopticalillusionsthatallreadersaresubjectto.Theseillusionsmustbeaccountedforbyalteringtheshapesoflettersuntiltheylookrighttoyou.

YoucangetafeelofwheretolookandwhatelementstoadjustintheseTypeReviewVideos(ExternalLink)

ExamplesofillusionsSomeillusionsinvolvetheperceivedweightoflines,someinvolvetheperceivedlengthoflines,andothersinvolvetheeye’sperceptionofshapes.

Horizontalvs.verticalweight

Theexampleontheleftshowsan‘H’whichbarsarepreciselyequalinthickness.Thislookswrong.Canyoufeelit?Theotheroneontherighthasahorizontalbarwhichhasbeenthinnedtoappearequalinthickness.

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GlyphsinwhichopticaladjustmentshavetobemadearenumerousandincludeA,E,F,L,H,f,t,andz.

Diagonalthickness

Similarly,ifyouhavebarsofthesamewidthandoneofthemissetatadiagonal,thediagonalbarwillseemslightlyheavierthantheverticalbarandslightlythinnerthanthehorizontal.Ifyouwantitlookright,youwillhavetoadjustittobelighterlikethehorizontalexample,butjustalittleless.

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Glyphsinwhichthishumanperceptionmayberelevantarequitenumerousbutincludek,K,N,Q,R,v,V,w,W,x,X,y,Y,7,2,&,ł,Ł,ø,Ø,√,⁄,‹,›,«,»,½,⅓,¼,≤,≥,and×.

Lengthandperceiveddiagonalangle

Longershapesneedtoslantlessthanshortshapesinordertogivetheappearanceofsameslant.

Theimagebelowhasdiagonallinesthatareallatthesameangle.Thelongoneappearstobeatadifferentangle.

Inthenextpicturebelow,theslantofthelongerlinehasbeenadjusted:

TrustingYourEyes

23

Nowlet’slookatanactualitalic,applyingthesecorrectionstotheglyphs:

TrustingYourEyes

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Crossingdiagonals

Whenabarcrossesanotherdiagonalorastraightline,itwillneedadjustmentstonotappearasmisaligned.

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Intheexampleabove,theXonthelefthastwounadjustedbarscrossingeachother.Theexampleontherighthasbeenadjustedsothattheyappeartobealigned.

TrustingYourEyes

26

AsyoucanseeinthisXwithdottedlineontopofit,theXthatappearsvisuallyalignedinvolvesanoffset.

Glyphsinwhichthisillusionisrelevantincludex,X,k,K,×,#,andtheicelandicletter‘eth’(ð).

Perceivedheight

Theshapeofaglyphwillcontributetohowhighitneedstobeinordertolookasifitisthesameheightastheotherglyphs.Roundglyphsneedtoovershoottheheightofflatglyphsbyalittlebit.Glyphswhichhavepointiershapeswillneedtoovershootmore.Thesharpertheshape,themoreitwillneedtoovershootinordertolookcorrect.

TrustingYourEyes

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Intheimageabove,thetopthreeshapesareunadjusted—thatis,theyhaveidenticalheights.Thethreeshapesonthebottomhavebeenadjustedsothattheyappearmoresimilarinheight.

Thisillusionisrelevantforanyglyphthathaspartswhichareeitherroundorpointy.TheseincludeO,Q,C,S,A,V,W,andsoon.

YouarefullyqualifiedtocorrectfortheseillusionsBecauseyoucanseeboththeillusionandtheeffectofcorrectingfortheillusion,youwillbeabletomakethesecorrectionsforyourself.Youjusthavetotrustyourimpressions.

TestforfitnessofpurposeJustlikeyouareabletoseeopticalillusionsandcorrectthem,youalsohavetheabilitytotellifafontisworkingforthespecificuse(oruses)youmayhaveinmind.That’swhereyoushouldalsotrustyourjudgment.

Quiteseparately,itisworthnotingthatnofontcanbeevaluatedapartfromthewayitisusedandwhatitisusedfor.Thisiswhyitisessentialtobegintestingfromtheverybeginningofthedesignprocess,andtocontinuetestinguntilyoufeeltheprojectisdone.

Whatwillthesetestsbelike?Thetestswillbesimpleatfirst,allowingyoutotestthefirstdesignchoices.Asyourdesignbecomesmorecomplete,yourtestswillneedtokeeppaceandletyouevaluatetherelativesuccessorfailureofthenewestchoicesyouhavemade—or,evenbetter,tocomparetwo(orthree,ormore…)optionsyouareconsidering.

Sometimesyouwillfindyouhavetodoublebackandchangeadesignchoiceyouthoughtwasalreadyworkingwell.Thisisnormal.Makingafontrequiresbalancingmanyvariables,andsurprisesoftenoccur.Themoreyoudesignfonts,themoreexperienceyouwillhaveinmakingthesearbitrarychoices.

TrustingYourEyes

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Whennearingtheendoftheprocess,ifthefontistobeusedinasimpleway,thetestsshouldalsojuststaysimple.However,ifafontistobeusedinmanywaysorinawiderangeofprintingorscreenenvironments,thenitshouldbetestedacrossallthatrangeofsituations,whichincludesprintingvarioussamplesofthefont.

Itcansaveyoudesigntimetohaveawelldefinedideaofthefinaluseyouintend.However,thisisnotalwayspossibleandyourideasmayevolve.Thekeythingistothinkaboutanddefinetheusecasesascompletelyasyoucan,thentoensurethatyourtestskeeppacewiththequestionsyouareaskingyourselfwhiledesigningthefont.

FurtherReadinghttp://typographica.org/on-typography/making-geometric-type-work/http://typedrawers.com/discussion/1085/the-letter-s

TrustingYourEyes

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PlanningYourProject

Nowthatyouhaveasenseofhowafontdesigncanvary,youmaywanttodecidewhetheryourprojectwillhaveonlyonefont,ifitwillbeacollectionofseveralinter-relatedfonts,ifitwillbea(nowtraditional)threeorfour-stylestypefamily,orifitwillbesomethingevenlarger.

Commonstylesoftypefamiliesinclude:

ARegularandaBoldweightRegular,Bold,Italic–eventuallywithaBoldItalicThin,Light,Book,Regular,Semi-Bold,Bold,Extra-Bold,HeavyandBlackRegular,Condensed,BoldandBoldCondensedNarrow,Condensed,WideandExtraWideRegular,Semi-Flourished,Flourished,VeryFlourished,ExtremelyFlourished.

Whiletherearereasonsthattypicalpatternsinfamiliesexist,youmayfindyouwantaverydifferentkindofgrouping.

Thescopeoftheprojectcanbedeterminedexclusivelybyyourambitionandyouramountoffreetime.Butprojectscopesareoftendeterminedbytheuseyouhaveforthecollectionorfamilyoffonts,or,evenfurther,bytheneedsofyourclient.Certainlyforprofessionaltypedesigners,thelattertwoquestionsareusuallythedeterminingfactors.

FeelingThemostimportantthingaboutatypedesignisthefeelingsitevokes.Thisisnotoriouslyhardtoverbalise,butitiswhatmakesaparticulartypefacemeaningfullydifferentfromanyother.

AtypedesignerinPortugal,NatanaelGama,designedtheExofamilywithFontForge.OnhishomepagehedescribesanotherprojectforthesculptorJohnWilliamsandincludesagraphicshowinghisbriefinamatrixofcontinuumsoffeelings:

FigurativetoAbstract50%GracefultoRobust:30%CalmtoEnergetic:0%PuzzlingtoPlain:15%ExperimentaltoStandard:15%PrestigioustoOrdinary:15%OtherIdeas:Beautiful,OutsideSpaces,HumanCondition

GlyphcoverageAfontisstillafontevenifithasonlyoneglyphinit.Butafontcanalsohaveafewhundredoreventhousandsofglyphs.Ifyourprojectisself-initiated,thenthischoiceisultimatelyarbitrary.Youmaydecideyouonlywantcapitals,orthatyouwanttoincludetheglyphsfoundintheotherfontsyouuse.Ifyouaredoingworkforaclient,youmaywanttoclarifywhichlanguageorlanguagesthefontismeanttosupport.Yourgoalcouldalsobetoextendanexistingfont,addingafewglyphstomakeitworkinoneormoreadditionallanguages.

It’scertainlyagoodideatomakethischoicedeliberately,andtoerronthesideofincludinglessratherthanmore.Oftenasatypefaceisbeingmade,itcanbetemptingtoincludemoreandmoreglyphs–butitisfrequentlymorevaluabletocontinuetoimprovethecoresetofglyphsthanaddingnewones.

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30

Multi-stylefamilyworkflowIfyouknowfromthestartthatyouwillhavemorethanonefont,youwillsaveyourselftimeifyouplanandbuildthefontfamilysystematically,andworkonthestylessomewhatinparallel,ratherthancompletingonestyleatatime.

Itisofcourseimpossibletocreateeverystyleinacompletelyparallelmanner,butit’spossibletocompleteagivendesignstepforeachstyleinordertocheckandbesureabouttherelationshipsbetweenthestyles,earlyintheprocess.Youmayfindthatitisusefultocompleteonefullsetoftestletters(suchas“adhesion”)foraregularversion,andthentomake“adhesion”sfortheotherstylesnext.However,youcanalsomaketheprocessevenmoregranularandmakedecisionsaboutspecificpartsofthebaseletters(suchasthe‘n’and‘o’)forallstylestogether.

Dependingonthesizeandcompositionofthefamilyyouareplanning,youmayfindthatitsavestimetomakeinterpolatableinstancesofglyphs,notonlysoyoucaninterpolateintermediatestyles,buttoaidmakingdesignchoicesaboutthosetypographicvariablesthatshiftacrossthemembersofafamily.Foraremainderofthevariablesyoushouldbeconsidering,seethechapter“Whatisafont?”.

Technical:VersionManagementYoushouldlearntouseGitandGithubtostoreyourfiles,andusethe"SFDir"formatforyoursources.

https://help.github.com/articles/what-are-other-good-resources-for-learning-git-and-githubhttp://justinhileman.info/article/git-pretty/

OverallProcess

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Page 1 / 1

TestingEnvironmentsWhenplanningyourproject,youmustconsiderthemediumoftypographyyouareintendingthetypefaceforprimarilyandsecondarily:Mobileandweb,ordigitalprojectors,orcheapofficebubblejetandlaserprinters,orhighendprintbureaulaserprinters,ormagazineoffsetlithographicprinting,orhigh-speedhigh-volumenewspaperprinting...andsoon.Youshouldthentrytoacquireorarrangeaccesstothosetypesettingtechnologies,soyoucanseetherealresultsofyourwork.

Throughoutthetypedesignprocess,youwillfinditveryhelpfultopreviewtextsetwithyour(prototype)typefaceatahigherresolutionthanyourlaptoporworkstationscreen.Thistypicallymeansalaserprinterwith"true"1200DPIandAdobePostScript3.Forindividualsitispossiblepurchasesomethinglikethisforaround$500,andsome2013recommendationswere:

HPP2055dXeroxPhaser4510XeroxPhaser5550Nashua/RicohP7026N

InMay2013,theProductionTypestudiohasaXerox7525with"fiery"controller,whichcostsaround€12,000topurchasebutis€300permonthtoleasewithtoner,partsandmaintenance.Inlate2015,OctavioPardoleasedaXeroxPhaser7100inasimilarwayfor€30permonth.

OpenTypeFeatures

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YoucanplantheOpenTypefeaturesofyourprojectbeforeyoubegindrawing.Commonfeaturesinclude

ligaLigaturesonum,lnumNumerals

Forsomelanguagesloclworksbutforothersitdoesn't,soitisbesttoexposelanguagespecificformsviabothloclandssNNorcvNN.

TheOpenTypespecificationallowsforsomekindsoffeatureswhicharenotrecommend:

histfeature.ReadmoreinthisdiscussiononTypeDrawers.

FurtherReadingAoifeMooney'spresentationonthetypedesignprocessatTypeCon2014:https://vimeo.com/107421895TypeDrawersdiscussionofPrinterrecommendationsforproofing

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33

TheEMSquare

—Alsocalledthe‘emsize’or‘UPM’.Inafont,eachcharacterisfittedintoitsownspacecontainer.Intraditionalmetaltypethiscontainerwastheactualmetalblockofeachcharacter.Theheightofeachcharacterpiecewasuniform,allowingthecharacterstobesetneatlyintorowsandblocks(seebelow).

Theheightofthetypepieceisknownasthe‘em’,anditoriginatesfromthewidthoftheuppercase‘M’character;itwasmadesothattheproportionsofthisletterwouldbesquare(hencethe‘emsquare’denomination).Theemsizeiswhatthepointsizeofmetaltypeiscalculatedupon.So,a10pointstypehasa10pointsem(seebelow).

Indigitaltype,theemisadigitally-definedamountofspace.InanOpenTypefont,theUPM–oremsizeisusuallysetat1000units.InTrueTypefonts,theUPMisbyconventionapoweroftwo,generallysetto1024or2048.

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Whenthefontisusedtosettype,theemisscaledtothedesiredpointsize.Thismeansthatfor10pttype,the1000unitsforinstancegetscaledto10pt.

Soifyouruppercase‘H’is700unitshigh,itwillbe7pthighona10pttype.

SettingthatupintheGlyphWindow

Withtheknowledgethatyourfontisusinga1000,1024,or2048UPM,youneedtosetupthedrawingofyourglyphstoensurethatallaspectsofyourtypefacefitadequatelyintothatUPMsquare.

ThesizeoftheemsquarecanbesetfromElement>FontInfo…thenclickontheGeneraltabandyouwillseetheEMsetting,whichvalueshallbedistributedbetweentheAscenderandDescenderheights,respectivelyheightsaboveandunderneaththebaseline.

TheBaseline:

TheCapHeight:

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Thex-height:

Laterwhendesigningyourtype,youwillhavetosettheBluevalueswhichserveforPostScriptoutlinesandalsofortheFontForgeautohinter–regardlessofwhichoutlinesyouareworkingon.YouwillfindthesettinginElement>FontInfo…,onthePSPrivatetab.FontForgecaninitiallyguessthevaluesbasedonyouroutlines,butyouwillhavetoeditthemyourselfforovershoots/undershoots—weareafewchaptersaheadofthisconcept(see“Creating‘o’and‘n’”);let’sfirstgetaholdofFontForgeanditsdrawingfunctionalities.

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InstallingFontforge

FontForgeislibresoftware,soyoucandownload,shareandinstallcopieswithoutanyrestrictionsonusage-bothcommercialorpersonaluseisencouraged.Itisacommunity-maintainedapplication,andanyonecancontributetothesourcecode.

FontForgeisavailableineasytoinstallpackagesforWindows,MacOSXandGNU+Linuxoperatingsystems.

InstallingFontForgeonWindows

AninstallationguideisavailablefortheofficialWindowsbuilds,preparedbyJeremyTan.

InstallingFontForgeonMacOSX

AninstallationguideisavailablefortheofficialMacbuilds,preparedbyDrBenMartin.

InstallingonGNU/Linux

TheeasiestmethodtogetFontForgeonyourLinuxmachineistouseyourLinuxdistribution’spackagerepository.

DebianorUbuntu

TheFontForgepackageincludedinUbuntu14.04bydefaultdatesfrom2012,soitispreferabletoinstallthemoreup-to-datepackagefromtheFontForge[PersonalPackageArchive(PPA)](https://launchpad.net/~fontforge/+archive/ubuntu/fontforge).

Checkthatthehelperscriptadd-apt-repositoryisinstalled:

sudoapt-getinstallsoftware-properties-common;

AddtheFontForgePPA(whichwillalsoaddtheauthenticationkey):

sudoadd-apt-repositoryppa:fontforge/fontforge;

UpdatethesoftwarelisttoincludepackagesfromthePPA:

sudoapt-getupdate;

InstallFontForge:

sudoapt-getinstallfontforge;

Fedora

ToinstallFontForgeonyourFedoraLinuxdesktopmachinerunthefollowingyumcommandastherootuser.Thiswillrequireabout10MiBofdownloadtocomplete.

yuminstallfontforge;

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IfyouhavenotcompiledsoftwareonyourFedoramachine,afterinstallinggcc,automake,autoconfandothersthenyoumightgetanerrorduringtheexecutionofautogen.shwithlibtoolize.Ifthatisthecaseyoumightneedtoinstallthelibtool-ltdl-develpackageonFedoraorasimilardevelopmentpackageonanotherGNU+Linuxdistribution.

AfterissuingtheyuminstallyoushouldbeabletorunFontForgefromyourmenuordirectlyfromthekonsoleorgnome-terminalbyissuingthefontforgecommand.

CompileyourownversionfromGithubGitHubisasource-codehostingservicewhereeveryonecancontributetothedevelopmentofapieceofsoftware.Itstoresthecurrentleadingstateofdevelopmentoftheapplication.Insomecases,perhapsbecauseyouwantaccesstoafeaturenotyetavailableinthereleasepackages,youmaywishtocompileyourownversionfromGithub.

Fullinstructionsareathttps://github.com/fontforge/fontforge/blob/master/INSTALL-git.md

DebuggingtheFontForgesoftwareWhenyouSeetheDebuggingsectionformoreinformation.

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ConfiguringFontforge

FontForgecanbefine-tunedinvariousways.Herearesometipsandtricksfordoingso.YouhavemanyoptionsforoptimizingFontForgeforyourplatformandworkflow.

Pleasetellususifyouhaveanytipsyouwanttoshare.

FirstThingsFirst

Whenmakinganyconfigurationchanges,besuretofollowthis:

1. QuitFontForge(andX11)2. Makethechanges3. StartFontForgeandtestyourchanges

WindowsCurrentlywehavenothingspecifictotheWindowsdistribution.Ifyouthinkofsomething,tellus.

GNU+LinuxCurrentlywehavenothingspecifictoanyGNU+Linuxdistribution.Ifyouthinkofsomething,tellus.

MacOSXToopenalongfileorfolderlocationpathprovidedbelow:

1. Copythepath2. ⌘TabtoswitchtoFinder3. ⇧⌘GtoopentheGomenu→GotoFolderitem4. ⌘Vtopasteinthepath5. GotoopenanewFinderwindowatthatlocation

KeyboardShortcuts

Manydialogandmenuitemshaveoneletterthatisunderlined.ThesecanbeaccessedimmediatelybypressingCtrl-Altandthatkey.Forexample,ifadialogasksyouifyou'reOK,pressCtrl+Alt+o

IfyoudonotuseaUSEnglishkeyboard,youmayfindsomeofthekeyboardshortcutsaresilly.Or,youmightjustwanttocustomizethemtobethewaythatyouexpect.Tochangethesekeysopenandeditthedefaulttextfile,locatedhere:

/Applications/FontForge.app/Contents/Resources/opt/local/share/fontforge/hotkeys/default

Whenyouinstallthenextrelease,allfilesinside/Applications/FontForge.appwillbeoverwritten,sosaveaduplicatecopyofyourdefaultfilesomewhereelse,too.

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UISize

IftheUIlookstoobigortoosmall,itcanbescaledtobetterfityourcomputer.Openandedittheresourcestextfile,locatedhere:

/Applications/FontForge.app/Contents/Resources/opt/local/share/fontforge/pixmaps/resources

AddthelineGdraw.ScreenWidthCentimeters:34ifyourscreenis34cmwide.Trydifferentvaluesuntilyou'rehappy.

Bookmarks

InthefiledialogthereisabuttontoBookmarkCurrentDir,butRemoveBookmark...doesn'twork#2054.YoucaneditthelistmanuallyintheFCBookmarkssectionoftheprefsfilelocatedat

~/.config/fontforge/prefs

ResetyourbookmarksbyopeningTerminalandpastingthefollowingtextintoTerminal:

sed-ibak-e's/^FCBookmarks.*/FCBookmarks:~\/Library\/Fonts\/;\/Library\/Fonts\/;\/System\/Library\/Fonts\//g'~/.

config/fontforge/prefs;

ThenpressEntertorunthiscommand.Ifyouseenoerrors,itworkedcorrectly.

3buttonmouse

FontForgeusesthreemousebuttonclicksforsomeextrafunctions.Ifyoudon'thaveathreebuttonmouseyoucanemulatethatbyenablingitinX11/Xquartzpreferences,intheInputsection'soptionEmulatethreebuttonmouse

ChangeX11/XQuartzicontoFFicon

IfyouprimarilyuseX11forFontForge,youcanchangeitsicon.Copyandpastethefollowingtextintotheterminalandfollowtheinstructions

sudocp-f/Applications/FontForge.app/Contents/Resources/FontForge.icns/Applications/Utilities/XQuartz.app/Contents/Res

ources/X11.icns|sudotouch/Applications/Utilities/XQuartz.app

Windowmanagement

FontForgeisn'tanativeMacapp,sowindowhandlingcanbeslighty"off,"especiallyondualmonitorsystems.Toregaincontrolofwindowpositions,usethefree,libre,opensourceShiftItutilitytoassignkeyboardshortcutstosetwindowpositions.

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GeneralUIintroduction

FontForgehasthesameinterfaceonWindows,MacOSandGNU/Linuxoperatingsystems.

HereisashortintroductiontotheessentialfeaturesbyDaveCrosslandataCraftingTypeworkshop,anon-profittypedesignworkshopthatsupportstheFontForgeproject:

Thereare4mainwindows:

1.TheFontViewWindow

ThiswindowappearswhenyoufirstrunFontForge.Itshowsatableoftheglyphsinthefont.

2.TheCharacterViewWindow

DoubleclickaglyphintheFontViewtoopenitintheCharacterView.Thisiswhereyoucandrawandeditglyphs,eitheroneatatimewithatabinterface,orsidebysidewithapreparedtextfileofwordstostepthrough.

3.TheMetricsViewWindow

GotoWindow,Metrics,orMetrics,Window.OrselectsomeglyphsintheFontViewandhitCtrl-K.YoucanalsodraganddropglyphsfromtheFontViewtotheMetricsView.

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Thisiswhereyoucanadjustthespacingandkerningofyourfont.Youcanalsostepthroughapreparedwordlisttextfilehere.

4.TheFontInfoWindow

GotoElements,FontInfo.Hereyou'llfindallthemetadataaboutthefont.

5.TheTypesettingEnvironment,forTesting

Outsideanyfonteditor,you'llneedatypesettingsystemtotestyourfontsinuse.Thisisoneofthebigsecretsofprofessionaltypedesigners:Alotofthemostimportantworkinatypefacedesignprojectisdoneoutsidethefonteditor,intestingdocumentscreatedinatypesettingsystem.Themainsystemsare:

Web(Firefox,Chromium,etc)DTPtools(Scribus,Inkscape,etc)WordProcessors(LibreOffice,AbiWord,CalligraWords,etc)ProgrammingPageLayoutProcessors(LaTeX,ConTeXt,SILE,ShoeBot,Even,etc)

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UsingtheFontforgeDrawingTools

DesigningafontinFontForgewillinvolveusinganumberoftoolsandutilities,startingwithasetofdrawingtoolswhichmayfeelfamiliartouserswithexperienceinvectorgraphics–therearenoticeabledifferencesthrough.We’llfirstseektogetanunderstandingofhowBéziercurveswork,beforelookingatFontForge’sdrawingtoolsthemselves.

UnderstandingBéziercurvesTheconceptof“Béziercurves”referstoaparticularmathematicalrepresentationusedtoproducesmoothcurvesdigitally.Generally,Cubic-andQuadratic-orderofthesecurvesareused—throughFontForgealsosupportsSpirocurves,whichareanalternaterepresentationforthedesigner.

Inthischapter,wewillonlydiscussCubicpaths,asthat’swhat’sgenerallyusedwhendrawingglyphs.Spiropathswillbediscussedinthenextchapter,andQuadraticcurvesareonlyfoundinTrueTypefontsandrarelyusedindrawing–theyarerathergeneratedatbuildtime.

AtypicalBézierpathiscomposedofananchor,withtwohandlesthatmarktheoveralldirection—thelengthofeachhandledeterminesthelengthofthecurveoneachside–seebelow.

Differentkindsofpoints

Curvepoints(shownasround-shapedpoints)

Curvepointshavetwohandles,eachofthembeinglinkedtotheothersothatthelinebetweenthemalwaysstaysstraight,inordertoproduceasmoothcurveoneachside.

H/VCurvepoints(shownaslozenge-shapedpoints)

H/Vcurvepoints(‘horizontal/vertical’)areavariantofcurvepointsthatsnaptothehorizontalorverticalaxe–anessentialtoolingettingBézierformsdoneright(moreonthatinthenextsection).

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Coinsorcornerpoints(shownassquare-shapedpoints)

Coinscanhave0,1or2Bézierhandles.Thepositionofeachhandleisindependantoftheothers,makingitsuitablefordiscontinuitiesintheoutline.Withouthandles,coinswillproducestraightlines.

Tangentpoints(shownastriangular-shapedpoints,or‘arrowheads’)

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Ifyouwanttostartfromastraightlineandthenstartcurvingsmoothly,youwillwanttousetangentpoints.Atangentleavesastraightlineononeside,whiletheBézierhandleontheothersideisitsdirection–thisensuresacontinuoustransitionbetweenthelineandthecurve.

Gettingitright

Inordertoproducepropercurves–withminimalcontrolpointsandeasedrasterization,theanchorsshouldalwaysbeplacedattheextremasofthecurve,andunlessinplaceswhereyouhavebreaksinyourletterforms,thelinethatdeterminesthepathshouldbehorizontalorvertical.

Note:Ifyourcontrolpointsaren’tplacedattheextremas,FontForgewillpointouttheactualextremawithasighticon:

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Youcanthenfixthisbycopyingyourcurrentoutlinetoanotherlayer,thenmovethecontrolpointsaroundsothatit’slaidoutproperly–otherwisetheFontForgeValidationtoolwilladdthepointatextremasautomatically,atwhichpointyoucanmergeyourmisplacedanchorwithRight-click>Merge.MoreaboutthatwillbesaidlaterintheValidationchapter.

Toelaborate,therearetwocaseswhereyouwillhavetogiveuphorizontal/verticalBézierpaths:

Ifyouwanttochangetheoverallslopeofyourcurve,aswiththeupper-leftpartofthe‘a’belowthat’sbeingkeptalmostflat:

Ifyouwanttoplacebreaksinyourletterforms,aswiththelower-leftpartofthe‘g’below–that’stypicallywhereyouwillwanttouseaCoin(besidesfordrawinglines):

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Note:Asyoucansee,whensettingbreakswithaCoin,thedirectionofeachhandleshouldbetangenttothecurvewhereitarrives.

MasteringFontForge’sdrawingtoolsFromthemainwindow,double-clickononeoftheglyphboxestolaunchtheGlyphWindow.

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Note:Thenumbersalongthetopwherethexandyaxisintersectindicate,fromlefttoright:

Thecurrent(x,y)locationofyourcursoronthecanvasThelocationofthemostrecentlyselectedpointTherelativepositionofyourcursortotheselectedpointThedistancebetweenyourcursorandtheselectedpointTheanglefromtheselectedpointtothecursor(relativetothebaseline)Thecurrentmagnificationlevel,followedbythenameoftheactivelayer.

Caution:Sometimes,itseemslikeFontForgeisnotrespondingwhenyouareinsidetheGlyphWindow.Itmightbethatthereisanopendialogboxhiddenbehindit–sojustmoveitandprocessthedialogbox.

ALineconsistsof2points.

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ASplineconsistsof4points:2endpointsofthesplineand2‘handles’,whichdescribetheslopeofthesplineatthoseendpoints.

Copy,paste,cutanddeletepoints,splinesandlines

Aswithmostdrawingsoftwares,FontForgeallowsyoutoCopy,Cut,PasteorDeleteanypoint,lineorspline.ThesecommandsareavailableintheEditmenu,orusingyourOS’stypicalkeystrokes(alsoshownalongsideeachcommandinthemenu).

FamiliarizingyourselfwiththedrawingtoolsNowthatyouknowyourwayaroundthecanvas,it’stimetogetacquaintedwiththetools.

PointandZoom

PointandZoombehavesimilarlytotheequivalenttoolsinotherapplications.Thepointerisaselectiontool,usedtoselectpoints,paths,andotherobjectsonthecanvas.TheZoomtoolletsyouzoomin(Z)easily;inordertozoomout:gototheViewmenuandselectZoomout(X)orFit.

NotethatyoucanalsomomentarilyswitchtothepointertoolwhileusinganotherbyholdingdowntheControl(Ctrl)key.

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TheFreehandtool

TheFreehandtoolallowsyoutosketchoutirregularpaths.

Onthedrawingarea,clickandhold,thenmovearoundtodraw.Switchbacktothepointertool,andyoucanselectpointsonthepathyouhavedrawn.

Whenyouselectoneofthepointsonthepath,itwillturnintoayellowcircle.Iftheselectedpointisonacurve,itwilldisplayitscontrolpointswithamagentahandleandacyanhandle.Youcangrabeitherhandleanddragitaroundtochangetheshapeofthecurve.

Thepointtools

Okay,nowlet’sgoaboutusingthepointtools.

Toaddapointtoapath,firstselectanyofthesetools,thenclickonthepathandgiveitalittlepush.Youwillgetanewpointontheline.

TheCurvepointtoolisusedtoaddapointinacurvedsegment.TheHVCurvepointtoolconstrainsthenewpointssothattheyhaveeitherhorizontalorverticalcontrolpoints–thisisimportantforsettingupextremapoints.TheCornerpointtoolallowsyoutomakeasharpbendinthepath.TheTangentpointtoolallowsyoutotransitionfromastraightsegmenttoacurvedsegmentalongthepath.

ThePentool

ThePentoolallowsyoutoaddapointonthecurveanddragoutitscontrolpoints.

Spiro

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SelectingtheSpirotoolputsyouintoSpirodrawingmode.Spirodrawingallowsyoutodrawcurvesthatreflowasyourepositionthenodes.Somepeoplepreferthistothestandardapproach(knownasBézierediting),butifyouareusedtoBéziereditingyoumightfindthatitdoessomeunexpectedthings.

Knife

TheKnifetoolallowsyoutocutsplinesintwo.Thiscomesinhandyifyouhavedrawnashape,butonlyneedpartofit.

Ruler

Therulertoolgivesyoumeasurementandcoordinateinformation.Whenyouuseit,itdisplaysafloating‘tooltip’nexttothecursor.Ifyouhoveryourcursoroverapoint,thetooltipgivesyouevenmoredetailedmeasurementandcoordinateinformation.Ifyoubringitnexttoaspline,itgivesyouinformationaboutthecurvatureandradius.Mostusefully,ifyouclickanddragtherulertool,youwillseethedistanceyouhavedraggedthecursor,pluseveryintersectionthatyouhavestretchedacross.

Thetransformtools

Therearesixtransformtools:

Note:ForalloftheTransformtools,ifyoudouble-clickonthetool,youcanenternumericvalues.

TheScaletoolletsyoufreehandrescaleanobject.HoldingdowntheShiftkeyallowsyoutoscaleanobjectwhileconstrainingittotheproportionalratio.

TheRotatetoolletsyoufree-rotateanobject.Itrotatestheselectedobjectaroundthepositionwhereyouinitiallyclick.

The3Drotatetoolletsyourotateanobjectinthethirddimension,andprojectstheresultonthex-yplane.

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TheFliptoolallowsyoutoflipaselectioneitherhorizontallyorvertically.Thepointatwhichyouclickthemouseisthepointoforiginofthetransformation.

Note:AfterflippingapointyouwillprobablywanttoapplyElement>CorrectDirection.

TheSkewtoolletsyouhorizontallyskewtheselectioneitherclockwiseorcounterclockwise(withershinsishowthedialogreferstocounterclockwise).

ThePerspectivetoolgivesyouanotherwaytodistortashapeinanonlinearway.

Note:Thereisnonumericaloptionfortheperspectivetransformation.

TheRectangle/EllipseandPolygon/Startools

Thesetoolsallowyoutodrawprimitivegeometricshapes,whichisfasterthanconstructingthoseshapesoutofseparatelinesegments.

Clickingthechevronareaonthesetoolswillgiveyoutheoptiontoswitchtothealternatetool.Ifyoudouble-clickoneitherofthetools,youcanopentheshapetype’soptions.

Rectangleoptions:cornerstyleandboundingbox(cornerorcenterout).

Ellipseoptions:boundingboxorcenterout.

Polygonoptions:numberofvertices.

Staroptions:numberofstarpointsanddepthofpointsbypercentage.Thehigherthepercentagesetting,thelongerthearmsofthestar.

Mse1andMse2

Underthetoolbar,youcanviewthecurrenttoolandtheoperationsavailabletobothmousebuttons:

Leftbutton(Mse1)Leftbutton+Ctrl(^Mse1)Mousewheelbutton(Mse2)Mousewheelbutton+Ctrl(^Mse2)

Thisway,youcanuseafewdifferenttoolswithouthavingtorepeatedlyclickonthetoolbar.

Caution:ItappearsthattheMsefunctionalitydoesn’tcurrentlyworkproperly.

Layers

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TheFontForgecanvashasthreelayersbydefault:theGuidelayer,theBackgroundlayer,andtheForegroundlayer.Guidelayersareusedtoinsertguides(suchasx-heightorcap-heightguides).Foregroundlayersandbackgroundlayersarebothusedfordrawing,butonlythetopmostforegroundlayerwillberenderedintoyourfinalfont.

Acheckboxindicateswhethereachlayerisvisible,andyoucanuncheckittomakealayerinvisible.TheC(orQ)indicateswhetheryou’reusingCubicorQuadraticcurves.

The#,B,orFreferstowhetherthetypeofeachlayerisaGuidelayer,Backgroundlayer,orForegroundlayer,whichissignificantifyouaddmorelayersofyourown.Youcancreateanddeleteadditionallayersusingtheplus(+)orminus(−)buttonsinthissectionofthetoolbar.Layertypeandcurvetypecanalsobecontrolledbyright-clicking(onceyouhaveadditionallayers).

BasicdrawingNextwewillgooversomebasicdrawingworkflows,whichyouoftenfindyourselfinneedof.

Cuttingashapewithinanother

1. StartbyusingtheRectangletooltodrawarectanglewithinthedrawingareaoftheGlyphwindow.2. Next,usetheEllipsetooltodrawanellipsewithintherectangleyoujustdrew.

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3. GototheElementmenuandchooseCorrectDirection.Youwillseethatthetwoshapesmerged,andthatyouessentiallypunchedaholeinthecenteroftherectangle.

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Removeoverlap

1. Addastarthatoverlapsthecorneroftherectangle.

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2. Selectthestarandtheearliershape.Youonlyneedtoselectonepointofeachoverlappingshape,butitisokaytoselectextrapoints.

3. GotoElement>Overlap>Removeoverlap.Youwillseethatyourtwoshapeshavebecomeone.

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AddaPoint

UsingthePentool,clickandholdinthemiddleofalinesegment,thendragthemousetochangetheshape.

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Tangentpoints

Selectthebottom-leftcornerpointofyournewshape(theintersectionofthecurveandthestraightline).FromthePointmenu,youwillseethatCornerPointischecked.SelectTangent.Thischangesthesquarenodetoatriangle,butthatisallitdoesuntilyoudothenextstep:extendingcontrolpoints.

Todoso,chooseElement>GetInfo,whichopensthePointInfoWindow.FromtheLocationtabinthatwindow,gototheNextCPfieldsetandsettheDistancetoalargenumber,suchas75.ClickOK.Youwillseethatthecurvenowsmoothlyentersthestraightline.

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Transformation

Nowselectaboutaquarteroftheshape—thestarandpartoftheellipseinthemiddle.

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Choosethe3DRotatetool,movetothemiddleoftheselectedarea,andslowlyclickanddraguntilyouseesomethingyoulike,thenrelease.Hereisanexampleof3DRotateusedonthepracticeimage:

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Setstrokeshapeandwidth

SofaryouhaveusedtheFreehanddrawingtooltodrawaline.Ifyoudouble-clicktheFreehandtool,yougettheFreehanddialogshownhere,whichcontainsadrawingwindow.Thisiswhereyouselectpenshapeandsize.ThisdialogalsoappearswhenyouchoosetheExpandStrokeoptionintheElementmenu.

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UsingtheCornertool,drawapolygonandclickOK.

Now,drawalinewiththeFreehanddrawingtool.Whenyoureleasethemousebutton,thenewpathisautomaticallystrokedwiththeshapeyouchoseintheFreehanddialog,asshownhere.

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Keepdrawing!Youshouldcontinuetoexperimentwiththedrawingtoolsuntilyoufeelcomfortablethatyoucanusethemtodrawandtransformwhatevershapesyouneed.Atthispoint,youareequippedtostartconstructingthecomponentsofglyphs,butyoushouldalsotaketimetolookatFontForge’sothersetoftools.Thenextchapter,“DrawingwithSpiro”,describestheSpirodrawingmode.SpirodrawingisdistinctenoughfromBéziercurveeditingthatitrequiresanexplanationofitsown.

FurtherReadingATypeDrawersForumDiscussiononBeziersincludedtheselinkssharedbyNinaStössingerontwitter:

BezierCurvesandTypeDesign:ATutorialbyFábioDuarteMartinsSoWhat’stheBigDealwithHorizontal&VerticalBezierHandlesAnyway?HandLettering:HowtoVectorYourLetterformsbyScottBiersackTypeBasicsbyUnderwareTheBézierGamebyMarcMacKay

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DrawingWithSpiro

SpiroisatoolkitfordesigningcurvesinanalternatemethodtothemoretraditionalBéziercurves.Althoughitisoptional,FontForgecanbeinstalledtoincludeaSpiromodethatoffersyoutoolstocreatethisspecifickindofcurves.See“InstallingFontForge”formoredetailsonhowtoincludetheSpirolibraryinyourprogram.

Spirodrawinghasadifferentapproach,thatcanhelpyougettingyourcurvesdoneinadifferentwayandsolvingyourconceptionproblems.Pleaseexperiment!

TheSpirotoolsetManyofthesamedrawingtoolsareavailableinSpiromodeasthosedescribedinthe“UsingtheFontForgedrawingtools”chapter,butsomeofthemworkverydifferentlywhenyouareinSpiromode.

TherearefivedifferenttypesofSpiropoints:

1. G4points,usedforamoregentlecurve2. G2points,usedforasharpercurve3. Cornerpoints,forabruptcornerjoints4. Previousconstraintpoints,usedwhenthecontourofthepathchangesfromacurvetoastraightline5. Nextconstraintpoints,usedwhenthepathchangesfromastraightlinetoacurve

Drawingan‘S’withSpiroGoingthroughtheexerciseofdrawingan‘S’withSpirowillmakeyoucomfortablewithSpiro.

Tip:WhendrawinginSpiromode,alwaysstartwithaG4orG2point.Beginningwiththeothertypesofpointsdoesn’treallyworkinFontForge.

StartoffwithaG4pointatthetopmostpointofyour‘S,’followedbyacornerpoint,thenanothercornerpoint.Workclockwisearoundtheshapeoftheletter.

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FollowthiswithaG4,apreviousconstraintpoint,andanextconstraintpoint.

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Next,addanotherG4point,followedbytwomorecornerpoints.

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ThenaG4,followedbyapreviousconstraint,followedbyanextconstraint.

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Then,addonemoreG4point,andfinally,closetheshapeatthestartingpointbyclickingonitusingtheG4pointtool.

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Nowyoualmosthavean‘S’!BeginnudgingthepointsaroundtogetyourStolookthewayyouwant.

Oops,whathappened?

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Don’tworry–Spirosometimesdoessomefunnythings.JusthitUndo,orkeepnudgingthepointstogetthingsbackontrack.

Now,youshouldseesomethinglikethis:

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ToggleoutofSpiromodebackintoBéziermode.Youwillnoticetherearealotofpointsontheresultingcurve–youmaywanttocleansomeofthemup.

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Tocleanupthoseextrapoints,gototheElementmenuandselectSimplify>Simplify.ThengotoElement>AddExtrema.Finally,gotoElement>Round>ToInt.Afterthesecleanupoperations,youwillseesomethinglikethis:

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YoucancontinuetoexperimentwithSpiromodetogetafeelofhowitdiffersfromBézierdrawing.Theterminologyisdifferent,butaswithFontForge’sotherdrawingandadjustmenttools,practicewillgetyouthethingsyouwant.

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Creating“o”and“n”

Therearemanyapproachestodesigningafont.Itcanbehelpfultodeconstructthelargerprocessesinvolvedinordertogetstartedquickly,andtoprovideasolidbasisforawholefont’sworthofcharacters.Apopularandvaluableapproachtothisistodesignthe‘o’and‘n’charactersfirst,nailingdownessentialelementsofform,spaceandbalance,beforebringingthemtogetherfortheformationofothercharacters.Creatingthelowercase‘o’and‘n’characterscanprovideuswithsomeofthefundamentalformsandstructuresthatwillunderpinallothercharactersthatareneeded.

Althoughthedesignofthe‘o’mayseemlikequiteasimplething,allthecharacteristicsmentionedinthe“Whatisafont?”chaptercomeintoplay.Thechoiceyoumakeabouteachcharacteristicshouldbeadeliberatechoice.

UnderhangsandOvershootsOnewayinwhichopticaleffectsimpacttypedesignisinhowcurvesandstraightedgesappeartotheeye.Forinstance,foracurveandastraightedgetolookasthoughtheyarealigningcorrectlyonthebaseline,thecurvemustactuallysitalittlebelowtheline,producinganundershoot.Theportionofthecharacterthatdipsjustbelowthebaselineinordertoappearsittingonthebaselineiscalledtheunderhang–demonstratedbelow.Withoutunderhang,characterswithcurvesaroundthebaselinewillappearmisalignedwithinalineoftext.

Similarlytotheundershoot,anareaofovershootisneededtoprovidetheillusionofalignmentatthex-heightandatthecap-height(seebelow).

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Designingthelowercase‘o’Thedesignofthe‘o’isnotjustaquestionoftheblackpartoftheletter.Whilethe‘o’providestheverybasicbowlweightandshape,thewhite–orcounter–providesthesizeandshapeusedbytherestofthefont.Ingeneralterms,wecanalsoobservethattheroundformofthe‘o’willbeechoedinothercharacters.Theseincludetheb,c,d,e,p,andq,andtheformwillalsoimplicatetheshapingandformsofcurveswithinanyothercharactersofthefont,suchastheO,C,D,andQ.

Inaddition,thewhiteinsidethe‘o’shouldbeutilizedwhendesigningthespacingofourfont;the‘o’setsupthereferencerhythmofspacesusedbetweenallotherglyphsinthefonttoo.Thesetwovaluesareveryrelated,soessentiallyyouwillneedtodesigntheamountofwhitespacethatarethesidebearingsofyour‘o’aswell.Asageneralprinciple,withtheexceptionofslantedoritalicfonts,the‘o’shouldhavethesameamountofspaceontheleftandrightsides,andthewhitespacebetweenastringof‘o’charactersshouldbalancethewhitespaceinsidethe‘o’s.

Hereweencroachwellintotheterritoryofspacingandmetrics,soevenatthisearlystageyoumaywanttohavealookatthe“Spacing,Metrics,andKerning”chapter,whichcoversthebasicimplicationsofspacinginafont.Thatshouldgetyoutoawell-spaced‘o’character,whichwillhelpyouwiththedesignofthe‘n’.

Designthelowercase‘n’

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Onceyouarehappywiththeformandspacingofyourlowercase‘o’characterasshownwithasamplestring,thenextstepofthisapproachistocreateasuitablyshaped,balanced,andwell-spacedlowercase‘n,’whichyouwillinjectintoyourstringof‘o’s.

Ifwelookattheanatomyofan‘n’,wecanbreakitapartintotwoorthreecomponentsconsistingofastemandacurve.Thisapproachcangiveusashortcuttokeepingbalanceandharmonywithinourcharactersastheyareformed,andasoursetofcharactersgrows.Lookingatthesample‘n’below;itisbrokenintotwocomponents.Theseseparatecomponentscombinetogethertoforman‘n’,butthesamecomponentswillbere-usedlaterwhenformingothercharacters;e.g.,thestemattheleftofthe‘n’canbeusedtoformtheleft-sidedstemofallotherlowercasecharacters.

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Takingyourselfforwardagaintothechapteronspacingandmetrics,thedesignofthe‘n’charactershouldkeeppacewiththeprocessofspacingthe‘n’and‘o’characterstogether.

Now,garneringthemethodsyouhaveusedtocreatean‘n’and‘o’character,youarereadytoexpandthelowercasecharacterset.Thequalitiesofthestemandcurvecomponentsofthe‘n’and‘o’willinformthewayyoumayformothercharacters.IfwestudythecharactersbelowfromOpenSans,wecanseetherelationshipsbetweentheformalaspectsofseparatecharactersandhowtheycanberepeated,withsomeadjustments,toformthecomponentsofourfont.

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FontInfo&Metadata

Element,FontInfoTheFontInfowindowisubiquitousinfonteditors,andFontForgecloselyfollowstheOpenTypeSpecification.Itmayappearcrypticatfirst,butusingitcanhelplearnsomefamiliaritywiththeOpenTypeformat,andinturnreadingabouttheOpenTypeformatmakesthedialogmoreapproachable.

VersionNumberingSoftwaredevelopersliketouseSemanticVersioningfortheirprograms,andthisisalsoagoodideaforyourfonts.Inaway,fontsarean"API"fortexttoaccesssomeassociativefeelingsinreaders.

AMAJORversionwouldbeafteracompleteredesign.CompareExoandExo2.IfyouhaveadocumentusingExo,youdon'twanttojumpintoExo2,becausethefeelingevoked,the'voice'or'flavor,'is(subtly)different.Addingsupportforoneormorenewscriptsthatarequitesimilarinheight,orasubstantialnumberoflanguages,couldalsoconstituteaMAJORrevision,as

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couldanythingelsethatsubstantiallychangestheverticalorhorizontalmetrics.However,ifacomplementarydesignismadefor2scripts,itmaybebesttorelease2or3families,onewitheachscriptscaledappropriatelyandtheotherscript(s)scaledassecondaryfontsforsimplefallbacktypesettingofmultilingualtexts.

AMINORversionwouldbeanythingthatsubtlychangesthemetrics,suchasverticalmetrics,horizontalsidebearingsorimprovedkerning,ormakingminorcorrectionstosomeglyphs,becausesuchupdateswillcausedocumentsusingthefonttoreflow(albeitsubtlyinmanycases.)Hereisanexamplefromhttp://www.fastcodesign.com/3033126/roboto-rebooted-why-google-plans-to-update-its-font-like-the-rest-of-its-products:

Addingjustafeworadozenglyphsto"complete"coverageofapreviouslyintendedcharactersetortoaddsupportforjustafewmorelanguagesisprobablyMINOR,especiallyifitdoesn'tchangetheverticalmetrics.

AchangeatthePATCHlevelwouldbeanythingthatimprovesthefontwithoutchangingthemetricsorchangesaglyphdesigninavisibleway,thatdon'taffectthefinaltextlayout.Your1.001releasemightnothavefsTypesetto0orberunthroughfontcrunch,andchangingboththosethingsina1.0.1releasewon'tbevisibleorreflowanything.Sadly,thethirdPATCHversionnumberisn'tavailableinOpenTypefontversionmetadatafields.Instead,incrementtheMINORversionnumberforsuchchangestohintingormetadata.

Also,theversionshouldhavenomorethan3decimalplaces,andthismayberepresentedwith5inaTTXfile.Eg2.001istypical,andmayappearas2.00099inTTXXML.

Ifyoureleaselibrefonts,theGithubReleasesfeaturesareveryuseful.

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MicrosoftworkshardtoensurethataprogramwrittenforapreviousversionofWindowswillcontinuetorunonthelatestversions,enticingpeopletoupgrade.ThismeansthatthebasicTrueTypefontmodelintroducedinWindows3isstillwithus,andWindowsdoesnotsupportfontfamilieswithmorethanthe4basicstyles(Regular,Italic,Bold,BoldItalic.)

Thismeansforfontdesignersthatourfontfamilynamesshouldbesetupinawaythatallourfontscanbeusedinalloperatingsystems.TheOpenTypeformatallowsforthis,complementingtheFamilyandStyleNamevalueswith"PreferredFamilyName"and"PreferredStyleName"valuesthatwilltakeprecedenceinOpenType-awaresoftware.

ThisFamilyNamingGoogleDocsSpreadsheetisbasedoninformationsharedbyPolishfontexpertAdamTwardochanddiscussedintheFontlabforum.ItsupercedestheOpenTypespecificationexample.

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WordSpace

Itmaysoundfunnytopayspecialattentiontothewordspace,howeveritisoneofthemostcommonlyusedpartsofatypedesign.Awordspacethatistoowideortoonarrowcanruinthedesignofafont.It’snottooearlytobeginconsideringthewordspacingaslongasyouhaveyourfirstcharacterssetup.Thechoiceyoumakeatthispointshouldbegraduallyadjustedwhileyouprogressinthedesignofthefont.

Thewordspacehereistootight…

Andhere,it’stoowide…

Nowthisiswell-balanced…

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Ifyourtypeismeanttobeusedatlargersizes,thenthewordspacecanbereduced—andvice-versaifit’stobeusedatverysmallsizes.

Theresearchhasshownthatawordspacethat’stoolargeismoretolerablethanonethat’stoosmall,soifyouareunsureyoumaywanttoerrinthatdirection.

Note:Similarstudieshaveshownthatyoungerchildreninparticularbenefitalittlefromwordspaceslargerthanwhat’sconsiderednormalforadultreaders.

LindaReynoldsandSueWalker(2004)–‘Youcan’tseewhatthewordssay:wordspacingandletterspacinginchildren’sreadingbooks’,JournalofResearchinReading,vol27,no.1,pp.87-98.

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CreatingYourTypeDNA

Afteryouhavecompletedgoodsoliddesignandspacingofthe‘o’and‘n’,thenextthingtodoistobeginpopulatingthefontwithletterswhosestructuralcharacteristicsprovideausefulbasisformakingmanyoftheotherlettersinthefont.

Itmaybetemptingtorushandpopulateyourfontasrapidlyaspossiblewithalltheletters—resistthisurge!While‘o’and‘n’provideanexcellentstarting-pointtothefoundationofthedesign,weneedtoestablishtherestofit.Rapidexpansionbeforethisisdonewillmeanthatthewholeprojectwillbecomehardertomanage—andtakeslongerthanitneedsto.

Whatelsedoweneedforthefoundationofourdesign?—First,let’slookatwhatwe’vegotwithour‘n’and‘o.’

Althoughthe‘o’isespeciallyusefulforworkingoutthebasicspacing,it’snotgoingtohelpusdesignothercharacters—notnecessarilyeventhe‘b’or‘d’.Theletter‘n’,ontheotherhand,isveryusefulbecauseithelpsmakingthe‘m’,‘h’,and‘u’.Theotherfactorthatweneedtoweighwhenchoosinglettersforourfoundationishowfrequentlytheletterisused.Aletterthat’susedalotwillhelpusmaketestwords.Someofthelettersmaybechosenalmostexclusivelyforthisparticularreason.

Thelettersyouchoosedon’thavetobethosesuggestedhere.Theyshouldsimplyhavethecharacteristicsbeingdiscussed.So,forinstance,youmaywanttouse“adhesion”tostartwith.Thissetoflettersiswhat’susedinthetypedesignMAcourseattheUniversityofReading,UK.Analternativeis“videospan”whichisusedbythefoundryTypeTogethertostarttheirprojects,andintheirowntypedesignworkshops.EithersethasenoughDNAtobemeaningful,andbotharesmall,sotheyareeasytomake‘global’changesto.

Whileitmaybeeasiesttosimplyuseoneoftheabovesetsofletters,youcanalsobuildyourown.Askyourselfwhatsetoflettersyoushouldpicktoaddto‘n’and‘o’.Considerthefollowingoptions:

‘a’—theletter‘a’isalsoaverycommonstartingchoice.The‘a’mayalsobeusefulin‘anticipatingwhattheterminalsofthe‘s’willlooklike.‘d’—theshapeof‘d’canletyouknowquitealotaboutthedesignof‘b’,‘p’and‘q’.‘e’—inEnglishandmanyotherlanguages,theletter‘e’isespeciallycommon—which‘makesitespeciallyvaluable.Theshapeof‘e’canalsobeusedtobeginthedesignof‘c’.‘h’—while‘h’canbebuiltfairlyrapidlyfromthe‘n’,italsoprovidesvarietytothetextureyouwanttotestbyofferinganascender.‘i’—like‘e’,theletter‘i’isfairlycommonandhasthebenefitoflettingyouknowalittlebitaboutthefaceofthe‘j’.Theshapeof‘i’isalsopartlyinferablefromtheshapeofthe‘n’.‘s’—theletter‘s’isagoodonetodrawearlyonbecauseitaddsvisualvarietytothetextureofthelettersyouwillbetesting.Theletter‘s’isalsounusuallyhardtogetright,sostartingonitearlymakesitmorelikelythatyouwillbeabletospendenoughtimetogetitrightbytheendoftheproject.Theterminalsofthe‘s’maysometimesbeusefulforanticipatingwhattheterminalsof‘a’,‘c’,‘f’,‘j’and‘y’couldbelike.‘v’—theletter‘v’isusefulforanticipatingwhatthe‘y’and‘w’maybelike.

Onceyouhavetheseletters,it’sgoodtospendtimerefiningthembytestingwordsthataremadefromthem.Asbeforewiththe‘n’and‘o’,agreatdealofattentionshouldbepaidtothespacingofthelettersandtherelationshipsofthecounterstothesespaces.

HereisaTypeDrawersthreadondeterminingtheascenderanddescenderheights:http://typedrawers.com/discussion/1620/ascender-descenders-in-latin-type-design

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BuildingatesttextTherearemanyresourcesavailableonlineforrapidlybuildingyourdummytesttext:

LibreTextisalibresoftwaresolution.AdhesionText,madebyMiguelSousawasthefirstresourceofthiskind.JAFGenerator,byJustAnotherTypeFoundry.Typable,byOndrejJob

UserealtextThosedummytextsareinaway"blind"texts;youcannotactually,really,readthem.

Butonceyouhaveadozenorsoletters,youcanconstructrealtexttoexperienceimmersivereading.Thisisessentialfordeeplyunderstandinghowthedesignperforms,soitsgoodtogettothisstagequickly.

Butwatchoutforthestaletexteffect.Ifyoure-usethesamerealtextfortestingyourtypeface,itcanbecomesofamiliarthatyoulosesomeperceptionabilitiesforhowthetypefaceisperforming.

Onceyouhaveafullalphabet,toensurefreshtext,youcansetyouroperatingsystemfont,emailapplication,orwebbrowser'sdefaultfonttobeyourfont.

ThiswasdiscussedontheTypeDrawersforumOnTheUseofBlindTextsthread.

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CapitalLetters

Makingthecapitallettersshouldfollowapatternverysimilartothemakingofthelowercaseletters.Youbeginbydesigningkeyletterswhoseshapesandcharacteristicslendthemselvestothedesignofchararacterswhichshareacommonshape.Justlikewithlowercaselettersthefrequencywithwhichlettersareusedalsoremainanimportantfactorinthechoiceoftheletters.

Thefirsttwoletterstodesignare"H"and"O".Thedesigntheselettersshouldnotjustbeinrelationtoeachotherbutshouldalsorelatetotheexistinglowercaseletters.

Itisatthisstagethatyoudeterminingtheproportionofthelowercasetotheuppercase.Youmaywanttoadjusttheascendersanddescendersofyourlowercaseoradjustyourcapitalstothelowercasetocreatetheproportionthatsuitthepurposeofyourdesign.

Theweightofstrokesintheuppercaseoftenneedstobesomewhatheavierthanthestrokesofthelowercase.Youmaywanttocreateaninterpolationexperimenttorapidlyfindhowmuchheaviertheyshouldbe.

ThenextsetofletterstoconsideraddingareAESINandeitherPorDandmaybeV.

Dependingonthestyleofthefontyouaremakingyoumayfindthatthecapitallettersrequiremorevariationinwidththanyouhaveinthelowercaseletters.ThewidthoftheESandPmaybesubstantiallynarrowerthantheHormaybesimilar.

GenerallytheNandVareusuallysimilartoHbutaslightlywider.

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TheDmaybesimilartoHorquiteabitwider.

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TheshapeofOcantellyouquitealotabouttheC,GandQ.TheshapeofHtellsyouabitaboutaboutIandJandtheleftsideofBDEFKLPR.

ItalsotellsyoualittleaboutTandU.TheshapeofAcantellyouquitealotabouttheshapeofV.

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TheshapeandproportionsofVtellsyoualittleabouthowtodesignYWX.TheshapeoftheZisdistinctive.

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LineSpacing

Whenyouhavethewordspaceandthenandosetyoucanbegintolookatthelinespacing.However,afullandfinaldecisionaboutlinespacingisn'tpossibleuntilyouhaveCapitallettersandsomepunctuation.

ThinkaboutlinespaceintentionallyAsisthecasewithletterandwordspacing,havingtoomuchortoolittlelinespacingcanmakeyourfontlookawkwardinreal-worldusage.Aboveallelse,findingtherightlinespacingbalanceisamatterofthinkingaboutthequestionintentionallyandoftestingarangeofoptionsonthewaytomakingafinaldecision.

Asageneralrule,mostnewfontdesignerstendtoerronthesideofhavingtoolittlelinespacingintheirfont,soifyouareunsure,addingadditionalspaceisusuallyagoodidea.

Youshouldalsoconsiderthescopeofyourproject'slanguagecoveragewhenconsideringlinespacing.Ifyoutestyourfont'slinespacingonlywithunaccentedcharacters,youarelikelytosettleonalinespacingvaluethatleavesnoroomforaccents.Ifyouarecertainyourfontwillneverbeusedwithaccentedcharacters,thismightbeacceptable—buttheoddsarethatyourfontwillbeusedtosetaccentedtext.Inthatcase,toolittlelinespacingwillcausetheaccentsononelinetorunintothebottomsoftheglyphsabove,andleavethereaderwithdifficult(ifnotimpossible)toreadtext.

Onestrategytotestwhetheryourfont'slinespacingisproperforaccentedcharactersistoemploysampletextfromseverallanguages.

Forlanguagesheavyindiacriticalmarks(suchasCzech),linespacingshouldbetallerthanforlanguagesthatusenodiacriticals.TheexamplesaboveshowCzech(above)andEnglishwiththesamefairlywidelinespacing.

Experimentwithyourfont'slinespacinginFontForgeInFontForge,youcansetandadjustyourfontproject'slinespacingfromwithintheFontInfowindow.OpenthiswindowbychoosingFontInfofromthe"Element"menu,thenclickontheGeneraltab.NotethevaluesthatFontForgehaslistedforAscentandDescent.Unlessyouhavemademanualchangesalready,thesetwonumberswhenaddedtogethershouldequalthevalueofEmSizelistedonthelinebelow.

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Nowswitchtothe"OS/2"tab.Onalmostallcomputers,yourfont'slinespacingwillbedeterminedbytheAscentandDescentvaluesthatyouenterinthistab,undertheMetricsheading.

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Therearethreesetsofvalues:WinAscentandDescent,TypoAscentandDescent,andHHeadAscentandDescent.YoushouldsetalltheAscentstobethesameastheAscentvalueyounotedintheGeneraltab.Next,youshouldsetalloftheDescentstobethesameastheDescentvalueyounotedintheGeneraltab,withoneimportantexception:youmustmaketheTypoDescentnumbernegative.Leavethevaluethesame,butputaminussigninfrontofit.Finally,uncheckallofthe"isoffset"options.

Thesesettingswillgiveyouasensiblestartingpoint.Youcannowproceedtotestyourfontwiththislinespacingandmakeincrementaladjustmentsuntilyouarriveateye-pleasingresult.

Ifyoufindyourlinespacingistootightandyoudon'twanttoorcan'tmakethevericalmetricslargeryoucanscaletheglyphsdowntogainmorespaceforlinespacing.

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PunctuationandSymbols

Punctuationandothertypographicssymbolshaveahistoryoftheirown,separateandapartfromthedevelopmentofthealphabet.Butyouwillfindthatthesamedesignprocessstillapplies,includingreusingandadaptingcomponentelements,anditerativelytestingyourdesignchoices.

SimplepunctuationglyphsThefirstthingtodowhendesigningpunctuationistocreatethe'.'character,whichisknownasthefullstoporperiod.

Theshapeofthisglyphisoftentakenfromthedotoverthe'i,'whichissometimescalledthetittle.Afteryoucopythedot,youmaywanttomakeitalittlelarger.Testingseveraldifferentsizesinprintedtextoronscreenisadvisable.

Onceyouestablishasizethatyouarehappywith,thisdotcanbeusedasthebasisforawidevarietyofotherpunctation,includingtheseglyphs:;:?!¡¿·…

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Thenextglyphtomakeisthecomma.Theshapeofthecommacanvarytoanalmostsuprisingdegree.Itmaybevaluableforyoutolookatawiderageofcommadesignsbeforeyoudesignyours.

Theimagebelowshowstwoofthemostcommonformsthatthecommamaytake.

Thetopofthecommaisoftenslightlylighterthantheperiod,becauseifitisthesameitcanlooktooheavy.Inthesampleimage,thecommaontherightisagoodexampleofthiscompensationbeingapplied.Anothercommonmistaketowatchoutforwiththisglyphismakingittooshort

Whenyouhaveyourcommaitwillbefairlyeasytomakethesemicolon(;).

ExclamationmarkandquestionmarkTheexclamationmarkcanbebedeceivinginthatitseemssimpletomake.Ifyoulookatarangeoftypefacesyouwillseethatsometimesthedesignisindeedfairlysimple.

However,thisisaglyphwhichhasasurprisingamountofopportunityforexpressingdesign.Itoftenthecasethateveninafontwhichhasverylittlecontrast,thebarabovethedotissomewhatheavieratthetopthanthebottom.Theformoftheexclamationmarkusuallyrelatestothedesignofthecommatosomedegree.

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Thequestionmarkcanalsobequitedifficulttomake,becauseitrequiresyoutobalanceanopencurveoverthedotbelow.

Aswiththeexclamationmarkitisadvisabletolookatandeventestarangeofdifferentsolutionsbeforechoosingoneforyourdesign.

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Thedesignofthec,C,G,s,andSglyphsmayprovidesomebasisforthedesignofthisglyph,butyoumaydecidetochooseaformthatisdistinctaswell.

Additionalsymbols

Simpleorverticalquotes—'and"—aredistinctfromtypographicquotes:‘’and“”‚„.

Simplequotescanfollowtheshapeofthebaroverthedotintheexclamationmark,buttheycanalsobedesignedseparately.

Usuallytypographicquotesarefairlycloselyrelatedtothecomma,howevertheyshouldbelongerthanthecommaandoftencurvemore.

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Brackets[]arerelativelysimpletomakebecausetheyaresoboxyinshape.Neverthesstheirdesignshouldreflectthechoicesyouhavemadeintherestofthetypeface.

Themainquestiontodecideishowtallanddeeptheywillbe.Theconventionisthattheyshouldexceedtheheightofthecapitalsveryslightlyanddescendbelowthebaselinetoapproximately3/4ofthedepthofyourlowercasedescenders.

Thesechoiceswillalsobereflectedinthedesignoftheparentheses()andthebraces{}.Theweightofthestemsonallthreeofthesesymbolsshouldbelessthantheweightofthestemsofboththecapitalsandthelowercaseletters.

Bewarned:whentestingthecharacters[]#inthemetricswindow,theymaynotshowup.Thisisbecausetheyarereservedbytheprogram.Insteadoftyping[]and#,youmusttype/bracketleft/bracketrightand/numbersign.

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Parenthesesshoulddrawonthedesignofrelatedshapes,suchasD,C,andG.

Bracesarenotableinthattheirdesignvariestoagreaterdegree.Braceshavethisincommonwiththequestionmark.Thedistributionofweightinbracesmaybelikeweightdistributionofthenumbers,inthatitmaysometimesviolatetherulesyoufollowintherestofthedesign.

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CompleteingtheLowerCase

Youmayhavenoticedinfontsyou'veseenbeforethat,whileeachletterhasitsownshape,theyallrelatetoeachother.Bycarefullyde-constructingafewglyphs,yougainthebuildingblocksofnearlyalltheothers.

Notethesimilaritybetweentheupperterminalsonthiscandf:

Theirshapesindicatethattheybelonginthesamegroup,eventhoughtheyaresubtlydifferent.Theterminalsareoneoftheidentifyingtraitsofafont,andgenerallyarerepeatedonmanyoftheletterforms.

However,excessivedependenceonmodularityshowsitsownmarksinadesign,andthereforeshouldbeavoided—unlessthatisalookyouwant.

Proceedingwiththeotherlowercaseletters

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Youalreadymadeyourletter'n.'Fromthis,youcaneasilyderivethem,h,andubycloning,stretching,androtating,respectively.Therearesubtlechangesinthespacingofthestemsinthemandtheu.The'u'haschangednotonlyitsspacingbutitsserifs.Thisdoesn'thappenautomatically;it'suptoyoutogetinthereandpushthepointsaround.

The'i'canbederivedfromthestemofthe'n.'Thel''canbemadefromthestemofthe'n'withsomeadjustments.

MakingthedFromtheStemofhando

Opentheletter'd''sglyphwindowbydouble-clickingbelowthe'd'inthefontview.Fromthefontview,copythe'o'andpasteitintotheletter'd''sglyphwindow.Thendothesameforthe'h'.Atthispointyoucandeletethepartofthehthatyou'renotgoingtouse.Positiontheremainingpiecestogethersotheyresemblea'd.'

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Clearly,there'smoreworktobedonehere.We'llmakesomeadjustments.Narrowtherightsideoftheowhereitmeetsthestem.

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Toimprovetheopticalspacingandallowtheshapetolookmorebalanced,makealittleroomattheserifbyaddingapointtothestemandpushingthebottompointstotheright.

Belowisanoverlayofthestartingshapeandthenewshape.

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Nowthatyouknowhowtoassemblefromexistingparts,youcanmakeothersimilarletters.Keepinmindthesubtletiesthatmakeeachletterindividual,yetstillpartofafamily.

Derivingtheb,p,andq

Nowthatyouhavethed,byflippingandrotatingyoucanmakeareasonableb,p,andq.Again,beawareofhowtheserifsandthecontrastdifferineachletter.Yourfontdoesn'thavetodothisexactlythesameway,butit'soneofthethingsyoushouldthinkabout.

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Maketheg

Youcanstartwiththeq,stretchingandalteringthetail,tomakethesinglebowlg.Noshapescloselyresemblethebinocularg.Thebinoculargusuallyneedstobenoticeablylighterinordertolookrightwhensetwithotherletters.

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Ontofandt

Thethasanascender,butit'sgenerallyshorterthantheascendersoftheotherlowercaseletters.Bycomparison,thefismuchtallerandusuallyencroachesonthespaceoftheletternexttoit.Theybothhavecrossbarswhicharegenerallyatthesameheight,width,andthickness.Oftenyoucancopyfromonetotheother.

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Nowmakethee

Theewillbelooselybasedontheo.Thecrossbaroftheeislowerthanthatofthet,buthasthesamethickness.Thehookatthebottomoftheewillbeinformedbythebottomofthet.

Fromtheecomesc

Creatingthecfromtheeinvolvesdeletingthecrossbarandaddingtheterminalatthetop.Theupperterminaloftheccanbesimilartotheupperterminalsofotherletterssuchasthea,andf,andr.Theterminalsoftheccanalsoformthebasisforthes.Theecanalsoinfluencetheproportionsofyoura.

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v,w,x,y,andz

Theselettersaresomewhatdifficultbecausetheydon'thaveformsthatarerelatedtotheotherletters.Thismeansyouhavetojustjumpinanddrawthev.Makethedown-strokeasthickasyourthickstems,andmaketheupstrokeasthinasthethinnerstrokesinyourotherletters.Onceyouhavethev,youhaveabasicplanforthewandy.Forxandy,focusonmatchingthecontrastoftherestofthedesignwhilecompensatingfortheillusionsthatoccurindiagonalandcrossingdiagonalforms.

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DiacriticsandAccents

Adiacriticisamarkaddedto,orcombiningwith,aletter,oftenusedtochangethesoundvalueofthelettertowhichthemarkisadded.Somediacriticalmarks(suchasthe'acute'and'grave')areoftencalledaccents.Diacriticalmarksmayappearaboveorbelowaletter,withinitorbetweentwoletters.

Someexamplesofdiacritics

Lowercase'awithgrave'(unicodeu+00e0).Createdinafontbycombiningthelowercase'a'glyph(unicodeu+0061)andthe'combininggraveaccent'glyph(unicodeu+0300).

Lowercase'awithcircumflex'(unicodeu+00e2).Createdinafontbycombiningthelowercase'a'glyph(unicodeu+0061)andthe'combiningcircumflexaccent'glyph(unicodeu+0302).

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Lowercase'awithogonek'(unicodeu+0105).Createdinafontbycombiningthelowercase'a'glyph(unicodeu+0061)andthe'combiningogonek'glyph(unicodeu+0328).

Lowercase'cwithcedilla'(unicodeu+00e7).Createdinafontbycombiningthelowercase'c'glyph(unicodeu+0063)andthe'combiningcedilla'glyph(unicodeu+0327).

Lowercase'owithdoubleacute'(unicodeu+0151).Createdinafontbycombiningthelowercase'o'glyph(unicodeu+006f)andthe'combiningdoubleacuteaccent'glyph(unicodeu+030b).

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FontForgecanautomaticallycreateaccentedcharactersin2mainways;

1. FontForgecontainsrudimentaryinformationonwheretoplacediacriticmarks,socanautomaticallybuildmostaccentedcharacters.

2. Formuchgreatercontrolofdiacriticplacement,FontForgecanplacediacriticmarksbasedonthepositionofusercreatedanchorpoints.

Itshouldbenotedherethatifyouarenotusinganchorsandlookuptablestopositiondiacriticmarkstheniftheglyphofaparticulardiacriticmarkisnotpresentinyourfont,FontForgewillinsteaduseasimilarspacingcharacterinplace.Forexample,ifthecombiningmark'acutecomb'(u+0301)isnotpresent,thenFontForgewillusethestandard'acute'(u+00b4)characterwhenitautomaticallybuildsanyacuteaccentedglyphs.Ifthe'acutecomb'ispresent,thenFontForgewillalwaysusethat,unlessyouspecificallyforceFontForgetousespacingcharactersforbuildingaccentedglyphs.

FontForge'sbasicautoplacementofdiacriticmarks.InFontForge's'Element'menu,isafunctioncalled'Build'thatcanbeusedtocreateaccentedcharacters,certaincompositecharactersandsomeduplicatecharacters.ToautobuildaccentedcharactersFontForgeusesthe'Element>Build>BuildAccentedGlyph'function.Thisfunctioncanalsobeperformedwiththekeystroke'ctrl+shift+a'.So,usingtheexampleofbuildingthe'aacute'character(u+00e1),wewouldneedtohavealreadycreatedthelowercase'a'(u+0061)andthe'acutecomb'glyph(u+0301).Thenselectingthe'aacute'characterslotandusingthe'Element>Build>BuildAccentedGlyph'function,FontForgewillplaceareferencetothelowercase'a'glyphandareferencetothe'acutecomb'glyphintothe'aacute'characterslot(seebelow).

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Thisautomaticplacementofdiacriticmarkscanbetunedbypreferences,foundinthe'accents'sectionofFontForge'spreferencesmenu'File>Preferences>Accents'(seebelow).

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'PreferSpacingCharacters'-selectingthisoptionto'On'willforceFontForgetobuildaccentedglyphswithspacingcharacterseveniftheappropriatecombiningcharactersarepresent.Thisoptionisignoredwhenusinganchorstopositiondiacriticmarks.

'AccentOffsetPercent'controlstheamountofverticalspacebetweenthebaseglyphandthemarkglyph.Thevalueenteredhereisapercentageoftheemsquareofthefont.Soavalueof'6'willoffsetthemarkglyphfromthebaseglyphby6percentofthefont'semsquare.

Thepreferencesforthehorizontalplacementofthemarkglyphcanalsobeset.Selecting'On'forthepreference'AccentCenterLowest'willcentretheaccentglyphtothelowestpointofthebaseglyph.

Selecting'AccentCenterHighest'to'On'willcentretheaccenttothehighestpointofthebaseglyph.

Selectingboththeabovepreferencesto'Off'willcentretheaccentintothewidthofthebaseglyph.Selectingboththeabovepreferencesto'On'willcentretheaccentinthewidthofthecharacterslot.

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UsingAnchorPointstoplacediacriticsThemostaccurateandefficientwaytobuildaccentedcharactersinFontForgeistouse'anchorpoints'.

Anchorpointsallowfinecontrolofthepositioningofexactlywherethediacriticmarkwillbepositionedinrelationtoeachbaseglyphintheaccentedcharacters.So,inthecaseofthe'aogonek'character,the'a'glyphisthebaseglyph,anditwillbepositionednormally,the'ogonek'glyphisthe'markglyph'andwillbepositionedsothattheanchorpointofthe'markglyph'coincideswiththeanchorpointinthebaseglyph.

Intheexamplebelow,creatingan'aogonek'character,ananchorclasshasbeencreatedcalled'bottom'.Inthelowercase'a'glyph,the'bottom'anchorisplacedatthebottomofthestemofthe'a'.Thisisthe'baseglyph'formoftheanchor.(seebelow)

Inthe'ogonek'glyphthe'bottomanchorisplacedatthetopoftheogonekglyph,intheformofa'mark'anchor.(seebelow)

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Then,whenthe'aogonek'characterisbuilt(usingthe'BuildAccentedCharcter'function)the'bottom'markanchorpointwillbeplacedatthesamelocationasthe'bottom'baseanchorpoint,ensuringthatthereferencedogonekglyphisplacedcorrectlyatthefootofthestemofthereferenced'a'glyph(seebelow).Thisexactandautomaticplacementwouldnothavebeenpossiblewithoutusinganchorpointstopositionthebaseandmarkglyphs.

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Creatinganchorpointsforplacingdiacriticmarks(Marktobasepositioning)

FontForgeuseslookupfeaturesknowas'mark-to-base'forcreatingandpositioninganchorpoints.Thesemark-to-baselookupscanbecreatedandeditedintheGPOSLookupssectionoftheFontInfoofyourfont('Element>FontInfo>Lookups>GPOS').

FromtheGPOSLookupswindow,clickon'AddLookup'andchoosetheType'MarktoBasePosition',thenchoose'MarkPositioning'fromthe'New'columnoftheFeaturepane(seebelow).Click'OK'toclosethewindow.

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Withthenewlookupselected,click'AddSubtable'.Intheresultingwindow(seebelow)youcancreateyouranchorclasses.

Inthisexample(below),twoanchorclasseshavebeencreated,'top'and'bottom'.The'top'anchorclasswillbeusedtopositiondiacriticmarksthatareplacedaboveglyphs,andthe'bottom'anchorwillbeusedforpositioningmarksbelowglyphs.

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Toplaceananchorwithaglyph,simplyusetherightmouseclickinaglypheditwindow,andselectthefunction'AddAnchor'fromtheright-clickmenu.Thedialogueboxthatappearsenablesyoutoassignwhethertheanchorisabaseormarkanchor.Theanchor'spositioncanalsobefinetunedfromthisdialoguebox.Alternativelytheanchorcanbemovedbybeingdraggedtopositionwiththemouse,ormovedbyusingtheup,down,leftandrightkeys.Theanchorpointcanalsobeeditedbyrightclickingontheanchorpointandchoosing'getinfo'fromthemouseclickmenu.

ControlofAnchorClasses

FontForgealsocontainsausefullgraphicalinterfaceforcontrollingthepositionofwholeclassesofanchorpoints,enablingtheusertofinetunethepositionof,forexample,alltheacuteaccentsatonceinafont,oralltheanchorsinaclasscontainedin,forexample,charactersthatreferencethelowercase'e'.Intheexamplesbelowwecanseehowtousethisgraphicalinterfacetofinetunethepositionofallacuteaccentsinafont,and,tofinetuneaclassofanchorsacrossallcharactersthatreferencethelowecase'e'glyph.

Onceyouhavecreatedanchorclasseswithinyourmark-to-basepositionlookups,andaddedanchorstosomeglyphs,youcancontroltheseclassesfrom"Element>FontInfo>Lookups>GPOS"andtheneditingasubtablethatcontainsanchorclasses.Youwillthenseethiswindow;

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Fromhereselecttheclassyouwishtoeditandclickonthe'AnchorControl'button.Youwillthenbepresentedbyagraphicalinterfacetothatclass.Intheexamplesbelowweareeditingthecontrolofthe'top'class.Inthefirstexample(below)thelowercase'e'hasbeenselectedfromthe'Bases'sectionofthedropdownmenu.Whenabaseglyphisselected,allcharactersthatreferencethatglyphandcontaina'top'baseanchor,willbedisplayedinthepreviewpane.Wecanthenadjustthepositionofthe'top'baseanchortoseehowiteffectsthepositionofallglyphsthatcontainthe'top'markanchor.

Inthesecondexample,below,the'acute'glyphhasbeenselectedfromthe'Marks'sectionofthedropdownmenu.Whenamarkglyphisselectedthenallglyphsthatreferencetheselectedglyphandcontaina'top'markanchorwillbedisplayedforpreview.

Otherresourceshttp://urtd.net/projects/cod/abouthttp://ilovetypography.com/2009/01/24/on-diacritics/http://diacritics.typo.cz/http://scripts.sil.org/ProbsOfDiacDesignhttp://www.microsoft.com/typography/developers/fdsspec/diacritics.htmhttps://twitter.com/fostertype/status/610292546971893760

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Numerals

Numeralsareoftendifficultforfontdesigners—andforseveralreasons.Oneisthatnumeralshaveaverylargenumberofcurves.Anotheristhatnumeralsoftenuseconventionsintheirshapesthataredifferentfrom(orareeveninviolationof)thevisualconventionsseenintherestofthefontdesign.Furthermore,numeralscanhaveverylargenumberofstrokes(like8and5do),ortheymayhavelargewhitespaces(like1,7,andsometimes2and4).Bothsituationscanbehardtomanage.Finally,thereistheproblemofhowtomakesureyourzerolooksdifferentfromthecapitalO.

Itcanbeusefultolookatthenumeralsfoundinawidevarietyoffontstobecomemorefamiliarwiththewaysinwhichdesignerscopewiththeseproblems.

Inthosenumeralswithadensenumberofstrokes(suchas8),youmayfindthatdesignersallowthestrokewidthstobecomealittlethinnerthanistypicalofthelettersinthefont.Asimilarapproachcanbeseenthedesignofthedoublestoryg.

Conversely,tocompensatefornumeralswithlargewhitespaceproportions,somestrokesarelikelytobecomeheavierthanwouldbetypical.

InthecaseofdistinguishingthezerofromthecapitalO,thereareawiderangeofsolutions—suchasmakingthezeronarrowerthantheO,orazerothatisperfectlyround,orperhaps(especiallyinamonospacefont)havingaslashthroughthezero.

HavingthezeronarrowerthanthecapitalOwhilesharingitsheightisthecommonapproach.Thisapproachistypicalofliningnumerals.Liningnumeralsarethemostcommonstylefornumerals.Examplesoffontsthatusethisapproachinclude:manyGaramonds,Futura,andtheGooglewebfontOpenSans.BelowisOpenSansshowingthezero,capitalO,zeroandthenothernumerals.

Aperfectlyroundornearlyperfectlyroundcircleislesscommon,butdoesexist.ExamplesoffontsthatusethisapproachincludetheGooglewebfontVollkornaswellasothercommercialtypessuchasMrsEaves,VendetaandFleischmanBTPro.Fontsthatuseoldstyleproportionalnumeralsaremorelikelytofeaturethisapproach.Sometimesazeroatx-heightbutwhichisnarrowerwillalsobeseen.

Numeralsalsocomeinupto11identifiablestyleswhenyouincludefractions,superscriptsandsubscripts.Wewilllookatthe5mostcommonones.

LiningstylenumeralsThemostcommonstylesofnumberfoundinfontsareTabularLiningandProportionalLining.Liningreferstotheheightsthatthenumbersuse.Ifitisaliningstyletheheightsforallthenumberswillbeopticallythesame.ThedifferencebetweenTabularLiningandProportionalLiningnumbersisthatinTabularLiningallthenumbersalsosharethesamewidths.Thisstyleisusefulforspreadsheetsandanyotherpurposewhereitishelpfulfornumberstostaystackedupinneatlinesbothhorizontallyandvertically.

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Proportionalliningnumbershavetheadvantageofhavingtheabilitytolookingmorevisuallyevenbecausetheformsandspacingofthenumberscanvarytocompensatefordifferingstrokedensity.

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RangingorOldstylenumerals

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Tabularnumbersarearelativelynewinventioninhistoricalterms.Beforetheyexistedtherewereoldstyleproportionalnumbers.Oldstylenumbersareusefulifyouwantthenumberstomixinandsharethestyleofatext.

Tabularoldstylenumbersarefairlyrare.Theycanbeusefulinanannualreportwhereyouwantthefeelingofanoldstylenumberbutthetabularspacingtypicalofthatkindofdocument.TheimageaboveisfromatypewriterLibrarycatalogcard.

Hybridstylenumerals

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Hybridnumeralsdon'tsharethefont'scap-heightorx-height,butinsteadoccupytheirownheight.Theterm"hybrid"referstoamixingoftheold-styleandliningnumerals.ExamplesoffontsthatusehybridstylenumeralsincludeGeorgiaandtheGooglewebfontsMerriweatherandDonegal.Thezero,capitalO,zero,1,2,3,etcglyphsfromMerriweatherareshownbelow.

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BoldandOtherWeights

Whenwetalkaboutthestyle"bold,"wearereallytalkingaboutabroadervariable,whichisweight.Weightcanincludeanythingfromveryverythinhairlineletterstoenormouslyheavyletters.Thisvariableisusedintexttypographytocreatestrongseparationbetweenbodiesoftext,anditisusedingraphicdesigneithertodrawattentiontoawordorshorttexts,ortogivetextaspecificfeeling(ratherthantocontrastitwithothertext).

Whileyoumaywanttodoawiderangeofthingswithweightitislikelythatyourfirstexperiencewithadjustingweightwillbetotrytocreateaboldtoaccompanyyourregulartextweight.

BecauseyouareusingFontForgeyouhaveadistinctadvantage.Unlikemanyfonteditingprograms,theresultsyougetfromFontForgestylefiltermayactuallybesuitableforuse—moresothantheonesyouwouldgetincommercialtypedesignsoftware.Thisisbecausethealgorithmitusesisexceptionallysophisticated.

CreatingaboldversionofafontcanberapidlyapproximatedbyrunningafiltercalledChangeweight(whichyouwillfindintheElement>Stylesmenu)toaddweighttoyourglyphs.

Theautomaticnatureandrelativelyhighspeedofthisprocessmakesitidealfortestingwhatweightyoumaywantforyourbold.Youmaywanttotryrunningthisfilterseveraltimesandsaveseveralversionstocompareintextnexttoyourregular.Thatsaid,youmaystillneedtoeitheraltertheresultfurtherafterrunningthefilter,ormanuallyadjustindividualglyphsinordertogetaresultwhichissatisfactory.

Itisalsoworthrememberingthatglyphswhichdonothaveadensityofstrokes(suchas1,i,l,I,L,jandJ)mayneedtobeheavier,whileglyphswhichdohaveadensityofstrokes(suchasa,e,g,x,B,R,8,and&)willneedtobelessheavythantheotherglyphs.

FontinterpolationFontForgedoeshaveafunctiontointerpolatebetweenseparatefonts(seethetheInterpolateFontsfunctionfromtheElementmenu).Fontinterpolationisatechniquethatcanbeusedforcreatingintermediateweightsfromtwootherweights.Thereforeonewayofdecidingabouttheweightofyourboldistocreateaboldwhichisdefinitelyheavierthanyouneed,thentointerpolateseveraldifferentweightsbetweenthisoverlybolddesignandyourregular.

Usingthistechniqueyoucanmorerapidlyfindtheweightyoufeelismostappropriateforyourproject.Thesametechniquecanbeappliedtohelpdecideaboutevenheavierweightssuchasthe"heavy"and"black,"aswellaslighteroneslike"book"and"thin"styles.Youcanalsosetnegativevaluesoninterpolation,forexampleyouwillgeta"bold"styleifyouinterpolatea"regular"with"thin"at-50%.

Bythislogic,itmayseemlikethebestandmostefficientwayofmakingaregularweightandalltheotherweightsyoumayneed,wouldbetomakeaverythinandahyper-boldfont,thengenerateeverythingyouneedfromthese.However,theresultofthatapproachislikelytobeexcessivelybland.Instead,itisoftenthecasethateachsignificantchangeinweightwillrequireitsownmasterdesignfromwhichothermiddleweightscanbemade.

FurtherReadinghttp://bigelowandholmes.typepad.com/bigelow-holmes/2015/07/on-font-weight.html

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Italic

Italicsareprobablythemostmisunderstoodstyleintypedesign,buttheyarealsothestylewiththegreatestpotentialexcitementandfunduetothelargenumberofvariablesforyouthedesignertoplaywith.

Italicsaredifferentfromboldsinthattheyarenotmeanttoappeartohaveadifferentweightthantheregular.Instead,theyaremeanttoofferadifferenttexturethantheregular.Greaterintensityinthisdifferencewillmeanthattheitalicisespeciallyusefulforcreatingasenseofcontrastwiththeregular.Thisstrongereffectisusefulforhighlightingsinglewordsorshortpassagesoftext.Incontrast,aless-differenttextureisoftenusefulinsituationswhereyouaresettingmultiplelines,wholeparagraphs,orevenevenpagesinanitalic.

SlantThevariablemostcommonlyassociatedwithitalicsisslant.Indeed,whenawebbrowserisaskedforanitalicinaCSSruleandthereisnoItalic,itwillsimplyslanttheregulartocreateasyntheticorfauxitalic.Itisprobablynotsurprisingthatwhenpeoplefirstbegindesigningtypetheyalsoconsiderthisapproach.Theoriginsofthisideagobacktothemid-20thCenturyandmodernismasitwasappliedtodesign.ThisiswhythefirstitalicsseenintypefacessuchasHelveticawerealsoslantedversionsoftheregular.

Howmuchslant?

Someitalicshavenoslant.No,really!Theseitalicsarecalleduprightitalics.Howeveritislikelythatifyourdesignhasonlyoneitalicinitthatyouwillchooseforthatitalictohavesomedegreeofslant.Ingeneral,italicstendtoslantbetween4-14degrees.Mostcontemporaryfontsslantbetween6-9degrees.

Whileslantcanbeimportanttothedesignofanitalic,iseasytonotice,andcanevenbedonewithsomelimitedsuccessusinganautomaticfilter,itisnottheonlyvariablethatyoucanusetohelpseparateyouritalicfromyourregular.Youmaywanttoconsiderusingoneormoreofthefollowingvariablesinadditiontoslant.

ItalicconstructionTheterm"italic"doesnotinfactrefertotheslantseenininmanyitalicsdesignsbutinsteadrefersinsteadtoastyleofwritingwhichbecamepopularin14thcenturyItaly.Thisstyleofwritingwasafasterandaconnectedformofwritingwhichusesadifferentconstructionforitslettersthanisseeninregular.Thisdifferentconstructionorpatternofstrokesiswhattypedesignersarereferringtowhentheysaytheyhavedesigneda"real"or"true"italic.Thisconstructionhasmanysubcharacteristicsthatyoumaychoosetoincludeinanitalicdesign.

Triangularcounters

Themostobviousofthesecharacteristicsisthetriangularcountershapecreatedbyletterswithjoins.Theselettersincludea,b,d,g,h,m,n,p,q,andu.Thisvariableispowerful,partlybecausecountershapeisapowerfulvariable,butalsobecauseofthegreatnumberofletterswiththefeature.Thatfact,combinedwiththehighfrequencyoftheirusageinmostlanguages,isalsoaverylarge(andprobablytheevengreater)factor.

Whendesigningyouritalic,youcanveryeffectivelytunetheeffectyouritalicgivesbymakingrelativelysmalladjustmentstotheheightofthejoins.Subtlechangescangivesurprisinglylargeresults.Still,notallitalicfontstakeadvantageofthisvariable.

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Inandoutstrokes

Manyitalicfontsmakeuseofasymmeticalserifs,intheformofin-orout-strokes,orboth.Whenonlyoneisused,itismorecommontousetheoutstrokeandtohaveanuprightstyleappliedwheretheinstrokemighthavebeen.Theintensityoftheeffectthatinstrokeandoutstrokehascanbecontrolledbytheweightofthestrokesandbyadjustinghowlongtheyare.Liketriangularcounters,agreatpartoftheirutilityandpowercomesfromthefactthatsomanylettersusethem.

Condensation

Italicsarenormallysomewhatlesswideormorecondensedthantheregularstyle.Becausecondensationisafeatureseenacrossallofthelettersintheitalic,itisaverypowerfulvariable.Thisvariablecanbeemployedinbothagrossandsubtlemanner.Ifyouchoosetousethisvariable,itisnecessarytoadjusttheweightofthestrokestomaketheitalicappeartobethesameornearlythesameweightastheregulardesign.Themorecondensedyouritalicis,themoreyouwillneedtomakethisadjustment.

MixingvariablesMostitalicsuseallofthevariableslistedaboveinvariousproportions.Youmayfindthatitisusefultolookatarangeofitalicdesignsandanalysewhichvariablesarebeingusedandinwhatstrength.Whenyoudothis,youwillnoticethatnoneofthevariablesareusedatfullstrength.Instead,oneofthevariablestendstolead,withsomelimiteduseoftheothers.Thestrongertheuseofthevariablesthemorecontrastyouritalicwillhavefromtheregular.

Inisalsonotablethatinthelasttenyearswehaveseenanincreasingnumberoftypedesignerschoosetooffernotjustoneitalicintheirtypefamilies,buttwoorevenmore.Itisalsonotablethatdictionariessometimesmakeuseofmorethanonestyleofitalic.

Whentheywerefirstmadeforprinting,italicswerenotthoughtofaspartofthesametypedesignortypefamily.Thisideaisonewhichbecamestandardoverthe19thand20thCenturies.Eventheideaofmixingitalicswithregularwasnotpartoftheoriginalideabehindthisscript.Thefirstitalicfontswereusedtosetentirebooks,insteadoftheuprightromanstyle.Itisprobablysafetoassumethattheroleoftheitalicwillcontinuetoevolve.

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Spacing,MetricsandKerning

Thespacesbetweencharactersareanimportant,integralpartofthedesignofafont.

Designingafont’sletterspacingshouldbecarriedoutasanintegralpartofthewholeprocessofdesigningafont.Goodspacingisnecessaryforafonttofunctionwell.

InFontForge,theMetricsWindowallowsyoutodesignthemetricsofyourfont,alterthespacingbetweenthem,andtesthowglyphslooktogether.MetricsWindowscanbeopenedfromthe‘Window’menu,orbyusingtheControl-kcommand.

Thespacebetweenanytwoglyphhastwocomponents;thespaceafterthefirstglyph,andthespacebeforethesecondglyph.Thesespacesbetweenglyphsarecomposedofthe‘sidebearings’fromeachglyphpair.Eachglyphhasaleftsidebearingandarightsidebearing,intheexamplebelowofthelowercase‘a’ofOpenSanstherightsidebearinghasavalueof166units,andtheleftsidebearinghasavalueof94units.

BasicFunctionsoftheMetricsWindowThesidebearingsofcharacterscanbeeditedinFontForge’sMetricsWindowin5ways;

Manuallydraggingeachsidebearingboundary.Manuallydraggingacharacter.Notethoughthatdraggingacharacterwillonlyeffectthevalueoftheleftsidebearing.

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SidebearingvaluescanbealteredbydirectlyeditingtheirvalueinthemetricstablesoftheMetricsWindow.Thevalueofsidebearingscanbeincremented/decrementedbyusingthekeyboard.UsingcommandsintheMetricsWindow’sMetricsmenu.

AdjustingSideBearingValueswiththekeyboard.

OnemethodofadjustingmetricvaluesquicklyandaccuratelyinFontForgeisbyusingtheup,down,leftandrightkeysofakeyboard.Theupanddownkeysareusedtoincrememt/decrementvaluesandalt+up,alt+down,alt+leftandalt+rightareusedfornavigatingaroundthedifferentvaluefieldsoftheMetricsWindow.

GeneralPrinciplesAsageneralprinciplesymmetriccharacterssuchas'A''H''I''M''N''O''T''U''V''W''X''Y''o''v''w''x'willhavesymmetricsidebearings,e.g.atheleftandrightsidebearingsofan'H'willbethesamevalue.Notethoughthatthisisnotahardandfastrule,butageneralone.

Asyouspacethecharactersthatyoudesign,youshouldtrustyoureyes.Thebottomlineisto'design-look-adjust-lookagain'.

Fortheabsolutebeginner;donotassumethatreliableresultsareachievedbyrelyingonthemeasuredspace.Forexample,whilstthemeasurementsbetweentwocharactersmaybeunequal,theeyecanseethemasequal.Anobviousexampleofthiscanbeseenwhenattemptingtospacethecharacters'H'and'O'.Sofortheexamplebelow,thesidebearingsofthe'H'and'O'areequal,butlookunequal.Inthelowerline,thesidebearingsarenotequalbutthespacingappearsbalanced.

Atoolforgeneratingsuchtextsisavailablefromhttp://tools.ninastoessinger.com/

MetricsMenuCommandsforeditingmetrics'CenterinWidth'-Thiscentersthecurrentglyphwithinitscurrentwidth.

'WindowType'-FontForge'sMetricsWindowcanbesettobehavein2waysformetricsadjustment;

'AdvanceWidthOnly'-inthismodemetricsviewmayonlybeusedtoadjusttheadvancewidthsofglyphs.'Both'-Inthismodemetricsviewwilladjusteithertheadvancewidthorkerningvalues.

'SetWidth'-thiscommandallowsyoutochangethewidthofthecurrentglyph.

'SetLBearing'-allowsyoutochangetheleftsidebearingvalue.

'SetRBearing'-allowsyoutochangethelrightsidebearingvalue.

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AbasicapproachtospacingThefollowingmethodisdesignedtogetyoustartedeffectivelytowardsdesigningthemetricsofyourfont.

Startingwithastringoflowercase'o'charactersinthemetricswindow,theleftandrightsidebearingscanbeadjusteduntilthespacingofthecharacterslooksandfeelsright.Onewaytolookforthis'rightness'istolookforthewhitespacebetweenthe'o'characterstobalancethewhitespaceinsidethe'o'characters.Ingeneral,withtheexceptionofslantedoritalicfonts,theleftandrightsidebearingsofalowercase'o'shouldbeofequalvalue.Onceyouarehappywiththespacingofyourstringof'o'characters,introducethe'n'characterfromyourfont(seebelow)andthenlooktoadjustthesidebearingsofthe'n'sothatit'sspacingfitsintothebalanceofthestringof'o'characters(seebelow).Notethatduetothenatureofthewayoureyessee,therightsidebearingofan'n'willallwaysbeasmallervaluethantheleftsidebearing,andthesidebearingsofthe'o'willbesmallerthanthesidebearingsofthe'n'.

Onceboththe'n'and'o'areadequatelyspacedtheirsidebearingscanbeusedtocreatethesidebearingsforanarrayofothercharacters,forexample;

Theleftsidebearingofthe'o'canbeusedfortheleftsidebearingofthe'c','d','e',and'q'.Therightsidebearingofthe'o'canbeusedfortherightsidebearingofthe'b'and'p'.Therightsidebearingofthe'n'canbeusedfortherightsidebearingofthe'h'and'm'.Theleftsidebearingofthe'n'canbeusedfortheleftsidebearingofthe'b','h','k','m','p'and'r'.

Note-theaboveshouldbeusedasaguideonlythatcanbeusedasasupereffectivestartingpointforfindingcorrectvaluesforthesesidebearings.

Fromhereitmakessensetothenspacetherestofthesidebearingsofthelowercasecharactersagainststringsof'n'and'o'characters,asseeninthediagramabove.Again,trustyoureyestoreachcorrectbalanceofcharacters.

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UppercasecharactersUppercasecharacterscanbespacedusingthesameprinciplesasabove.Forexample,startwiththestring'Hooooo'andadjusttherightsidebearingofthe'H'untillitfeelsbalancedagainstthestringof'o'characters.Withtheleftsidebearingofthe'H'beingequaltotherightsidebearing,theuppercase'O'canthenbespacedagainstthe'H'(seebelow).

Fromhereallothercharacterscanbespacedagainstthecharacterswhichhavealreadybeenspaced.Itshouldbenotedthatthismethodcanbeusedasagoodstartingpointforspacingafont,butitislikelythatmoreminutefinetuningofspacingwillalsobeneededtoachievehigherlevelsofgoodletterspacing.Otherstringsofcharactersthatareusefullinthiscanbearrayssuchas'naxna','auxua','noxno','Hxndo'.

KerningKerningistheadjustmentofthespacingbetweenspecificcharacterpairs.Kerningenablesindividualspacingofcharacterpairsthatisappliedinadditiontothespacingprovidedbyacharacter'ssidebearings.Commonexamplesofcharacterpairswherekerningisoftenneededtoimprovespacingwouldbe'WA','Wa','To','Av'.Intheexamplesbelow,wecanseethatwithoutkerningthespacingbetweentheletterpairs'T-o'and'V-a'aretoowide,whereaswithkerningthespacebetweenthesecharacterpairsismuchmorebalancedwiththefeelofthespacingoftherestofthefont.

TheMetricsWindowinFontForgecanbeusedtodesignbothsidebearingsandkerningvalues.KerningvaluescanbeappliedtoafontinanumberofwaysinFontForge,2oftheseareshownbelow,kerningwithclassesandkerningwithindividualpairs;

FontForge'sMetricsmenu'WindowType'-FontForge'sMetricswindowcanbesettobehavein2differentwaystoenablekerningadjustment;

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'KerningOnly'-inthismodethemetricsviewmayonlybeusedtoadjustkerning.'Both'-Inthismodemetricsviewwilladjusteithertheadvancewidthorkerningvalues.

'KernByClasses'-Thiscommandprovidestheuserwithadialogtomanipulatekerningclasses.

'KernPairCloseup'-Thiscommandprovidestheuserwithadialogfromwhichyoucanadjustalreadyexistingkernedpairsorcreatenewpairs(seebelow).

AdjustingkerningvalueswiththekeyboardJustlikewithadjustingsidebearingvalues,kerningvaluescanbequicklyandaccuratelyeditedinFontForgebyusingthe'up','down','left'and'right'keysofakeyboard.The'upand'down'keysareusedtoincrememt/decrementvaluesand'alt+up','alt+down','alt+left'and'alt+right'areusedfornavigatingaroundthedifferentvaluefieldsofthemetricswindow.

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KerningindividualpairsThisisthemostbasiclevelofcreatingkerningpairsinFontForge.IntheMetricsWindowthekerningvaluebetween2characterscanbemanuallyadjustedeitherbydraggingtheright-handcharactertoorfromtheleft-handcharacter,orbyeditingthekerningvaluedirectlyinthemetricstableofthewindow.Tochangekerningvaluesbydraggingcharactersusethekern-toolhandlethatappearswhenthemousecursorishoveredbetween2characters(seescreeenshotbelow).Thekerningvalueinthemetricstablecanbeeditedbymanualllyenteringvaluesorbyincrementing/decrementingthevalueusingyourkeyboardsup/downkeys.

KerningwithclassesA'kernclass'inFontForgecanbecreatedtobuildgroupsofcharacterswhowillallhavethesamekerningvalueapplied,soforexampleaclasscanbecreated,let'scallit'o_left_bowl'inwhichthecharacters'o','c','d','e','q'willallwayshavethesamekerningvaluewhenpreceededby,forexample,thecharacter'T'.The'T'couldalsoitselfbeamemberofanotherclassthatwouldlikelyincludeothercharacterssuchasTcaronandTbar.Effectively,classkerningcansaveyoualotoftime.

Themostdirectwaytocreatekerningclassesisfromthe"Kernbyclasses"iteminFontForge's"Metrics"menu.

Select"Kernbyclasses"andyouwillbepresentedbythe"newlookup"window.Clickonthe"NewLookup"buttonandanotherwindowwillpopup,whereyoucancreateakerningfeaturelookup.Chosetheitem"pairpositionkerning"fromthe"Type"dropdownmenu.Nowclickonthedownarrownextto"NEW"inthe"Feature"column,andchoose"HorizontalKerning"fromthedropdownmenu.Clickon"OK".Youcankeepthedefaultnamesthatfontforgecreatesforyou.

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Nowyouarepresentedbythewindowwhereyoucanbuildyouactualkerningclasses(seeabove).Thefirstcharacterofakerningpairwillbechosenfromthelefthandcolumn,andthesecondcharacterofapairwillbechosenfromtherightcolumn.

TheElement>FontInfo>LookupstabprovidesaninterfacetoclasskerninginFontForge.ThesameinterfaceisalsogotatviatheItbringsupadialogshowingalltheGPOSlookups(ofwhichkerningisone)andtheirsubtables.Seescreenshotbelow;

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Tocreateanewkerninglookupclickon'AddLookup'andchoose'PairPosition(kerning)'asthelookuptypeandgivethelookupitsown,uniquename(seebelow).

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Eachsetofkerningclasseslivesinitsownsubtable.Tocreateasubtable,clickon'AddSubtable'.Whenyoucreateakerningsubtableyouwillbeaskedwhetheryouwantasetofindividualkerningpairsoramatrixbasedonclasses.Ifyouchoseclassesyouwillbepresentedwithafollowingdialoguewhereyoucancreateyourclasses.NotethatyoucanchoosetoenableFontForgeto'guess'or'autokern'thekerningvaluesbetweentheclassesyouarecreatinginthedialogue.IfusingFontForgetoguesskerningvaluesyouwillundoubtedlyneedanamountoftrialanderrorandexperimentation,butitcanmakesensetousetheautokernfunctionasastartingpointtokerningyourfont.

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Forexampleinthescreenshotabove,2classeshavebeencreated;oneclasscontainingthe'T'character,andoneclasscontainingthe'o'character.Onclicking'ok'intheabovedialog,youwillbepresentedwiththefollowingwindowwhereyoucanfinetunetheamountofkerningbetweenthesetwo'T'and'o'classes.

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ManualkerningIfautokernedvaluesneedtobeadjusted(andtheywill!)thenthiscanbedoneinanumberofways.

Viathe'kerningbyclasses'dialogwindow.UsingtheMetricsWindow.Usingthe'KernPairCloseup'commandfromtheMetricsmenu.

SeealsoStrategiesfordeterminingletterspacing

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MakingSureYourFontWorks,Validation

Inaperfectworld,yourfontwouldbereadytobuildandinstallonanymoderncomputerwithoutanyspecialeffort,butrealityismessier—particularlyduringthedesignprocess.Fontscanhavetechnicalerrorsthatpreventthemfromworkingordisplayingcorrectly.Forexample,curvesthatintersectthemselveswillnotrendercorrectlybecausetheydonothavea"inside"and"outside."Thevariousfontfileformatsalsoexpectglyphstoadheretocertainrulesthatsimplifyplacingthetextonscreen,andfontsthatbreaktherulescancauseunexpectedproblems.Anexampleofthistypeofissueisthatallofthepointsonacurveshouldhavecoordinatesthatareintegers.Finally,therearestylisticerrorsthatarenottechnicallyincorrect,butthatyouwillstillwanttorepair—suchaslinesthatareintendedtobeperfectlyhorizontalorvertical,butareaccidentallyslightlyoff-kilter.

FontForgeofferstoolsthatyoucanusetolocate(and,inmanycases,repair)allthreecategoriesofproblem.Validatingyourfonttoeliminatetheseerrorswillthusnotonlyensurethatitcanbeinstalledandenjoyedbyusers,butwillensurethatfinishedprojectexhibitspolish.

FindProblemsThefirsttooliscalledFindProblems,andisfoundundertheElementmenu.Youmustfirstselectoneormoreglyphs—eitherfrominthefontview,theoutlineview,orthemetricsview—thenopentheFindProblemstool.Thetoolpresentsyouwithanassortmentofpotentialproblemsineightseparatetabs.

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Youcanselectwhichproblemsyouareinterestedinlookingforbycheckingthecheckboxnexttoeach,andinsomecasesprovidinganumericvaluetocheckthefontagainst.WhenyouclicktheOKbutton,thetoolwillexaminealloftheselectedglyphs,andreportanyproblemsitfindsinadialogbox.

TheproblemsthattheFindProblemstoolcanlookforaresortedintotheseeightgroups:

ProblemsrelatedtopointsProblemswithpathsandcurvesProblemswithreferencesProblemswithhintingProblemswithATTProblemsspecifictoCID-keyedfontsProblemswithboundingboxesMiscellaneousotherproblems

Noteverycheckisnecessary;someapplyonlytospecificscriptsorlanguages(suchasthoseinthe"CID"tab),whileothersapplyonlytospecific,optionalfontfeatures(suchasthechecksinthereferencestab).Butyoushouldcheckthatyourfontpassesthoseteststhatexaminetheglyphsforrequiredfeatures,andseveralteststhatlookforoptionalbutcommonly-expectedbehavior.Severaloftheothertestsprovidefeedbackandguidancetoyouduringthedesignprocess,andareworthexploringforthatreason.

Firstthingsfirst:testforrequiredfeatures

Inthe"Points"tab,selecttheNon-IntegralCoordinatestest.Thistestmakessurethatallofthepointsineachglyph(includingbothon-curvepointsandcontrolpoints)haveintegercoordinates.Noteveryfontoutputformatrequiresthisbehaviour,butsomedo.

Inthe"Paths"tab,selecttheoptionsOpenpathsandCheckoutermostpathsclockwise.Thesearebothmandatoryfeaturesinallfonts;thefirstlooksforanycurvesthatarenotclosedshapes,andthesecondmakessurethattheoutercurvesofeveryglypharetracedinclockwiseorder.ItisaverygoodideatocheckIntersectingpathsaswell;althoughmodernfontformatscansupporttwointersectingpaths,curvesthatinsectwiththemselvesarenotallowed.Inaddition,ifaglyphhasanyself-intersectingpathsthenFontForgecannotperformtheCheckoutermostpathsclockwisetest.

Inthe"Refs"tab,selectallsixtests.Thesechecksallrelatetoreferences,inwhichaglyphincludespathsfromanotherglyph.Forexample,anaccentedletterincludesareferencetotheoriginal(unaccented)letter,plusareferencetotheaccentcharacter.Allofthetestsinthe"Refs"tabaremandatoryforatleastonecommonoutputformat,andallaregoodideas.

Similarly,selectallofthetestsinthe"ATT"tab.Thesetestslookformissingglyphnames,substitutionrulesthatrefertonon-existentglyphs,andotherproblemsrelatedtoglyphnamesorOpenTypefeatures.Theproblemstheyguardagainstareuncommon,butallwillcausethefonttobeconsideredinvalidbyoneormorecomputersystem,sotheyareworthincluding.

Makelifeeasierforyourusers:testforgoodbehaviour

Thetestslistedabovewillensurethatyourfontinstallsandrenderscorrectlyaccordingtotherulessetoutbythevariousfontformats,butthereareahandfulofotherstestsyoushouldconsideradding—especiallyattheendofthedesignprocess—simplybecausetheycheckforcommonconventionsfollowedbymostmoderntypography.

Inthe"Points"tab,selectControlpointsbeyondspline.Thistestwilllookforcontrolpointslyingbeyondtheendpointsofthecurvesegmentonwhichtheyreside.Thereisrarelyareasonthatacontrolpointshouldlieoutsideofthecurve,sotheseinstancesusuallysignifyaccidents.ItisalsoagoodideatoselectPointstoofarapart,whichwilllookforpointsthataremorethan32767unitsawayfromthenextnearestpoint.Thatdistanceislargerthanmostcomputerscandealwithinternally,andapointthatfarawayisalmostcertainlyunintentional(forcomparison,asingleglyphtendstobedrawnonagridofabout1000units),soremovingsuchpointsisimportant.

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Inthe"Paths"tab,boththeCheckMissingExtremaandMorePointsThan[val]testscanbevaluable.Thefirstlooksforpointsattheextrema—thatis,theuppermostpoint,lowestpoint,andleftmostandrightmostpointsoftheglyph.Modernfontformatsstronglysuggestthateachpathhaveapointateachofitshorizontalandverticalextrema;thismakeslifeeasierwhenthefontisrenderedonscreenoronthepage.checkwilllookformissingextremapoints.Thesecondtestisasanitycheckonthenumberofpointswithinanyoneglyph.FontForge'sdefaultvalueforthischeckis1,500points,whichisthevaluesuggestedbythePostScriptdocumentation,anditisgoodenoughforalmostallfonts.

Asitsnamesuggests,the"Random"tablistsmiscellaneousteststhatdonotfitundertheothercategories.Ofthese,thefinalthreearevaluable:CheckMultipleUnicode,CheckMultipleNames,andCheckUnicode/Namemismatch.TheylookformetadataerrorsinthemappingbetweenglyphnamesandUnicodeslots.

Helpyourself:runteststhatcanaiddesign

ManyoftheothertestsintheFindProblemstoolcanbeusefultofindandlocateinconsistenciesinyourcollectionofglyphs;thingsthatarenotwrongorinvalid,butthatyouasadesignerwillwanttopolish.Forexample,theYnearstandardheightstestinthe"Points"tabcomparesglyphstoasetofusefulverticalmeasurements:thebaseline,theheightofthe"x"glyph,thelowestpointofthedescenderontheletter"p",andsoon.Inaconsistenttypeface,mostletterswilladheretoatleastacoupleofthesestandardmeasurements,sotheoddsarethataglyphthatisnowherenearanyofthemneedsalotofwork.

TheEdgesnearhorizontal/vertical/italictestinthe"Paths"tablooksforlinesegmentsthatarealmostexactlyhorizontal,vertical,oratthefont'sitalicangle.Makingyouralmost-verticallinesperfectlyverticalmeansthatshapeswillrendersharplywhenthefontisused,andthistestisareliablewaytotrackdownthenot-quite-rightsegmentsthatmightbehardtospotwiththeunaidedeye.

Youcanuseotherteststolocateon-curvepointsthataretooclosetoeachothertobemeaningful,tocomparethesidebearingsofsimilarly-shapedglyphs,andtoperformarangeofotherteststhatrevealwhenyouhaveglyphswithoddities.Partoftherefinementprocessistakingyourinitialdesignsandmakingthemmoreprecise;likeotheraspectsoffontdesign,thisisaniterativetask,sousingthebuilt-intoolsreducessomeoftherepetition.

ValidatefontFontForge'sothervalidationtoolisthewhole-fontvalidator,whichrunsabatteryoftestsandchecksontheentirefont.Becausethevalidatorisusedtoexamineacompletefont,youcanonlystartitupfromthefontviewwindow;youwillfinditintheElementmenu,undertheValidationsubmenu.Thevalidatorisdesignedtorunjustthoseteststhatexaminethefontfortechnicalcorrectness—essentiallythetestsdescribedinthe"testforrequiredfeatures"sectionabove.Butitdoesexecutethetestsagainsttheentirefont,anditdoessofarmorerapidlythanyoucanstepthroughtheprocessyourselfusingtheFindproblemstool.

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Thefirsttimeyourunthevalidatorduringaparticulareditingsession,itwillpopupadialogboxaskingyouwhetherornotitshouldflagnon-integerpointcoordinatestobeanerror.Thesafeansweristochoose"Reportasanerror,"sincestickingwithintegralcoordinatesisgooddesignpractice.Whenthevalidatorcompletesitsscanofthefont(whichwillbemeresecondslater),itwillopenupanewdialogboxnamedValidationofWhateverYourFontNameIs.Thiswindowwilllisteveryproblemthevalidatorfound,presentedinalistsortedbyglyph.

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Butthiswindowisnotmerelyalistoferrors:youcandouble-clickoneachiteminthelist,andFontForgewilljumptotherelevantglyphandhighlighttheexactproblem,completewithatextexplanationinitsownwindow.Youcanthenfixtheproblemintheglypheditor,andtheassociatederroritemwillimmediatelydisappearfromthevalidator'serrorlist.Inmanycases,theerrorwillbesomethingFontForgecanautomaticallyrepair;inthosecasestheexplanationwindowwillhavea"Fix"buttonatthebottom.Youcanclickitandperformtherepairwithoutadditionaleffort.

Forsomeproblems,thereisnoautomaticfix,butseeingtheissueon-screenwillhelpyoufixitimmediately.Forexample,aself-intersectingcurvehasaspecificplacewherethepathcrossesoveritself—itmayhavebeentoosmallforyoutonoticeataglance,butzoominginwillallowyoutoreshapethepathandeliminatetheproblem.

Forotherproblems,theremaynotbeonespecificpointatwhichtheerrorislocated.Forexample,ifacurveistracedinthewrongdirection(thatis,counterclockwisewhenitshouldbeclockwise),theentirecurveisaffected.InthoseinstanceswhereFontForgecannotautomaticallyfixtheproblemandthereisnospecificpointontheglyphforthevalidatortohighlight,youmayhavetohuntaroundinordertomanuallycorrecttheproblem.

Finally,therearesometestsperformedbythevalidatorthatmightnotbeaproblemfromthefinaloutputformatyouhaveinmind—forexample,thenon-integralcoordinatestestmentionedearlier.Inthosecases,youcanclickonthe"ignorethisprobleminthefuture"checkboxintheerrorexplanationwindow,andsuppressthatparticularerrormessageinfuturevalidationruns.

FixproblemsasyoueditMostoftheerrorsthattheFindproblemtoolandthewholefontvalidatorlookforcanbecorrectedduringtheeditingprocess,sodonotfeelanyneedtodefertroubleshootingwhileyouwork.Forexample,View>Showsubmenuhasoptionsthathighlightproblemareasduringediting;theElementmenuholdcommandslikeAddExtremathatwilladdtheextremapointsexpectedinmostoutputfileformats,andcheckboxestoindicatewhethertheselectedpathisorientedintheclockwiseorcounterclockwisedirection.Ifyouflipashape(horizontallyorvertically)intheglypheditor,youwillnoticethatitsdirectionisautomaticallyreversedaswell.IfyouclickontheCorrectDirectioncommandintheElementmenu,FontForgewillfixtheclockwise/counterclockwiseorientationimmediately.Gettinginthehabitofdoingsmallfixeslikethisasyouworkwillsaveyouabitoftimeduringthevalidationstagelater.

DoestheDesignWork?Typefacescan'work'betterorworseintwoways;readabilityandlegibility.

Legibilitymeansthedesignsofglyphsaredistinctenoughtobeinstantlyrecognisedcorrectly.Herearesomepairsthatareoftentoosimilar:

theletter"L"andthenumber"1"theletter"O"andthenumber"0"

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theletter"Z"andthenumber"2"thenumbers"1"and"7”

Readabilitymeansalltheglyphsworkwelltogetherforafamiliar,comfortablereadingexperience.Creatingtestdocumentsisthebestwaytoensurethis.Ifyouhaveacompletealphabetthenyoucantypesetrealtext-forexampleusingFontFriendtodraganddropyourfontintoalongnewsarticleyouwishtoread,thenprintingitout.

However,ifyoufontonlycontainsafractionofthealphabet,youcanuseatesttextgeneratorsuchasLibreText.organdanywordprocessor,desktoppublicationapplicationorgeneralillustrationprogram(suchasInkscape)tocreatetestdocuments.

TestingthefontindifferentenvironmentsWhentestingfontsonMicrosoftWindows,theFontpropertiesextensioncanbehelpfulforquicklyreviewingtheinternalfontmetadata,suchasversionnumbers.

IfyouinstalldevelopmentfontsthatmakeWindowsbehaveerratically,JohnHudsondescribedhowtoclearoutcorruptfontsonTypeDrawers:

RestartWindowsinrecoveryconsolemode.Intheconsole,navigatetotheWindows/Fontsfolder,anddeleteallentriesfortheRhodiumfont.ThennavigatetoWindows/System32anddeletethe'FNTCACHE.DAT'file(notthe.dll)ThenrestartWindows.Thefontcache.datfilewillberebuilt,andthenyoucanreinstallacleancopyoftheRhodiumfontandseeifitbehaves.(Don'tworryifyoustillgetamessagesayingthefontisalreadyinstalled:atthatstageWindowsislyingtoyou.)

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TheFinalOutputGeneratingFontFiles

AlthoughyoucandoawiderangeoftestingwithinFontForgeitself,youwillneedtogenerateinstallablefontfilesinordertoperformreal-worldtestingduringthedevelopmentprocess.Inaddition,yourultimategoalisofcoursetocreatefontthatyoucanmakeavailableinanoutputformatforotherpeopletoinstallanduse.YouwillusetheGenerateFontstool(foundintheFilemenu)tobuildausableoutputfontregardlessofwhetheryouaremakingitforyourowntestingpurposesortopublishitforconsumptionbyothers,butyouwillwanttoemployafewextrastepswhenbuildingthefinishedproduct.

FontForgecanexportyourfonttoavarietyofdifferentformats,butinpracticeonlytwoareimportant:TrueType(whichisfoundwiththe.ttffilenameextension)andOpenTypeCFF(whichisfoundwiththe.otfextension).TechnicallytheOpenTypeformatcanencompassarangeofotheroptions,buttheCFFtypeistheoneinwidespreaduse.

QuickanddirtygenerationfortestingTobuildafontfilefortestingpurposes—suchastoexaminethespacinginawebbrowser--youneedonlytoensurethatyourfontpassestherequiredvalidationtests.

YoucanusetheValidateFonttoolfoundintheElementmenutodothis(seethechapteronvalidatingfontsforamoredetailedexplanation),oryoucanselectalloftheglyphs(hitControl-Aorchoose"Select"->"SelectAll"fromthe"Edit"menu)thenrunafewcommandstoapplysomebasicchangesinbulk.Besuretosaveyourworkbeforeyouproceedanyfurther,though:someofthechangesrequiredtovalidateyourfontforexportwillaltertheshapesofyourglyphsinsubtleways.

ForOpenTypefonts,firstcorrectthedirectionofallofyourpaths.HitControl-Shift-Dorchoose"CorrectDirection"fromthe"Element"menu.Next,checktomakesurethatyouhavenotleftanyunclosedpaths.Choose"Findproblems"fromthe"Element"menu,selecttheOpenpathsoptioninthe"Paths"tab,andclickOKtorunthetest.Onceyourfontpassesthetestwithouterrors,youarereadytogenerateOpenTypeoutput.

ForTrueTypefonts,afewadditionalstepsarerequired.Youshouldfirstcorrectthedirectionofallofyourpathsasdescribedabove.Next,adjustallpointstohaveintegercoordinates:eitherhitControl-Shift-_(underscore),orchooseToIntfromthe"Element"->"Round"menu.Finally,openthe"Findproblems"tool,selecttheOpenpathstestasdescribedabove,andalsoselectallofthetestsinthe"Refs"tab.

Afteryoucanrunthesetestswithouterrors,youwillthenneedtoconvertyourpathstoquadraticcurves.Openthe"FontInfo"windowfromthe"Element"menu.Clickonthe"Layers"tab,andchecktheAlllayersquadraticoption.ClickOKatthebottomofthewindow,andyouarereadytogenerateTrueTypeoutput.

Buildingthefontfiles

OpentheGenerateFontswindowbychoosingitfromthe"File"menu.Thetophalfofthewindowshowsthefamiliarfile-chooseroptions—alistofthefilesfoundinthecurrentdirectory,atext-entryboxforyoutoenterafilename,andbuttonstonavigatetootherfoldersanddirectoriesifnecessary.Thisisstrictlyameanstohelpyouquicklyfindtherightplacetosaveyouroutputfile,ortochooseanexistingfontfileifyouintendtooverwriteaprevioussave.Alloftheoptionsyouneedtolookatarefoundinthebottomhalfofthewindow.

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Ontheleft-handsideisapull-downmenufromwhichyouselecttheformatofthefontyouwishtogenerate.YoushouldchooseeitherTrueTypeorOpenType(CFF),asdiscussedearlier.Ontheright-handside,makesureNoBitmapFontsisselected.Onthelinebelow,makesureNoRenameisselectedforthe"Forceglyphnamesto:"option.Youcancheckthe"ValidateBeforeSaving"optionifyouwish(topotentiallycatchadditionalerrors),butthisisoptional.Leavethe"AppendaFONTLOGentry"and"Prependtimestamp"optionsunchecked.

Clickthe"Generate"button,andFontForgewillbuildyourfontfile.Youcanloadthefontinotherapplicationsandrunanytests,butwhenyouarereadytoreturntoediting,remembertore-openthesavedversionofyourfontthatyoucreatedbeforegeneratingyour.ttfor.otfoutput.

GeneratingforfinalreleaseDesigningyourfontisaniterativeprocess,buteventuallythedaywhencomewhenyoumustdeclareyourfontfinished—oratleastreadyforpublicconsumption.Atthatpoint,youwillagaingeneratea.ttfor.otfoutputfile(perhapsevenboth),butbeforedoingsoyouwillneedtoworkthroughafewadditionalstepstocreatethemoststandards-compliantanduser-friendlyversionofyourfontfile.

First,followthesamepreparationstepsoutlinedinthesectiononquickanddirtygenerationfortestingpurposes.Inparticular,remembertochangeyourfonttoAlllayersquadraticifyouarecreatingaTrueTypefile.

Removeoverlaps

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Asyouknow,itisagoodideatokeepyourletter-formsascombinationsofdiscretecomponentsasyoudesign:stems,bowls,serifs,andotherpiecesofeachglyph.Butalthoughthistechniqueisgreatfordesigningandrefiningforms,youwantyourfinal,publishedfonttohavesimpleoutlinesofeachglyphinstead.Thisreducesfilesizeabit,butmoreimportantlyitcutsdownonrenderingerrors.

FontForgehasaRemoveOverlapcommandthatwillautomaticallycombinetheseparatecomponentsofaglyphintoasingleoutline.Selectaglyph(orevenselectallglyphswithControl-A),thenhitControl-Shift-OorchooseRemoveOverlapfromthe"Element"->"Overlap"menu.Onecaveatisworthwatchingoutfor,however:FontForgecannotmergeshapesifoneoftheshapesistracedinthewrongdirection(thatis,iftheoutermostpathiscounterclockwise).Apathtracedinthewrongdirectionisanerrorofitsown,though,whichyoushouldfixanyway.

Simplifycontoursandaddextremapoints

Youshouldalsosimplifyyourglyphswherepossible—noteliminatingdetails,buteliminatingredundantpoints.Thisreducesfilessizeslightlyforeveryglyph,whichaddsupconsiderablyovertheentiresetofcharactersinthefont.

Fromthe"Element"menu,choose"Simplify"->Simplify(orhitControl-Shift-M).Thiscommandwillmergeawayredundanton-curvepointsinalloftheselectedglyphs.Insomecases,therewillbeonlyafewpointsremoved,inotherstheremaybemany.Butitshouldperformthesimplificationwithoutnoticeablychangingtheshapeofanyglyphs.IfyounoticeaparticularglyphthatisalteredtoomuchbySimplify,feelfreetoundotheoperation.YoucanalsoexperimentwiththeSimplifyMorecommandalsolocatedinthesamemenu;itofferstweakableparametersthatcouldprovehelpful.

Inanyevent,afteryouhavecompletedthesimplificationstep,youwillneedtoaddanymissingextremapoints.ChooseAddExtremafromthe"Element"menu(orhitControl-Shift-X).Asdiscussedearlier,itisagoodideatoplaceon-curvepointsattheextremaofeveryglyphasyouedit.Nevertheless,youmuststillperformthisstepwhenpreparingforfinaloutputgenerationbecausetheSimplifystepwilloccasionallyremoveanextremapoint.

Roundeverythingtointegercoordinates

Thefinalpreparationsteptoperformistoroundallpoints(bothon-curvepointsandcontrolpoints)tointegercoordinates.ThisismandatoryforgeneratingTrueTypeoutput,butishighlyrecommendedforOpenTypeoutputaswell.Itcanresultinsharperrenderingandbettergrid-fittingwhenthefontsaredisplayed,withoutanyadditionaldesignwork.

Toroundallpointstointegercoordinates,choose"Element"->"Round"->ToInt.

Assoonasthisoperationiscompleted,youmaynoticesomethingpuzzling.Sometimes,simplyduetothepeculiaritiesofthecurvesinvolved,theprocessesofroundingtointegercoordinates,simplifyingglyphs,andaddingmissingextremacanworkagainsteachother.Anexampleofwhenthismightoccuriswhenacurvedouteredgehasacontrolpointthatliesjustpastthehorizontalorvertical;inthissituationroundingittointegercoordinatescanshiftthecurveslightlyandchangewheretheextremalies.

Thereisnotaone-shotsolutiontothisconundrum;theonlyguaranteedfixistorepeatthecycleofstepsfortheaffectedglyphsuntiltheystabilizeatapointwherethethreeoperationsnolongerinterferewitheachother.Thismaytakemultiplecycles,butitisarareoccurrence.

Validate

Yourfontshouldpasstherequiredvalidationtestsbeforeyougenerateyourfinaloutput.Aswiththerounding-points-to-integer-coordinatesstep,though,sometimestheotherpreparatoryoperationscanintroduceerrors,soitisalwaysagoodideatorunthewhole-fontvalidatoratthisstagebeforebuildingthefinaloutput.ThechapteronFontForge'svalidationtoolswillgiveyoumoredetailonwhattocheck.

Awordabouthinting

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Hintingreferstotheuseofmathematicalinstructionstorenderthevectorcurvesinafontinsuchawaythattheylineupnicelywiththepixelgridoftherasterizedoutputdevice(whetherthatgridiscomposedofdotsofinkortoneronpaper,orluminescentdotsonacomputermonitor).

FontForgeallowsyoutohintyourfont(andevenprovidesanAutohintfunction),butinpracticethisstepisnotstrictlynecessary.Modernoperatingsystemsoftenhavebettergrid-fittingfunctionalitybuiltintotheirtextrenderingenginesthanyoucancreateyourselfwithoutexpendingconsiderabletimeandeffort.Infact,MacOSXandLinuxbothignoreanyhintsembeddedinthefontfileitself.IfyoudodecideyourfontneedshintingforthebenefitofWindowsusers,yourbestbetistobuildthefontwithoutembeddedhints,thenuseaspecializedapplicationsuchasttfautohinttoaddhintingafterthefact.

ForCFFhinting,seethisvideofromAdobeatRoboThon.

TosetthePShintingwithPythonispossible:privateisalistoftuples(ThanksSungsit!)

font.private['BlueValues']=(-20,0,600,620,780,800,810,830)

font.private['OtherBlues']=(-225,-210)

font.private['StdHW']=100,

font.private['StdVW']=137,

Checkyourmetadata

Lastbutcertainlynotleast,onceyourfonthasbeenthoroughlypreparedtechnicallyforexport,youshouldpauseandupdatethefontmetadata,makingsurethatimportantmetadatainformationisincluded,andthatitisuptodate.

First,ifthisistheinitialreleaseofyourfont,opentheFontInfodialogfromthe"Element"window,andselectthe"PSNames"tab.Fillinthefont'sFamilyNameandWeightfirst,thencopythatinformationintothe"NameforHumans"box.Althoughusingversionnumbersisnotrequired,itisextremelyhelpfulforyouasadesignertodifferentiatebetweendifferentrevisionsofyourwork.Enter"1.0"asthe"Version"numberifyouarenotsure.Next,visitthe"TTFNames"tabandenterthesameinformation.

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Asisthecasewithversionnumbers,itishelpfulinthelongrunforyoutomakelogentriesforeachrevision.Gotothe"FONTLOG"tabandwriteabriefsentenceortwoexplainingwhatchangesifanyhavegoneintotherevisionthatyouarebuildingforrelease.Ifthisisyourinitiallogentry,youshouldalsodescribeyourfontanditspurposeinasentenceortwo.

Fonts,likeallcreativeworks,needtohavealicense,souserswillknowwhattheyareandarenotallowedtodo.FontForgehasabuttoninthe"TTFNmes"tablabelled"AddSILOpenFontLicense."TheOpenFontLicense(OFL)isafontlicensedesignedtoallowyoutoshareyourfontwiththepublicwithveryfewrestrictionsonhowwhereitisused,whilestillprotectingyouasthedesignerfromhavingotherstakecreditforyourworkorcreativederivativesofyourfontthatwillbeconfusedfortheoriginal.Clickingthebuttonwilladd"License"and"LicenseURL"stringstotheTTFNamesmetadata.IfyouhaveanotherlicenseyouwouldprefertouseinsteadoftheOFL,enteritinthe"License"fieldinstead.

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Ifyouhavemadesignificantchangestootherfeaturesofyourfont,itisagoodideatodouble-checktheotherfont-widesettingsintheFontInfowindow,andmakesureeverythingisstilluptodate.Linespacinginformation,forexample,isfoundinthe"OS/2"tabunder"Metrics."

Buildingthefontfiles

Theprocessforgeneratingthefontoutputfilesisthesamewhenyouarebuildingthefinalreleaseasitiswhenyouarebuildingaquick-and-dirtycopyfortesting,butyouwillwanttopaycloserattentiontosomeoftheoptions.

OpentheGenerateFontswindowbychoosingitfromthe"File"menu.Again,thetophalfofthewindowallowsyoutochoosethedirectoryandfilenametogivetoyouroutputfile—justbecarefulthatyoudonotoverwriteaprevioussave.

Intheleft-handsidepull-downmenu,selecttheformatofthefontyouaregenerating,eitherTrueTypeorOpenType(CFF),asdiscussedearlier.Ontheright-handside,makesureNoBitmapFontsisselected.Onthelinebelow,makesureNoRenameisselectedforthe"Forceglyphnamesto:"option.Youcancheckthe"ValidateBeforeSaving"optionifyouwish(topotentiallycatchadditionalerrors),butthisisoptional.Leavethe"AppendaFONTLOGentry"and"Prependtimestamp"optionsunchecked.

Next,clickonthe"Options"button.SelectthePSGlyphNames,OpenType,andDummyDSIGoptionsinthewindowthatpopsup,anddeselecteverythingelse.

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Clickthe"Generate"button,andFontForgewillbuildyourfontfile.Onefinalord:itisimportantnottooverwritethesavedversionofyourFontForgeworkwiththemodificationsyoumadeinthissectionsolelytogenerateyour.ttfor.otfoutput.Forexample,youlosealotofindividualglyphcomponentswhenyouperformtheRemoveoverlapsoperation.Butthenexttimeyouresumeworkonyourfont,youwilldefinitelywanttopickupwhereyouleftoffintheoriginal,individual-glyph-component-filledversion.

Consequently,ifyoudecidetosavethemodifiedversionofyourFontForgefile,besurethatyourenameitinamemorableway,suchasMyFont-TTF.sfdorMyFont-OTF.sfd.Butyoudonotnecessarilyneedtosavetheseoutput-orientedvariationsofyourfileatall—inpractice,thenexttimeyoureviseyouroriginalworkinFontForge,youwillworkthroughtheoutputpreparationstepsagainanyway.

Congratulationsareinorder!Youhavenowcreatedyourfirstfont.Allthatremainsnowisforyoutoshareyourwork:uploadittotheweb,postittoyourblog,andgotellyourfriends.

Withoutdoubt,youwillbebackandcontinuerevisingandrefiningyourtypeface—afterall,asyouhaveseen,fontdesignisahighlyiterativeprocess.Butbesurethatyoupauseandtakethismomenttoenjoywhatyouhaveaccomplishedfirst.

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WhenThingsGoWrongWithFontforgeItself

FontForgeisdevelopedonGithub.TheFontForgeteamusesGithubIssuestodiscussproblems,errorsandideasforimprovements,andthensomeonedevelopsasolutionandproposesitasaPullRequest.

TolearnmoreaboutGithub,checkoutGoodResourcesforLearningGitandGitHub

PayingforSupportThismightbeasurprise,butitisbothpossible,andencouragedtopayforFontForgesupportwhenthingsgowrong.

WhenotherfonteditorswithsimilarcomprehensivefeaturescosthundredsofUSDollars,ifweeachpayasimilaramounttoFontForgedeveloperstogetourmostannoyingbugsfixed,FontForgewillbecomebetterandbetter.

FreedomSponsors.orgoffersatransparentsystemforpayingFontForgedeveloperstofixissuesyoucareaboutinatimelyfashion.

1. CreateaFontForgeissuedescribingwhatyouwanttobechanged(seebelow.)CopytheURLoftheissuetotheclipboard.2. VisitFreedomSponsorsandsponsoranewissue,usingtheURLyoucopiedearlier.3. Revisittheissueandaddacommentwiththelinktothefreedomsponsorsissuepage,withapersonalnotethatyou're

offeringapaidbountyforthisissuetobeclosed

ReportABug1. VisittheFontForgeGithubIssueTrackerandsignintoGithub(aftercreatinganaccount,ifyoudon'thaveoneyet.)2. IntheIssuessearchboxtrysearchingforsimilarissues,toseeiftheproblemyouarefacingwasreportedalready.Ifitwas,

andyourissueisrelatedbutnotquitethesame,pleasecommentonthatissuewithyourowntakeontheissue.3. Ifitwasnotalreadyreported,openupanewissue.Clickthegreen"NewIssue"button,andthendescribeyourquestion,

whatyoudidtotriggeracrash,oryourideaforanimprovement.

Includerelevantdetails,suchas:

yourOperatingSystemandversion,yourFontForgeversionandwhereyougotitfrom,whathappens,stepbystep,toproducetheissuewhaterrormessagesyousee,whatyouexpecttohappen

Youcandraganddropscreenshotsorotherimagesdirectlyintotheissuepagetoincludethem

Aneasywaytoreportissuesistorecordascreencastvideoswhereyouexplaininanarratedvoiceoverthethingsyouareinterestedinastheyhappen,andthenuploadittoYouTubeandincludealinktoyourvideo

Toreproducetheissue,itcanhelpfultosharewiththedevelopercommunitythefilesyouareworkingwith.Ifyoucanmakeafilethatissmallandonlycontainswhatisneededtoreproducetheissue,pleaseforkthefontforgerepoandaddthesefilesto/tests/fontsandsubmitapullrequest.Youcanalsoplacefilesonyourownwebsiteorafilesharingservicetemporarily(suchasMegaUpload,DropBox,GoogleDrive,etc.)Finally,ifyoudonotwishtomakeyourfilespubliclyavailable,youcanprovideanemailaddressforaFontForgedevelopertocontactyouattogetaprivatecopyofthefile.

Pleasedon'tcloseotherpeople'sissues-askthemtoclosetheissueifitisclosedtotheirsatisfaction.

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HowToReportACrashTheprocessisjustthesameforreportingacrashorotherkindsofbugsasitisfornewfeaturesorquestions.SendingagoodcrashreporttotheFontForgedevelopersreallydoeshelpthemalottoimprovethestabilityoftheprogramforeverybody!Don’tfeelshyaboutreportingsuchissues,becauseacrashthatisn’treportedisacrashthatisfarlesslikelytobefixed.

IfyoufindFontForgecrashingwhilstinuse,createanissueasabove.Ifyouhaveaparticularfontfile(SFD,UFO,OTF,TTF,etc)thattriggersthecrash,youcaneitheruploadittoanewGithubrepositoryyourself(orDropboxorwhatever)andincludealink,orpostyouremailandaskadevelopertoemailyoutogetacopyprivately.

WithyourdescriptiontheFontForgesoftwaredeveloperswilltrytoreproducethecrash.Iftheycandothis,thentheywillbeabletoworkoutwherethecodeisgoingwrong,andcreateafix.

AfterthePullRequestthataddressestheissueismerged,you'llneedtogetaversionafterthat.Youcandooneofthefollowing:

recompilefromthelatestGithubsourcecode(SeeInstallingFontforge),checkifadailybuildisavailable(oftenpossibleforMacOSX),orwaituntilthenextrelease(oftenwithinafewweeks.)

TheBestCrashReports

Tohelpdevelopersfindoutwhatisgoingwrongandreallyunderstandhowtofixit,youcandoabitmoreworktomakeabacktrace.Abacktraceincludesalistofwhichprogramfunctionshavecalledwhichotheronestogettowheretheprogramhasstoppedworking.Abacktraceismostusefulifitalsocontainsthelinenumbersofthefunctions.

Tomakeabacktrace,youmayneedtoinstallfromsourcewithdebugginginformationincluded.Usethetypeandnmcommandstofindthepathandstatusofyourfontforgebinary.Example:

$type-allfontforge;

fontforgeis/usr/bin/fontforge

$nm/usr/bin/fontforge;

nm:/usr/bin/fontforge:nosymbols

$

Inthisexampleweseenosymbols,sowemustupdateourinstallationtoincludedebuginformation.

InstallDebuggingInformationonFedora

FedoraoffersinthestandardrepositoryacommandtoeasilyinstalldebugginginformationforFontForge.(Butnotethatthismightrequirehundredsofmegabytesofdownloadifyoudonotalreadyhavemanyofthedependentdebuginfopackagesinstalled.)Toinstallit,run:

debuginfo-installfontforge;

TODO:Explainhowtoincludedebuginformationfromcompiledsources

AbacktraceisgeneratedusingtheGNUProjectDebugger,gdb.YoucaneitherattachgdbtoanalreadyrunningFontForge,orstartFontForgeinsidethegdbsessionitself.Here'sanexampleofthelatter:

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$gdbfontforge;

GNUgdb(GDB)Fedora(7.3.50.20110722-16.fc16)

Copyright(C)2011FreeSoftwareFoundation,Inc.

LicenseGPLv3+:GNUGPLversion3orlater<http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>

Thisisfreesoftware:youarefreetochangeandredistributeit.

ThereisNOWARRANTY,totheextentpermittedbylaw.Type"showcopying"

and"showwarranty"fordetails.

ThisGDBwasconfiguredas"x86_64-redhat-linux-gnu".

Forbugreportinginstructions,pleasesee:

<http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/bugs/>...

Readingsymbolsfrom/usr/local/bin/fontforge...done.

Thenonceyouissuethedebuggertheruncommand,FontForgewillopenonscreen:

(gdb)run

Startingprogram:/usr/local/bin/fontforge

[Threaddebuggingusinglibthread_dbenabled]

Usinghostlibthread_dblibrary"/lib64/libthread_db.so.1".

Copyright(c)2000-2012byGeorgeWilliams.

Executablebasedonsourcesfrom14:57GMT31-Jul-2012-ML-TtfDb-D.

Librarybasedonsourcesfrom14:57GMT31-Jul-2012.

FromhereyoucanuseFontForgeintheusualway,butwiththeadvantageofbeingabletoeffectivelycaptureandreportanyissuesthatFontForgemayhave.

OnemajordifferencethatrunningFontForgeinsidegdbmakesishowacrashismadeapparent.Withoutgdb,whenFontForgecrashesitwilldisappearfromyourscreen.WhenyouarerunningFontForgeinsidegdbhowever,acrashedFontForgewillremainopenalongwithitswindowsanduserinterface.

Ifyoufindthatyourinterfaceisunresponsive,switchbacktotheterminalwhereyourangdbandyoumightseesomethinglikeSIGSEGVinthetextfollowedbythe(gdb)prompt.Ifyouseethe(gdb)promptthenFontForgeisnolongerexecuting.

Youcannow(finally!)usethebtcommandtogetabacktrace,andthenusethegdbquitcommandtoexitfromgdbandtoclosethecrashedFontForge.Hereisanexample:

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ProgramreceivedsignalSIGSEGV,Segmentationfault.

0x00007ffff74a7c01in??()from/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.

(gdb)bt

#00x00007ffff74a7c01in??()from/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6

#10x00007ffff6389a80incopy(str=0x900000008)atmemory.c:82

#20x00007ffff7a4aeb5inKCD_AutoKernAClass(kcd=kcd@entry=0xe80c40,index=2,is_first=is_first@entry=1)

atkernclass.c:236

#30x00007ffff7a51405inKCD_FinishEdit(g=0xeb0fe0,r=1,c=,wasnew=1)atkernclass.c:2020

#40x00007ffff5effe2dinGME_SetValue(gme=gme@entry=0xeb0fe0,g=0xe94760)atgmatrixedit.c:988

#50x00007ffff5f00554inGME_FinishEdit(gme=0xeb0fe0)atgmatrixedit.c:997

#60x00007ffff5f01c1ainGMatrixEditGet(g=g@entry=0xeb0fe0,rows=rows@entry=0x7fffffffcf78)

atgmatrixedit.c:2214

#70x00007ffff7a4ea3cinKCD_Expose(event=0x7fffffffd1e0,pixmap=0x83ae00,kcd=0xe80c40)

atkernclass.c:1446

#8kcd_e_h(gw=0x83ae00,event=0x7fffffffd1e0)atkernclass.c:1762

#90x00007ffff5eabe8fin_GWidget_Container_eh(gw=gw@entry=0xe7f040,event=event@entry=0x7fffffffd1e0)

atgcontainer.c:269

#100x00007ffff5eac385in_GWidget_TopLevel_eh(event=0x7fffffffd1e0,gw=0xe7f040)atgcontainer.c:734

#11_GWidget_TopLevel_eh(gw=0xe7f040,event=0x7fffffffd1e0)atgcontainer.c:606

#120x00007ffff5ef86ceinGXDrawRequestExpose(gw=0xe7f040,rect=0xef72b0,doclear=)

atgxdraw.c:2687

#130x00007ffff5eea075ingtextfield_focus(g=0xef72a0,event=0x7fffffffd2e0)atgtextfield.c:1888

#140x00007ffff5eaa857in_GWidget_IndicateFocusGadget(g=0xe94760,mf=mf@entry=mf_normal)

atgcontainer.c:143

#150x00007ffff5eaac97inGWidgetIndicateFocusGadget(g=)atgcontainer.c:155

#160x00007ffff5f02b1einGME_StrSmallEdit(event=0x7fffffffd670,str=0xe10e60"A",gme=0xeb0fe0)

atgmatrixedit.c:890

#17GMatrixEdit_StartSubGadgets(gme=gme@entry=0xeb0fe0,r=1,c=c@entry=0,event=event@entry=0x7fffffffd670)

atgmatrixedit.c:1472

#180x00007ffff5f03d69inGMatrixEdit_MouseEvent(event=0x7fffffffd670,gme=0xeb0fe0)atgmatrixedit.c:1499

#19matrixeditsub_e_h(gw=,event=0x7fffffffd670)atgmatrixedit.c:1735

#200x00007ffff5eabd98in_GWidget_Container_eh(gw=0xeeb2e0,event=0x7fffffffd670)atgcontainer.c:393

#210x00007ffff5ef6555indispatchEvent(gdisp=gdisp@entry=0x769a50,event=event@entry=0x7fffffffd9b0)

atgxdraw.c:3475

#220x00007ffff5ef7d1einGXDrawEventLoop(gd=0x769a50)atgxdraw.c:3574

#230x00007ffff7ad353ainfontforge_main(argc=,argv=)atstartui.c:1196

#240x00007ffff736676din__libc_start_main()from/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6

#250x00000000004006e1in_start()

(gdb)quit

Adebuggingsessionisactive.

Inferior1[process19196]willbekilled.

Quitanyway?(yorn)y

AdevelopercanseeinthisexamplebacktracethatFontForgehascrashedinsidethecopy()function.Thecopy()functionwasitselfcalledfromtheKCD_AutoKernAClassfunction.Thebacktracewilltellasoftwaredevelopertheexactlinesthesecallsweremade,andalsousethetipthattheparameterpassedtocopy()wasinvalid(outofbounds)toworkoutwhatthecodeisdoingwrong.

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DesigningDevanagariTypefaces

ThankstoAdamTwardoch,ErinMcLaughlin,NeelakashKshetrimayum,DanReynolds,PoojaSaxena,DrGirishDalviforcontributingmanyoftheideasonthispage

DesigninganewandoriginalDevanagaritypefacefollowsaprocessmuchliketheprocessforanewandoriginalLatin.Theuniquebenefitoflibreinlibrefontsisthatyoucanmodifyandreusethemfornewpurposesthattheirinitialcreatorsneverthoughtof-forexample,designingaDevanagariandadaptinganexistingLatinfonttogowithit.

DevanagariGlyphsDevanagarifontscontainthesedifferenttypesofglyphs:

consonants(36)independentvowels(28)vowelmaatraswordspace(s)Devanagarinumerals(10)Latinnumerals(new,orifalreadypresentthenadjustedtoworkwithinpureDevanagaritext)nuktacompositeshalf-formsconjuncts(uniqueligatureglyphs)"I"vowelmaatrasofdifferinglengthsDevanagaripunctuation,marks,andsymbolsLatinpunctuation,marks,andsymbols(new,oradjustedifalreadypresent)Latinletters

ConsulttheUnicodeChapter12onIndianScripts,(DevanagariUnicodepage),aswellasthe(MicrosoftDevanagariOpenTypeFontDevelopmentpage)tolearnmoreabouttheseglyphsandhowtheIndicshapingengineworks.

Itishelpfultodosomecalligraphyorcloselystudywritingmanualstolearnhowthescriptworks,soyouunderstandwhichlettersshouldbelikewhichotherlettersinstructure.These2pagesfromAksharaya'sDevanagaricalligraphyManualcanbeusedasareferenceforpenangleandletterproportions.

WhatToDoFirstWhendesigningaDevanagariandLatintypeface,itsimportanttostartbydrawtheLatinalongsidetheDevanagari.Intheearlieststagesaredesigningthe"key"glyphs,toestablishthepersonalityofthetypefacethroughfundamentalshapesandspacing(whichinLatinmaybe'adhesion'or'videospan'.)Designthelowestandhighest"heightextremes"glyphsearlyintheprocess.

You'llneedplentyofvowelsignstobegintestingtextureandscale.

TheprofessoroftypographyatIITBombay,DrGirishDalvi,wroteinhisPhDthesis,

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ThroughtheresultsofthisstudywecandeducethatthetenlettersअइएखतभदधथषcanalmostcapturealltheformalpropertiesofremainingDevanagariletters.Withintheselettersthelettersअइखभदधषaremostcriticalastheydefinefeaturesforthemajorityoftheletters.Wecanhencesuggestthatbydesigningtheselettersfirst;theprocessofDevanagarifontdesigncanbesimplifiedforstudentswellastypedesignersastheremainingletterscanbederivedfromtheseones.

ErinMcLaughlinsuggestedtheseglyphsasaninitialprogression:पाव+िकमीनफूु+भरसगदह+मोड्डू(heightextremes)+यथधआछड…continuecharactersetandsuggestedtofocusonthe"Au"vowelsign+reph+anusvaracombo!,theMaisjustthereforposterity.

Theheightextremesglyphsallowyoutodeterminetheverticalmetrics,andhowtoscalethetwowritingsystemstoworktogether.Adobepublishesverylargetypefamiliesthatcoververydifferentorthographies.Thesearesplitintofamilieswithsharedgeneralproportions;MyriadProhasLatin,GreekandCyrillic,buttheHebrewandArabicdesignsarepackagedasseparatefamilieswhichincludemodifiedLatins.

HereisMyriadProLatinandMyriadArabicjuxtaposed:

(SpotAdobe'sdesignersneatdecision:thecapheightoftheLatininMyriadArabicisthexheightoftheMyriadProLatin.)

NotethatintheLohitcharacterset,thelowestglyphsareforms,meanttogobelowcharactersthatdescendveryfarbelowthebaseline:

(Vattuisthebelow-baseformofreph.SeetheMicrosoftterminologypageformoredetails)

Ideally,theseshouldstackbelowyourlowestvertically-stackingconjunct,liketheexampleontheleft(Lohit,whichdoesn'tquiteverticallyfit,isontheright):

SpacingapproachDesigningLatinfontstypicallyinvolvesaseriesofspacingstringslikethis:

HHxHOHOxOOnnXnonoXoo

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WheretheXrepresentstheletteryouarefocusedonspacing,andtheconceptislookingatthisletternexttoasomewhatflat-sidedcharacterandaroundcharacter.

Pa,andVaorDaareDevanagariequivalents:

पपXपवपवXववपपXपदपदXदद

Whenjustbeginningaproject,startwithfillingapageentirelywithPainordertogettherightbalanceofstrokethickness,countersize,andspacing.

पपपपपपपपपपपपपपपपपपपपप

OncethePahastheright"color",youcanbeginaddingtheseotherbasic,commoncharacters:

पपपवपपपपपवपववपपव(va,randomized)पपपापपपपापपाप(Aamaatra,randomized)पपपदपपपपपदपददपपद(da,randomized)

Then,youcanbeginusingthespacingstringsshownabove,inordertoaddmoreglyphs:

पपरपदपदरददपपकपदपदकददपपलपदपदलददपपपीपदपदपीदद

andsoon!

You'llwanttolookattheseinalonglistlikethat,soyoucancomparefromoneglyphtoanother,asyouscrolldownward-bothonscreenandinprint.Doingaverticalcheckismoreeffectivethanjustalonglineofcontinuoustext.Here'swhy:

Whenyoulookatthespacingstringsinverticalcolumns,youcaneasilycomparethespacingwiththelinespreviouslyaboveandbelowthecurrentcharacter.Inthesamewaythatwecaneasilyrecognize"rivers"inbadly-setfull-justifiedtext,itwillbeeasiertoseewhitegapsordarkspotsinspacingifyouarecomparingagainstaspacingstringthatremainsconstant.

Thespacingstringaboveallowsyoutocompareverydisparateshapes,sothatspacingismoreeventhroughout(insteadofalloftheroundcharactersbeingtoolooseortootight)

Andthefourglyphsinthemiddle,Pa/Da/Pa/Daallowyoutocomparethetestedcharacteragainsttwosetsofthree,ifyoujustlookatPa/Da/PaorDa/Pa/Da.

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Afterdrawingandspacingahandfulofvowelsandconsonants,you'llbeabletomakealimitednumberofwordswithonlythoseletters,andbegintestingyourdesignwithrealtext.

WorkBreakdownStructureInanytypefacedesignproject,itsagreatideatosketchoutaWorkBreakdownStructure.

Forsomeoneveryexperienced,itispossibletodesigntheinitialLightandBoldweightsofaDevanagaritypefaceinaround4-6months.

Hereisasamplescheduleforaninterpolatedfamilyof9weights,uprightandslanted,ofasomewhatsimple'sans'design,byaveryexperienceddesigner:

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Week Goal Glyphs

1 Establishdesignin7-10keyglyphs 10

2 Refine,designtallestglyphs,matchheightsandweightstoLatininRegular&Bold,testscreenrenderingwithttfautohint 20

3 Refineproportionswithnativereaderfeedback 40

4 Getnativereaderfeedback,refineandaddmoreconjuncts 100

5 Getnativereaderfeedback,refineandaddmoreconjuncts 200

6 Getnativereaderfeedback,refineandaddmoreconjuncts 300

7 Getnativereaderfeedback,refineandaddmoreconjuncts 400

8 Getnativereaderfeedback,refineandaddmoreconjuncts 500

9 Getnativereaderfeedback,refineandaddmoreconjuncts 600

10 Getnativereaderfeedback,refineandaddmoreconjuncts 700

11 Getnativereaderfeedback,refineandaddmoreconjuncts 800

12 Getnativereaderfeedback,refineandaddmoreconjuncts 900

13 DeriveBold 1,800

14 Refinements,Kerning,testingwithnativereaderfeedback 1,800

15 Extrapolationandclean-upofThinandBlackweights,generationandclean-upofslantedstyles 3,600

16 Interpolatedstylesrefinement 3,600

17 Generalrefinementofspacing,kerning&testinginallstyles 3,600

18 Finalisation 3,600

Youmaywanttoworkwithafontthathasnosourcesavailable,onlybinaryOpenTypeGPOS/GSUBtables.ThereareafewtoolsthatcanconvertthoseintotheAdobeFEAsyntax,includingFontForge,buttheoutputofeachtoolwillrequirereworkingbyhand.

TheAdobeFDKcontainsa'spot'tool,thatcanbeusedlikethis:

spot-tGSUB=7Font.otf>GSUB.fea

Thenotoprojecthasadump_otl.py

The'FontlabStudio'and'OpenTypeMaster'proprietaryapplicationhaveconverterstoo.

UsefulResources

Introductions

http://www.linotype.com/6896/devanagari.html

Wheretolookforinspirationandideas

LookattheDevanagarifontsonthehttp://indiantypefoundry.comwebsite,andthosethatwerejustreleasedthroughGoogleFonts,forinspirationonshapesofletterscanvary.

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AnothergoodplacetosearchforHindi“e-paper”newspapersitestoseeactualfonts-in-use-advertisementsusuallyhavemorediversityinfonts.http://epaper.jagran.comisaverylargelycirculatedIndiane-paper.

Flickrisalsoagoodsourceofideasforimagery:

https://www.flickr.com/groups/devanagari-script/https://www.flickr.com/groups/37703106@N00/https://www.flickr.com/groups/indicscripts/https://www.flickr.com/photos/pauldhunt/sets/72157603715699186

Historicalsources

GetyourhandsoncopiesofIntroductiontotheDevanagariScriptbyH.M.Lambert,OxfordUniversityPress1953andTypographyofDevanagari(threevolumes)byB.S.Naik,DirectorateofLanguages,Bombay1971.

Beyondthat,thereareatleasttwogeneralsourcesof19thCenturytypefromEuropeworthlookingat:thetypefacesfromBritainandthosefromGermany(mostlyfromLeipzig).ThesetypeswereusedmoreforthesettingofSanskrittextsthanforHinditexts.

Doalsotrytofindsamplesof19thand20thC.texttypefacesfromIndiantypefoundries.TheyaresignificantlylessEuropeanized,asyoumightexpect.ThereiswonkystuffgoingoninEuropeanacademicsanskriticfacesfromthe19thcenturythatdoesn’tseemtoappearin20thcenturyIndiantypographyatall.TheseIndiansourcesareprobablymoredifficulttofindinWesternlibraries,butperhapsErinMcLaughlinhasmoreleads.MatthewCarter’s1970sLinotypeDevanagariisbasedontypefacesfromtheNirnayaSagarfoundry,forinstance.Samplesoftheirtypes,andtheBombayTypeFoundry’stypes,shouldbeaccessibleinsomewesternuniversityand/ornationallibraries.I’dalsorecommendlookingatMonotype’sDevanagariandLinotypeDevanagari(the1970sversionand1980/90supdate,nottheoriginal1935one,whichonlyborethesamename).

ThereisnoDevanagaritypeinTypefoundersinTheNetherlands(CharlesEnschede,HarryCarter1978).Whateveryoudo,don’tlookatBodoni’stypesfromhis1818manual.

SomeGerman-madeDevanagaritypefromH.BertholdAGmaybeseeninAlphabeteundSchriftzeichendesMorgen-unddesAbendlandes,fromtheReichsdruckerei,Berlin1924,p.45–47.

Articles

SarangKulkarniwrote"IssueswithDevanagariDisplayType(PDF)"

YashodeepGholapwroteDesigningaDevanāgarītextfontfornewspaperuse(PDF)

VaibhavSingh'sMATDdisertation,Devanagariinmulti-scripttypography

Lohit2Devanagari

Lohit2DevanagaricanbeusedasabasefornewOFLfontsbyusingitsGlyphListandOpenTypeLayoutcode.ItisavailableasoriginalFontForgesourcesorasaUFOzipdownload

OpenTypeLayout

MicrosoftDevanagariOpenTypeFontDevelopmentpage

DevanagariAnatomy

TDILDevanagariScriptGrammar(PDF)

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2pagesfromAksharaya'sDevanagaricalligraphyManual,whichcanbeusedasareferenceforpenangleandletterproportions.

ProfessorGirishDavliofIITBombayIDC(comparabletotheUSA'sMITMediaLab)publishedthisDevanagariAnatomyarticle(PDF)

Ifyou'renewtoDevanagariscript,it'simportanttobecomeawareoftraditionalcalligraphicpenstress,whichisdifferentthaninLatin.Here'saquickdemonstrationofthestrokeangle,andhowcurvesweretraditionallyweighted.Yourdesignwillbemoresuccessful,andappearless"Latinized",ifyoudrawyourcurvesaccordingtotheseweightprinciples,ratherthancutting-and-pastingLatinalphabetletterparts.

TheDevanagariUnicodepageshowsthebasicletters,butnottheconjuncts

TestingTools

AdobeInDesign'ssupportforOpenTypeFontsfornon-EuropeanscriptsonlybecamereliablewithCreativeCloud,andtheWorldReadyComposerparagraphoptionmustbeenabled;eventhelatestversioncanbeimproved.ThelibreharfbuzzandMicrosoftOpenTypeimplementationsarethemostcomplete,soyoushouldtestyourfontsinthelatestversionsofChrome,FirefoxandMicrosoftWord,onbothWindowsandMacOSX,toensureerrorsinshapingareduetothefontsandnottheunderlyingengine.

PabloImpallari'sDevanagariTestingPage(withsourcesongithub!)providessomeready-madetestinglayouts,andyoucandraganddropyourOTForTTFrightintothepagetoloadit.

PoojaSaxena'sTypeTools(withsourcesongithub!)generatestesttextsforlettercombinations.

TheAdhesionTextDevanagariisaspecialversionoftheatoolbuiltbyMiguelSousatomakedummytextcomprisedonlyofthewordspossibletowritewiththeglyphsyouhavealreadydrawn.Inserttheglyphs(अआईईउऊetc)thatyou'vedrawn,andoutwillcomesomesamplewordsforyoutouseinproofs.

TheHuertaTipografica'sDevanaguideisanopensourcetooltoseeandcomparedifferentdevanagarifonts.Italsoallowsyoutotypeatextandpreviewitinallthefontsatthesametime.TheDevanaguidealsoincludesaDevanagariwordlistwhichishelpfulfortesttextdesign.

OtherLinks

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Books&ReferencesforDevanagaritypographyProjectsisalistofresourceswhichwillprobablyfulfillmostoftheresearchrequirementsofmostprojects.CompiledbyProfessorGirishDavliofIITBombayIDC.

ForumDiscussions

Typophile

AdobeDevanagari

GoogleFontsDirectoryDiscuss

Anoteonconventionsfortheplacementofshoulderline,descenders,ascendersandsoforthinrelationtothelatin?StartingfromLohit2andpdfAdobeGlyphListsrVocalicandrrVocalicDevanagariCharacterPriorities

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ImportingGlyphsfromOtherPrograms

Itispossibletodrawglyphsinageneralpurposeillustrationapplication(Inkscape,AdobeIllustrator,etc)andimportthemasEPSorSVG.

Hand-codedSVG

Howtoprepare

TheSVGfiledoesneedviewBox="0010001000"

Widthactuallydoesn'tmatter,aslongasitiswiderthanyourglyph.Buttheheightat1000isimportantforeasiestimport.

y=0willbetheascenderlineandy=1000willbethedescenderline.

(Theremaybeafewglyphsthatgobeyondthoselines,perhapsFontForgewilldotherightthingbutwehaven'ttestedit.)

BydefaultFontForgewillsetupyourbaselineaty=800.IntheFontForgecoordinatesystem,thebaselineisattheir0pointontheirverticalaccess.

TosetthebaselinewhereyouwantitinFontForge,taketheycoordinateforyourbaselineinSVG.ThatwillbetheFontForgeverticalpointfortheascenderlineintheircoordinatesystem.(1000-y)forthedescender.GotoElement,FontInfoandintheGeneralmenu,placetheascendervalueinthe"Ascent"inputandthedecenderinthe"Descent"menu.Bothwillbepositive.TheEmSizeshouldremainat1000(asthatistheheightinSVGunits)

Whendrawingtheglyph,Iliketouserelativecoordinates.SoIstarttheglyphwith<pathd="MXvalue,Yvalue.IfIcandrawtheglyphstartingatapointallthewayontheleft,thenXValuewillbethedefaultLeftBearingthatFontForgeuses.Youcanadjustthateasilyafterglyphimportandmayneedtoanywayaftertestingthefont.TheYvalue,whenIcanstartdrawingfromthebaseline,it'snicetousethatbaselinevalueforYvalue.

Alwaysfinishthepathdattributewithaz.Itwillimportwithoutit,buttheglyphwon'tdisplayrightinthemainwindowuntilyourestartfontforgeifyouforgettoputazafterthelastpointinthepath.

Whendrawingholes(likeforletterP)don'tstartanewpathnode,justuseazatendofthefirstpathandstartnewwithmNewX,NewYtothenstartdrawingthehole.Usetheattributefill-rule="evenodd"forthepathanditwillworkright.

Workflow

UseawebbrowsertorendertheSVGyouareworkingon.Youcanuseafilecalled"template.svg"thatis1200by1200butrendersat800by800sothatitdoesn'tscrollinthebrowserwindow.

Inthattemplate,drawguidelinesaty=100,y=1100,y=(100+{baseline,capheight,etc.},x=100,x=1100

ThenimporttheSVGglyphyouareworkingonintothatdocumentwith<imagexlink:href="LC_p.svg"x="100"y="100"width="1000"height="1000"/>

Youcannowhand-codeyouletterinonewindow,andrefreshthebrowserintheothertoseeitdrawnontopoftheguidelines.

CustomGlyphLists1. Createanamelist.txtfile,perhapsusingaspreadsheettolistunicodecodepointsandglyphnames.Forexample:

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0xEC00octDotDhe

0xEC01octDotDheDbl

0xEC02octDotDheTrpl

0xEC03octDotDheQdrpl

0xEC04octDotLik

0xEC05octDotLikDbl

0xEC06octDotLikTrpl

0xEC07minirLik

0xEC08minirDhe

0xEC09minirBawah

0xEC0AsoroganDhe

0x-001soroganLik

ForglyphswithoutaUnicodepoint,useacodepointof-1,suchasinthelastlineoftheaboveexample.

ThenloadFontForgeandgotoEncoding,LoadNameListandthenuseRenameglyphs(SinceLoadNameListonlyaddsthecustomnamelisttothesetofoptionsavailableinsubsequentrenamecommands.)

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AddingGlyphstoanArabicFont

IntroductionInsomecasesafontmaylackaglyphthatisessentialforitsuseinyourapplication.Arabicfontspresentspecialissueshere,becausetheshapeoftheglyphdependsnotonlyonitspositionintheword,butalsoontheattributesoftheletteritself.Thus(usingthenonsensesequencebabab),theletterbehhasthreedifferentshapesdependingonwhetheritcomesinitially,medially,orfinally.However(usingthenonsensesequencedadad),theletterdalhasonlyoneshape,nomatterwhereitoccursintheword.

Fontsunderopenlicenses(e.g.GPLorOFLallowtheusertomakemodifications.Ifyouadaptafontthatwasoriginallyunderanopenlicenceandthendistributeit,youmustretaintheoriginalauthor'scopyrightnoticesandlicensinginformation,althoughyoucanappendanoteattheendofthecopyrightnoticecoveringyourcontribution.

ThischapterwalksthroughaddingaglyphtoanArabicfont.ThefontwewilluseisGraph,andtheglyphwewilladdispeh(U+067E),whichdoesnotoccurinArabicitself,butdesignatespinsomelanguagesforwhichArabicscriptisused(forafulllistingoftheglyphsavailableforArabicscript,seetheUnicodecharts.

MakeaworkingcopyofthefontDownloadthefontfromthewebpageandunzipit.LaunchFontForgeandloadthefont.Saveitasansfdfile,editingthesuggestednametoreadGraphNew.sfdbeforesaving.

Renamethefont

WhyshouldIrenamethefont?

Ifyoudonotrenamethefont,youradaptedfontwillnotinstallseparatelyfromtheoriginal–youwillhavetouninstalltheoriginalfontfirst.Itisalsosensibletorenamethefontifyouaregoingtodistributeyouradaptations–iftheoriginalauthorofthefonthasreservedthefontnameundertheReservedFontName(RFN)mechanism,thatoriginalnamecanonlybeusedwiththeoriginalauthor'sversionofthefont.

Changethenamedata

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SelectElement→FontInfo,andinthePSNamespanel,changeFontname,FamilyName,andNameForHumanstoGraphNew.

Ifdesired,youcanplacean'Additionalglyphsaddedby'messageafterthetextalreadyintheentryforCopyright.

IntheTTFNamespanel,thenamesforFamilyandFullnamearetakenfromthePSNamesentries,andshouldalreadybeshowingGraphNew(youcannoteditthemdirectly).ChangetheentriesforPreferredFamilyandCompatibleFulltoGraphNew.Thesenamechangeswillnowallowyoutoinstallthisfontalongsidetheoriginaloneifyouwish.

Ifdesired,youcanplacean'Additionalglyphsaddedby'messageafterthetextalreadyintheentryforDesigner.

ClickOKtosavethesechanges.YouwillgetamessageaboutgeneratinganewUniqueID(XUID)forthefont–clickChange.

AddtheglyphfortheisolatedformofpehGototheArabicsectionofthefontchart:selectView→Goto,clickthedropdownboxandselectArabic,thenclickOK.

ClickingonacellinthefontchartwillshowitsUnicodenumberandnameinblueatthetopofthepanel.Gotoposition1662,whichwillshowinblueas1662(0x67e)U+067E``uni067E''ARABICLETTERPEH.ThecellbelowthereferenceglyphcontainsagreyX,showingthatthefontdoesnotincludethisglyph.

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Wewillmakepehbycopyingbeh(U+0628)andswappingitssingledotforthreedots.

Clickonthebehcell(position1576),thenright-clickandselectCopy.Thenright-clickonthepehcellandselectPaste.Nowthatbehisnowcopiedintothepehcell,thenextthingistochangethedot.

Findaglyphwiththreedots–sheen(position1588,U+0634)willdo.Double-clickonthecell–thiswillopenaglyphdesignpanel.PressVtoensurethepointertool(arrowhead)inthetoolboxisselected,andpressZandenlargethepaneltogiveyouagoodviewoftheglyph.

Clickanddragsothatthenodesofthethreedotsabovesheenchangecolourfrompinktobeige.Ifyouaccidentallyincludeoromitanode,deselectorselectitbypressingShiftandclicking.PressAlt+Ctocopy.

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Gobacktothefontchartanddouble-clickonthepehcell–thiswillloadpehintoanothertabintheglyphdesignpanel,alongsidethesheentab.

Clickanddragtohighlightthedotbelowpeh,thenpressDelete.PressAlt+Vtopasteinthethreedots,whichwilllikelyappearabovethebodyofpeh.Leavethedotnodeshighlightedsothatyoucaninvertandmovethemmoreeasily.

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Invertthedots:selectthefliptool(twotriangleswithareddashedlinebetweenthem)fromthetoolbox.(Alternatively,right-clickinthemiddleofthedots,andselectFliptheselectionfromthepopup.)Clickononeofthedotnodesanddragthemouseslightlyleftorright.

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Movetheinverteddots:pressVtoselectthepointertoolagain,clickononeofthedotnodes,anddragthemdownbelowthebodyoftheglyph.Positionthemcentrally,abovetheArabicBelowmark.

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Closetheglyphdesignpanel.Thereshouldnowbeanewglyphforpehinthefontchart.Savetheadaptedfont(File→Save).

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AddtheglyphsfortheconnectedformsofpehHowever,thisisonlytheisolated(standalone)formoftheglyph.Ifyoutrytouseyouradaptedfont,youwillfindthatinitial,medialandfinalformsarenotavailable.Thesehavetobecreatedseparately."The[se]formsarebuiltasunencodedglyphs(glyphswhoseencodingis-1inFontForgeconventions).Th[ey]havenopredefinedslots."(KhaledHosny)

SelectEncoding→AddEncodingSlotsandenterthenumberoftheglyphsyouwant–inthiscase3.FontForgewilladdthesamenumberofslotsattheveryendofthefont,andyouwillbemovedthereinthefontchart.Thelastthreecells(positions65537,65538,65539)haveaquestionmarkasareferenceglyph,anditisinthosecellsthatyouwilladdtheunencodedglyphsbyrepeatingtheprocessabove.

Notethatifbymistakeyoustarttypingwhenthefontchartstillhasfocus,yougetmovedtotheEuropeansectionatthetop.Togetbacktothebottom,select**View→Goto**,clickthedropdownboxandselect**NotaUnicodeCharacter**,andthenclick**OK**.

Createthefinalform

RollthefontchartupabituntilyoucometoasetofArabicglyphsatposition65152(U+FE80)onwards.AtU+FE90(position65168)youwillseeabehfinalglyph–clickonitandpressCtrl+Ctocopyit.Rolldowntothethirdlastcellinthechart(position65537),clickonit,andpressCtrl-Vtopasteinthebehfinalglyph.

Right-clickonthecellandselectGlyphInfo.Thenamingconventionistousethenumberoftheisolatedglyph+asuffixfortheform,sochangeGlyphNametouni067E.fina,andclickOK.Thequestionmarkinthereferencecellwillchangetopeh.

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Getthethreedots:double-clickonsheen(U+FEB5)toloaditintotheglyphdesignpanel,selectthethreedotsandpressCtrl+C.

Double-clickonthenewpehfinaltoloaditintotheglyphdesignpanel,clickanddragtohighlightthenodesofthedotandpressDelete.

Ctrl+Vtoinsertthethreedotsfromsheen,flipthem,andmovethemintopositionbelowtheglyphbody.PressCtrl+Stosavetherevisedfontchart.

Createtheinitialandmedialforms

CopytheinitialformU+FE91(position65169)tothepenultimatecell(position65538),deletethesingledotandpasteinthethreedots.

Right-clickthecell,selectGlyphInfo,changeGlyphNametouni067E.init,andclickOK.

CopythemedialformU+FE92(position65170)tothelastcell(position65539),deletethesingledotandpasteinthethreedots.

Right-clickthecell,selectGlyphInfo,changeGlyphNametouni067E.medi,andclickOK.

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SelectFile→Savetosavetherevisedfontchart.

AddthelookupsTheisolatedformhastobemapped(linked)toitsinitial,medialandfinalforms.

SelectElement→FontInfo→Lookups.

Clickonthe+besidetheentry'init'InitialFormsinArabiclookup2.Thiswillopenasubmenuofthesamename.Clickonthissubmenu.

TheEditDatabuttonontherightwillnowbecomeavailable–clickit.

IntheLookupSubtablepanelthatpopsup,ensurethattheUnicodebuttonischecked.Rollthelistofcharactersdownuntilyoucometotheend.

IntheboxbesideDefaultUsingSuffix,entertherelevantsuffix(inthiscase,init),andthenclickDefaultUsingSuffix.

Anewmappingwillbeaddedtothelistofcharacters,fromuni067E(theisolatedformofpeh)touni067E.init(theinitialform).ClickOK.

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Dothesameforthesubmenusundertheentries'medi'MedialFormsinArabiclookup2and'fina'TerminalFormsinArabiclookup2,choosingmediandfinaastherelevantsuffix.

ClickOKagaintoclosethepanel,andsavethefontchart(Ctrl+S).

NotethatDefaultUsingSuffixonlyseemstoworkonglyphsintheUnicode06(Arabic)block–glyphsinUnicode07(ArabicSupplement),e.g.ainwithtwodots,mayhavetobeaddedmanuallybyclickingthelinemarkedNewandtypinginthenames.

Generatetheadaptedfont

SelectFile→GenerateFonts.

InthedropdownshowingPSType1(Binary),selectTrueType,andcheckthatthefilenamereadsGraphNew.ttf.

Navigatetowhereyouwanttosavethefont,andthenclickGenerate.ClickYesandGeneratetothetwoinformationmessagesthatcomeup.

Youcanthenuseyournormalfontinstallationproceduretoinstalltheadaptedfont.Thenewglyphpehcanthenbeusedalongsidetheexistingglyphsinthesamenonsenseexamplesasatthebeginningofthischapter:

NotethatifyouareusingafontinLibreOfficeandmakechangestothatfont,youneedtorestartLibreOfficetohaveitseeanychanges–otherwiseitwillusethepreviousversionofthefont,andnottheonewiththenewchanges.

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ThankstoKhaledHosnyforhisadviceonusingFontForgetoeditArabicglyphs.

FurtherReadinghttp://lists.nongnu.org/archive/html/freetype-devel/2015-08/msg00016.htmlhasatipabouthowtodrawtheoverlappingpartsofArabicglyphs

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FurtherReading

VideosOpticalCompensationbyThomasPhinneyandFontLabTypeReviewVideosLato:TheMakingOf

Websites

OtherResourceLists

ThomasPhinney'sTypeDesignResources

CurveMath

http://pomax.github.io/bezierinfo/ExcellentguidetothemathofBeziercurveshttp://raph.levien.com/phdRaphLevien'sPhDonSpirocurves

Business

ILT:WhyDidIStartAFoundryILTLeonidasonTypefaceDesignpractice

Typography

Typekit:Practice

Latin

TheMyFontsFoundryGuidesarefantastic:foundry.myfonts.com/guides

FrereJones:TypefaceMechanics1FrereJones:TypefaceMechanics2Letter-by-lettertutorialsAdobe:DesigningMultipleMasterTypefacesUniversityofReadingTypeDesignIntensiveReviewOnTildeILT:OnDiacriticsTwardoch:PolishDiacriticsLogotype:QuoralogoVictorGaultney:LatinDiacritics

ILTExampleProjects:

Novel

FurtherReading

183

QuestaSindelarGTSectraFFTundraAcordeOdeBiomeVesper(alsoseegithub.com/motaitalic/vesper-libre

Greek

GreekTypefacesWorthStudying

Cyrillic

LearnCyrillicSerbianCyrillicBulgarianCyrillichttp://www.lettersoup.de/what-shall-be-done-for-bulgarian-cyrillic-loclbgr/ParatypeLanguageHelp-CyrillicencodingsCyrillicTypographyonFacebookhttp://luc.devroye.org/cyrillic.htmlTheATypICyrillicSIGmailinglist

Arabic

KhaledHosney'sFontForgeGuideExampleProject:ArabicZapfinoParachut:InterviewwithHasanAbuAfashArabicTypefacesWorthStudyingArabicTypeAnatomy

Hebrew

AdiStern'sMATDDissertation

Devanagari

MicrosoftSpecificationsforDevanagariFontsSouthAsiaLanguageResourceCenterTheUniversityofChicagoProfessorMahendraPatelDhruviToliaGraduationReportSanchitSawariaProject3DocumentYashodeepGholap-DesigningaDevanagaritextfontfornewspaperuseMustafaSaifee-DevanagariFontforOpticalCharacterRecognitionVaibhavSingh-Devanagariinmulti-scripttypographyVirtualKeyboards:lexilogosandbranah

Books

FurtherReading

184

UniversityofReadingMATypefaceDesignSummerReadingListhttp://www.type-library.comhasanextensivelistofbooks

Title:DetailinTypography(Paperback)

Author:JostHochuli(Author)

Title:ISBN:9780907259343

Title:AdrianFrutiger-Typefaces:TheCompleteWorks

Authors:HeidrunOsterer,PhilippStamm,SwissFoundationTypeandTypography

Title:ISBN:9783764385811

Title:PrintingTypes:TheirHistory,Forms,andUse:AStudyinSurvivals(withILLUSTRATIONS)

Author:D.BUpdike,DanielBerkeley(Authors)

Title:CreativeCharactersFormat:Flexibound

Author:JanMiddendorp(Editor)

Title:ISBN:9789063692247

Title:NowReadThis:TheMicrosoftCleartypecollection

Author:JohnD.Berry(Author)

Title:TheStroke:TheoryofWriting(Paperback)

Author:GerritNoordzij(Author)

Title:ISBN:9780907259305

Title:ShapingText:Type,TypographyandtheReader

Author:JanMiddendorp(Author)

Title:ISBN:9063692234

Title:ThinkingwithType:ACriticalGuideforDesigners,Writers,Editors,&Students(DesignBriefs)

Author:EllenLupton(Author)

Title:ISBN:9781568984483

FurtherReading

185

Title:LETTERSOFCREDIT:Aviewoftypedesign

Author:Tracy,Walter(Author)

Title:ISBN:0879236361/0-87923-636-1

Title:TheElementsOfTypographicStyle:Version3.1

Author:Bringhurst,Robert(Author)

Title:ISBN:0881792063/0-88179-206-3

Title:Type:TheSecretHistoryofLetters

Author:SimonLoxley(Author)

Title:ISBN:1845110285

Title:TypeDesigns

Author:AFJohnson(Author)

Title:Typography:Macro&Microaesthetics

Author:WillyKunz(Author)

Title:ISBN:3721203488

Title:Fontsandencodings

Author:YannisHaralambous(Author),PScottHorne(Translator)

Title:ISBN-10:0596102429|ISBN-13:978-0596102425

Title:TheUnicodeStandard,Version7.0.0

Author:TheUnicodeConsortium(Author)

ISBN:978-1-936213-09-2

FurtherReading

186

Glossary

A

Abjad

AbjadisthetechnicaltermforthetypeofwritingsystemusedbySemiticlanguages(Hebrew,Arabic,etc.),wherethereareglyphsforalltheconsonantsbutthereadermustbepreparedtoguesswhatvoweltoaddbetweentwoconsonants.

BothHebrewandArabichaveoptionalvowelmarksandarecalled"impure"abjads.AncientPhoenicianhadnothingbutconsonantsandisa"pure"abjad.

SeeAlso:alphabet,abugida,syllabaryandtherelevantWikipediaarticle.

Abugida

Anabugidaissomewhereinbetweenanalphabetandasyllabary.TheIndicwritingsystemsareprobablythebestknownabugidas.

Inmostabugidasthereareindependentglyphsfortheconsonants,andeachconsonantisimplicitlyfollowedbyadefaultvowelsound.Allvowelsotherthanthedefaultwillbemarkedbyeitherdiacriticsorsomeothermodificationtothebaseconsonant.

Anabugidadiffersfromasyllabaryinthatthereisacommonthemetotheimagesrepresentingasyllablebeginningwithagivenconsonant(thatis,theglyphfortheconsonant),whileinasyllabaryeachsyllableisdistincteveniftwostartwithacommonconsonant.

Anabugidadiffersfromanabjadinthatvowels(otherthanthedefault)mustbemarkedintheabugida.

SeeAlso:alphabet,abjad,syllabaryandtherelevantWikipediaarticle.

Accent

SeeDiacritics

AdvanceWidth

Thedistancebetweenthestartofthisglyphandthestartofthenextglyph.Sometimescalledtheglyph'swidth.SeealsoVerticalAdvanceWidth.

Alphabet

Awritingsystemwherethereareglyphsforallphonemes—consonantsandvowelsalike--and(intheoryanyway)allphonemesinawordwillbemarkedbyanappropriateglyph.

SeeAlso:abjad,abugida,syllabaryandtherelevantWikipediaarticle.

AppleAdvancedTypography

Glossary

187

Apple'sextensiontobasicTrueTypefonts.Includescontextualsubstitutions,ligatures,kerning,etc.Alsoincludesdistortablefonts.

Arm

Thepieceoftheletterrthathangsofftotheright.

Ascender

Astemonalowercaseletterwhichextendsabovethex-height."l"hasanascender.SeealsoX-height,Cap-height,Descender,Overshoot,Baseline

AnchorClass

Usedtospecifymark-to-baseandcursiveGPOSsubtables.

Ascent

Intraditionaltypographytheascentofafontwasthedistancefromthetopofablockoftypetothebaseline.

Itsprecisemeaninginmoderntypographyseemstovarywithdifferentdefiners.

ATSUI

Apple'sadvancedtypographicalsystem.AlsocalledAppleAdvancedTypography.

B

Baseline

Thebaselineisthehorizontallineonwhichthe(latin,greek,cyrillic)letterssit.Thebaselinewillprobablybeinadifferentplacefordifferentscripts.InIndicscriptsmostlettersdescendbelowthebaseline.InCJKscriptsthereisalsoaverticalbaselineusuallyinthemiddleoftheglyph.TheBASEandbslntablesallowyoutospecifyhowthebaselinesofdifferentscriptsshouldbealignedwithrespecttoeachother.

SeealsoX-height,Cap-height,Ascender,Descender,Overshoot

BéziercurveorBéziersplines

BéziercurvesaredescribedindetailintheBéziersectionofthemainmanual.

Bidi

Bi-Directionaltext.Thatisasectionoftextwhichcontainsbothleft-to-rightandright-to-leftscripts.EnglishtextquotingArabic,forexample.Thingsgetevenmorecomplexwithnestedquotations.TheUnicodestandardcontainsanalgorithmforlayingoutBiditext.Seealso:Boustrophedon.

Blackletter

Anyofvarioustypefamiliesbasedonmedievalhandwriting.

Glossary

188

Seealsogothic.

BMP(BasicMultilingualPlane)

Thefirst65536codepointsofUnicode.Thesecontainmostoftheordinarycharactersinthemodernworld.SeeAlso

SMP:SupplementaryMultilingualPlane(0x10000-0x1FFFF)SIP:SupplementaryIdeographicPlane(0x20000-0x2FFFF)SSP:SupplementarySpecial-purposePlane(0xE0000-0xEFFFF)

Bold

Acommonfontstyle.Thestemsoftheglyphsarewiderthaninthenormalfont,givingthelettersadarkerimpression.BoldisoneofthefewLGCstylesthattranslatereadilytootherscripts.

Bowl

Theroundpartoftheletter.

Bopomofo

A(modern~1911)Chinese(Mandarin)alphabetusedtoprovidephonetictransliterationofHanideographsindictionaries.

Boustrophedon

Writing"astheoxplows",thatisalternatingbetweenlefttorightandrighttoleftwritingdirections.Earlyalphabets(OldCanaanite,andtheveryearlygreekwritings(and,surprisingly,fuþark))usedthis.Oftentherighttoleftglyphswouldbemirrorsofthelefttorightones.AsfarasIknow,nomodernwritingsystemusesthismethod(nordoesOpenTypehaveanysupportforit).SeeAlsoBidi.

C

Cap-height

Theheightofacapitalletterabovethebaseline(aletterwithaflattoplike"I"asopposedtoonewithacurvedonelike"O").

SeealsoX-height,Ascender,Descender,Overshoot,Baseline

CFF

CompactFontFormatmostcommonlyusedwithinOpenTypepostscriptfonts,butisavalidfontformatevenwithoutaSFNTwrapper.ThisisthenativefontformatforfontswithPostScriptType2charstrings.

Character

AcharacterisaPlatonicidealreifiedintoatleastoneglyph.Forexampletheletter"s"isacharacterwhichisreifiedintoseveraldifferentglyphs:"S","s","s","ß",long-s,etc.Notethattheseglyphscanlookfairlydifferentfromeachother,howeveralthoughtheglyphforanintegralsignmightbethesameasthelong-sglyph,theseareinfactdifferentcharacters.

Characterset

Glossary

189

Acharactersetisanunorderedsetofcharacters.

CID

CharacterIdentifier,anumber.InsomeCJKPostScriptfontstheglyphsarenotnamedbutarereferredtobyaCIDnumber.

CID-keyedfont

APostScriptfontinwhichtheglyphsareindexedbyCIDandnotbyname.

CJK

Chinese,Japanese,Korean.Thesethreelanguagesrequirefontswithahugenumberofglyphs.AllthreeshareawritingsystembasedonChineseideographs(thoughtheyhaveundergoneseparateevolutionineachcountry,indeedmainlandChinesefontsaredifferentfromthoseusedinTaiwanandHongKong).

JapaneseandKoreanalsohavephoneticsyllabaries.TheJapanesehavetwosyllabaries,Hiraganaandkatakanawhichhaveabout60syllables.TheKoreanshaveonesyllabary,hangulwithtensofthousandsofsyllables.

CJKV

Chinese,Japanese,Korean,Vietnamese.Thesefourlanguagesrequirefontswithahugenumberofglyphs.

Condensed

Acondensedfontisonewherethespacebetweenthestemsoftheglyphs,andthedistancebetweenglyphsthemselveshasbeenreduced.

Conflictinghints

Ifaglyphcontainstwohintswherethestartorendpointofoneiswithintherangeoftheotherthenthesehintsconflict.Theymaynotbeactivesimultaneously.

Counter

Thecounterofaglyphisthewhitepartwhichiseitherfullyorpartiallyenclosed.Theoandnbothhavecounters.Theiandldonot.Theeandbothhavecounters.TheBhastwocounters.

D

Descender

Astemonalowercaseletterwhichextendsbelowthebaseline."p"hasadescender.SeealsoX-height,Cap-height,Ascender,Overshoot,Baseline

Descent

Intraditionaltypographythedescentofafontwasthedistancefromthebottomofablockoftypetothebaseline.

Itsmeaninginmoderntypographyhasbecomelessprecise.

Glossary

190

DeviceTable

AconceptinOpenTypewhichallowsyoutoenterspacingadjustmentsgearedtorasterizationatparticularpixelsizes.Ifakerningvaluethatworksmostofthetimeleadstoanuglyjuxtapositionofglyphsona12pixelhighfont,thenyoucanaddaspecialtweaktothespacingthatonlyisapplicableat12pixels(andanotheroneat14and18,orwhateverisneeded).Similarfunctionalityisneededforanchoredmarks.

Diacritics

Manylanguagesuseletterswhichhavemarksaboveorbelowthemorevencrossingtheletters.Thesemarksarecalleddiacritics.Sometimestheyarealsocalled"accents"althoughthisisalesspreciseterm.ExamplesoftheselettersincludeÀàåÅÜüØøÇç.

Didotpoint

TheEuropeanpoint.622/3pointsper23.566mm(2.66pt/mmor67.55pt/inch).Thereisalsoa"metric"didotpoint:.4mm.

Distortablefont

SeeMulti-Master

E

em

Alinearunitequaltothepointsizeofthefont.Ina10pointfont,theemwillbe10points.Anem-spaceiswhite-spacethatisaswideasthepointsize.Anem-dashisahorizontalbarthatisaswideasthepointsize.

Anem-squareisasquareoneemtoeachside.Intraditionaltypography(wheneachletterwascastinmetal)theglyphhadtobedrawnwithintheem-square.

emunit

Inascalablefontthe"em"issubdividedintounits.Inapostscriptfontthereareusually1000unitstotheem.InaTrueTypefonttheremightbe512,1024or2048unitstotheem.InanIkarusfontthereare15,000units.FontForgeusestheseunitsasthebasisofitscoordinatesystem.

en

Onehalfofan"em"

Encoding

Anencodingisamappingfromasetofbytesontoacharacterset.Itiswhatdetermineswhichbytesequencerepresentswhichcharacter.Thewords"encoding"and"characterset"areoftenusedsynonymously.ThespecificationforASCIIspecifiesbothacharactersetandanencoding.ButCJKcharactersetsoftenhavemultipleencodingsforthecharacterset(andmultiplecharactersetsforsomeencodings).

Inmorecomplicatedcasesitispossibletohavemultipleglyphsassociatedwitheachcharacter(asinarabicwheremostcharactershaveatleast4differentglyphs)andtheclientprogrammustpicktheappropriateglyphforthecharacterinthecurrentcontext.

Glossary

191

Eth—Edh

Theoldgermanicletter"ð"forthevoiced(English)"th"sound(thesoundin"this"—mostEnglishspeakersaren'tevenawarethat"th"inEnglishhastwosoundsassociatedwithit,butitdoes,seealsoThorn)

Even-OddFillrule

Todetermineifapixelshouldbefilledusingthisrule,drawalinefromthepixeltoinfinity(inanydirection)thencountthenumberoftimescontourscrossthisline.Ifthatnumberisoddthenfillthepoint,ifitiseventhendonotfillthepoint.Thismethodisusedforfontsbypostscriptrasterizersafterlevel2.0ofPostScript.SeeAlsoNon-ZeroWindingNumberFill.

Extended

Anextendedfontisonewherethespacebetweenthestemsoftheglyphs,andthedistancebetweenglyphsthemselveshasbeenincreased.

Extremum(plural:Extrema)

Anextremumisthepointonamathematicalcurvewherethecurveattainsitsmaximumorminimumvalue.Onacontinuouscurvethiscanhappenattheendpoints(whichisdull)orwheredx/dt=0ordy/dt=0.

Infontdesign,theextremaofaglypharethetop-mostandbottom-mostpointsoftheoutline,aswellasitsleft-mostandright-mostpoints.Makingsurethataglyphhason-curvepointsatallofitsextremaisimportant,becauseitsimplifiestextrenderingwhenthefontisused.

F

Features(OpenType)

Whencreatingfontsforcomplexscripts(andevenforlesscomplexscripts)varioustransformations(likeligatures)mustbeappliedtotheinputglyphsbeforetheyarereadyfordisplay.Thesetransformationsareidentifiedasfontfeaturesandaretaggedwith(inOpenType)a4lettertagor(inApple)a2numberidentifier.ThemeaningsofthesefeaturesarepredefinedbyMicrosoftandApple.FontForgeallowsyoutotageachlookupwithoneorseveralfeatureswhenyoucreateit(orlater).

FeatureFile

ThisisatextsyntaxdesignedbyAdobetodescribeOpenTypefeatures.Itcanbeusedtomovefeatureandlookupinformationfromonefonttoanother.

Feature/Settings(Apple)

TheseareroughlyequivalenttoOpenType'sFeaturesabove,theyaredefinedbyApple.

Font

Acollectionofglyphs,generallywithatleastoneglyphassociatedwitheachcharacterinthefont'scharacterset,oftenwithanencoding.

Afontcontainsmuchoftheinformationneededtoturnasequenceofbytesintoasetofpicturesrepresentingthecharactersspecifiedbythosebytes.

Glossary

192

Intraditionaltypesettingafontwasacollectionoflittleblocksofmetaleachwithagravenimageofaletteronit.Traditionallytherewasadifferentfontforeachpoint-size.

FontFamily,orFamily

Acollectionofrelatedfonts.Oftenincludingplain,italicandboldstyles.

FreeType

Alibraryforrasterizingfonts.UsedextensivelyinFontForgetounderstandthebehaviorofTrueTypefontsandtodobetterrasterizationthanFontForgecouldaccomplishunaided.

Fuþark(Futhark)

Theoldgermanicrunicscript.

G

GhostHint

Sometimesitisimportanttoindicatethatahorizontaledgeisindeedhorizontal.Buttheedgehasnocorrespondingedgewithwhichtomakeanormalstem.Inthiscaseaspecialhintisusedwithawidthof-20(or-21).Aghosthintmustlieentirelywithinaglyph.Ifitisatthetopofacontouruseawidthof-20,ifatthebottomuse-21.GhosthintsshouldalsoliewithinBlueZones.(Thespecalsomentionsverticalghosthints,butastherearenoverticalbluezonesitisnotclearhowtheseshouldbeused).

Glyph

Aglyphisanimage,oftenassociatedwithoneorseveralcharacters.Sotheglyphusedtodraw"f"isassociatedwiththecharacterf,whiletheglyphforthe"fi"ligatureisassociatedwithbothfandi.Insimplelatinfontstheassociationisoftenonetoone(thereisexactlyoneglyphforeachcharacter),whileinmorecomplexfontsorscriptstheremaybeseveralglyphspercharacter(Inrenaissanceprintingtheletter"s"hadtwoglyphsassociatedwithit,one,thelong-s,wasusedinitiallyandmedially,theother,theshort-s,wasusedonlyattheendofwords).Andintheligaturesoneglyphisassociatedwithtwoormorecharacters.

Fontsarecollectionsofglyphswithsomeformofmappingfromcharactertoglyph.

GridFitting

BeforeTrueTypeglyphsarerasterizedtheygothroughaprocesscalledgridfittingwhereatinyprogram(associatedwitheachglyph)isrunwhichmovesthepointsontheglyph'soutlinesarounduntiltheyfitthepixelgridbetter.

Gothic

TheGermanmonksatthetimeofGutenbergusedablack-letterwritingstyle,andhecopiedtheirhandwritinginhistypefacesforprinting.Italiantypedesigners(afterprintingspreadsouth)sneeredatthestyle,preferringthetypedesignsleftbytheRomans.Asatermofcontempttheyusedthewordgothic,thestyleoftheGothswhohelpeddestroytheromanempire.

Graphitetables

Glossary

193

GraphiteisanextensiontoTrueTypewhichembedsseveraltablesintoafontcontainingrulesforcontextualshaping,ligatures,reordering,splitglyphs,bidirectionality,stackingdiacritics,complexpositioning,etc.

ThissoundsratherlikeOpenType—exceptthatOpenTypedependsonthetextlayoutroutinesknowingalotabouttheglyphsinvolved.ThismeansthatOpenTypefontscannotbedesignedforanewlanguageorscriptwithoutshippinganewversionoftheoperatingsystem.WhereasGraphitetablescontainallthathiddeninformation.

Apple'sAdvancedTypographyprovidesabettercomparison,butGraphitetablesaresupposedtobeeasiertobuild.

SILInternationalprovidesafreeGraphitecompiler.

Grotesque

Seealsosans-serif.

H

Hancharacters

TheideographiccharactersusedinChina,JapanandKorea(and,Ibelieve,invariousotherasiancountriesaswell(Vietnam?)),allbasedonthewritingstylethatevolvedinChina.

Hangul

TheKoreansyllabary.Theonlysyllabary(thatI'mawareofanyway)basedonanalphabet—thelettersofthealphabetneverappearalone,butonlyasgroupsoftwoorthreemakingupasyllable.

Hanja

TheKoreannamefortheHancharacters

Hints

Thesearedescribedindetailinthemainmanual.Theyhelptherasterizertodrawaglyphwellatsmallpointsizes.

HintMasks

Atanygivenpointonacontourhintsmaynotconflict.Howeverdifferentpointsinaglyphmayneedconflictinghints.Soeverynowandthenacontourwillchangewhichhintsareactive.Eachlistofactivehintsiscalledahintmask.

Hiragana

OneofthetwoJapanesesyllabaries.BothHiraganaandKatakanahavethesamesounds.

I

Ideographiccharacter

Asinglecharacterwhichrepresentsaconceptwithoutspellingitout.GenerallyusedtomeanHan(Chinese)characters.

Glossary

194

Italic

Aslantedstyleofafont,oftenusedforemphasis.

ItalicdiffersfromObliqueinthatthetransformationfromtheplaintotheslantedforminvolvesmorethanjustskewingtheletterforms.Generallythelower-caseachangestoa,theserifsonlower-caseletterslikei(i)change,andthefontgenerallygainsamoreflowingfeeling.

J

Jamo

ThelettersoftheKoreanalphabet.Thesearealmostneverseenalone,generallyappearingingroupsofthreeaspartofaHangulsyllable.TheJamoaredividedintothreecategories(withconsiderableoverlapbetweenthefirstandthird),thechoseong—initialconsonants,thejungseong--medialvowels,andthejongseong--finalconsonants.Asyllableiscomposedbyplacingachoseongglyphintheupperleftofanem-square,ajungseongintheupperright,andoptionallyajongseonginthelowerportionofthesquare.

K

Kanji

TheJapanesenamefortheHancharacters.

Katakana

Oneofthetwo(modern)Japanesesyllabaries.BothHiraganaandKatakanahavethesamesounds.

Kerning

Whenthedefaultspacingbetweentwoglyphsisinappropriatethefontmayincludeextrainformationtoindicatethatwhenagivenglyph(say"T")isfollowedbyanotherglyph(say"o")thentheadvancewidthofthe"T"shouldbeadjustedbyacertainamounttomakeforamorepleasingdisplay.

Inthedaysofmetaltype,metalactuallyhadtobeshavedofftheslugoftypetoprovideasnuggerfit.Forinstance,the"F"wouldhavehadsomemetalremovedsothatalowercaselettercouldsnuggleclosertoit.

Kernpair

Apairofglyphsforwhichkerninginformationhasbeenspecified.

Kerningbyclasses

Theglyphsofthefontaredividedintoclassesofglyphsandthereisalargetablewhichspecifieskerningforeverypossiblecombinationofclasses.Generallythiswillbesmallerthantheequivalentsetofkerningpairsbecauseeachclasswillusuallycontainseveralglyphs.

Knuth,Donald

Glossary

195

Amathematicianwhogotsofedupwithbadtypesettingbackinthe1970&80sthathecreatedhisownfontdesignsystemandtypographicallayoutprogramcalled,respectively,MetaFontandTeX.

L

Leftsidebearing

Thehorizontaldistancefromaglyph'sorigintoitsleftmostextent.Thismaybenegativeorpositive.

Lemur

Amonotypicgenusofprosimianprimates,nowfoundonlyonMadagascarbutformally(about50millionyearsago)membersofthisfamilyweremuchmorewidespread.

Ligature

Asingleglyphwhichiscomposedoftwoadjacentglyphs.Acommonexampleinthelatinscriptisthe"fi"ligaturewhichhasanicerfeeltoitthanthesequence.

Linespace

Thedistancebetweensuccessivelinesoftype.

LGC

Latin,Greek,Cyrillic.Thesethreealphabetshaveevolvedsidebysideoverthelastfewthousandyears.Theletterformsareverysimilar(andsomelettersareshared).Manyconceptssuchas"lowercase","italic"areapplicabletothesethreealphabetsandnottoanyothers.(OK,Armenianalsohaslowercaseletters).

M

Manyogana

AnearlyJapanesescript,ancestraltobothhiraganaandkatakana.Manyoganausedkanjifortheirphoneticsounds,andovertheyearsthesekanjiweresimplifiedintohiraganaandkatakana.

Monospace

Afontinwhichallglyphshavethesamewidth.Thesearesometimescalledtypewriterfonts.

Multi-layeredfonts

(FontForge'sownterm)PostScripttype3fontsandSVGfontsallowformoredrawingpossibilitiesthannormalfonts.Normalfontsmayonlybefilledwithasinglecolorinheritedfromthegraphicsenvironment.Thesetwofontsmaybefilledwithseveraldifferentcolors,bestroked,includeimages,havegradientfills,etc..

MultipleMasterFont

Glossary

196

AmultiplemasterfontisaPostScriptfontschemawhichdefinesaninfinitenumberofrelatedfonts.Multiplemasterfontscanvaryalongseveralaxes,forexampleyoumighthaveamultiplemasterwhichdefinedbothdifferentweightsanddifferentwidthsofafontfamily,itcouldbeusedtogenerate:Thin,Normal,Semi-Bold,Bold,Condensed,Expanded,Bold-Condensed,etc.Adobeisnolongerdevelopingthisformat.Applehasaformatwhichachievesthesameeffectbuthasnotproducedmanyexamples.FontForgesupportsboth.

N

Namelist

AmappingfromUnicodecodepointtoglyphname.

Non-ZeroWindingNumberFillrule

Todetermineifapixelshouldbefilledusingthisruledrawalinefromheretoinfinity(inanydirection)andcountthenumberoftimescontourscrossthisline.Ifthecontourcrossesthelineinaclockwisedirectionadd1,ifthecontourcrossesinacounterclockwisedirectionsubtractone.Iftheresultisnon-zerothenfillthepixel.Ifitiszeroleaveitblank.ThismethodisusedforrasterizingfontsbyTrueTypeandolder(beforeversion2)postscript.

SeeAlsoEven-OddFillRule.

O

Ogham

TheoldCelticinscriptionscript.

OpenType

Atypeoffont.ItisanattempttomergepostscriptandTrueTypefontsintoonespecification.AnOpenTypefontmaycontaineitheraTrueTypeorapostscriptfontinsideit.

ItcontainsmanyofthesamedatatablesforinformationlikeencodingsthatwerepresentinTrueTypefonts.

ConfusinglyitisalsousedtomeantheadvancedtypographictablesthatAdobeandMicrosoft(butnotApple)haveaddedtoTrueType.Theseincludethingslikecontextualligatures,contextualkerning,glyphsubstitution,etc.

AndMSWindowsusesittomeanafontwitha'DSIG'(DigitalSignature)table.

OpenTypeTables

EachOpenTypefontcontainsacollectionoftableseachofwhichcontainsacertainkindofinformation.

Oblique

Aslantedstyleofafont,generallyusedforemphasis.

ObliquediffersfromItalicinthatthetransformationfromtheplaintotheslantedforminvolvesamathematicalormechanicalskewingtheletterforms.

Overshoot

Glossary

197

Inorderforthecurvedshapeofthe"O"toappeartobethesameheightastheflattopofthe"I"ittendsto"overshoot"thecap-height(orx-height),orundershootthebaselinebyabout3%ofthecap-height(orx-height).Foratriangularshape(suchas"A")theovershootisevengreater,perhaps5%.

TheseguidelinesarebasedonthewaytheeyeworksandtheopticalillusionsitgeneratesandaretakenfromPeterKarow'sDigitalFormatsforTypefaces,p.26).

Theovershootisalsodependentonthepoint-sizeofafont,thelargerthepoint-sizethesmallertheovershootshouldbe.Generallymodernfontswillbeusedatmultiplepoint-sizes,butinsomefontfamiliestherearemultiplefacesforthedifferentpoint-sizes,andinsuchacasetheovershootwillprobablyvaryfromfacetoface.

SeealsoX-height,Cap-height,Ascender,Descender,Baseline

P

Panose

Asystemfordescribingfonts.SeePanoseFontClassificationSystemMetricsGuide.ThereisalsoanextensioncalledPanose2.0.

FontForgeonlyknowsabouttheclassificationschemeforLatinfonts.Otherschemesexistforotherscripts.

PfaEdit

ThiswastheearlynameforFontForge.Theoriginalconceptionwasthatitwouldonlyedittype1ASCIIfonts(hencethename),itquicklymetamorphosedbeyondthatpoint,butittookmethreeyearstorenameit.

Phantompoints

InaTrueTypefontthereareafewpointsaddedtoeachglyphwhicharenotspecifiedbythecontoursthatmakeuptheglyph.Thesearecalledphantompoints.Oneofthesepointsrepresentstheleftsidebearing,andtheothertheadvancewidthoftheglyph.TrueTypeinstructions(hints)areallowedtomovethesepointsaroundjustasanyotherpointsmaybemoved—thuschangingtheleft-side-bearingortheadvancewidth.EarlyversionsofTrueTypesuppliedjustthesetwophantoms,morerecentversionsalsosupplyaphantomforthetopsidebearingandaphantomfortheverticaladvancewidth.

Pica

Aunitoflengthdefined(intheUSatleast)tobe35/83cm(orapproximately1/6thofaninch).Thiswasusedformeasuringthelengthoflinesoftext(as"30picasand4pointslong"),butnotformeasuringfontheights.

InRenaissancetypography,beforetherewerepoints,sizesoftypehadnames,and"pica"wasusedinthiscontext.As:"GreatCanon","DoublePica","GreatPrimer","English","Pica","Primer","SmallPica","Brevier","Nonpareil"and"Pearl"(eachnamerepresentingaprogressivelysmallersizeoftype)andseeCaslon'stypespecimensheetonWikipedia.

Picapoint

TheAnglo-Americanpoint.With72.27pointsperinch(2.85pt/mm).

Point

Glossary

198

Apointisaunitofmeasurement.Therewerethree(atleast)differentdefinitionsfor"point"incommonusagebeforetheadventofcomputers.TheoneinuseintheAnglo-Saxonprintingworldwasthe"picapoint"with72.27pointsperinch(2.85pt/mm),whiletheoneusedincontinentalEuropewasthedidotpointwith622/3pointsper23.566mm(2.66pt/mmor67.54pt/inch)andtheFrenchsometimesusedtheMedianpoint(72.78pointsperinch,2.86pt/mm).

Thedidotandpicapointsweresoarrangedthattextatagivenpoint-sizewouldhaveapproximatelythesamecap-heightinbothsystems,thedidotpointwouldhaveextrawhite-spaceabovethecapitalstocontaintheaccentspresentinmostnon-EnglishLatinbasedscripts.

ThishastheinterestingsideeffectthatafontdesignedforEuropeanusageshouldhaveasmallerproportionoftheverticalemgivenovertothetextbody.Ibelievethatcomputerfontstendtoignorethis,sopresumablyEuropeanprintersnowsetwithmoreleading.

AsfarasIcantell,computerstendtoworkinapproximationstopicapoints(butthismaybebecauseIamintheUS),PostScriptusesaunitof1/72ndofaninch.

Originallyfontswerenotdescribedbypointsize,butbyname.Itwasnotuntilthe1730sthatPierreFournierthatcreatedthepointsystemforspecifyingfontheights.ThiswaslaterimproveduponbyFrançois-AmbroiseDidot(hencethenameofthepoint).In1878theChicagoTypeFoundryfirstusedapointsystemintheUS.In1886theUSpointwasstandardized—thepicawasdefinedtobe35/83cm,andthepicapointdefinedtobe1/12thofthat.

PointSize

Intraditionaltypographya10ptfontwasonewheretheblockofmetalforeachglyphwas10pointshigh.Thepointsizeofafontistheunleadedbaselinetobaselinedistance.

Pointofinflection

Apointonacurvewhereitchangesfrombeingconcavedownwardstoconcaveupwards(orviceversa).Orinmathematicalterms(forcontinuouscurves)whered²y/dx²=0orinfinity.Cubicsplinesmaycontaininflectionpoints,quadraticsplinesmaynot.

PostScript

PostScriptisapage-layoutlanguageusedbymanyprinters.Thelanguagecontainsthespecificationsofseveraldifferentfontformats.Themain(FontForge)manualhasasectiondescribinghowPostScriptdiffersfromTrueType.

Type1:ThisistheoldstandardforPostScriptfonts.Suchafontgenerallyhastheextension.pfb(or.pfa).Atype1fontislimitedtoaonebyteencoding(i.e.only256glyphsmaybeencoded).Type2/CFF:ThisistheformatusedwithinOpenTypefonts.ItisalmostthesameasType1,buthasafewextensionsandamorecompactformat.ItisusuallyinsideaCFFwrapper,whichisusuallyinsideanOpenTypefont.TheCFFfontformatagainonlyallowsa1byteencoding,buttheOpenTypewrapperextendsthistoprovidemorecomplexencodingtypes.Type3:Thisformatallowsfullpostscriptwithinthefont,butitmeansthatnohintsareallowed,sothesefontswillnotlookasniceatsmallpoint-sizes.Alsomost(screen)rasterizersareincapableofdealingwiththem.Atype3fontislimitedtoaonebyteencoding(i.e.only256glyphsmaybeencoded).Type0:Thisformatisusedforcollectingmanysub-fonts(ofType1,2or3)intoonebigfontwithamulti-byteencoding,andwasusedforCJKorUnicodefonts.Type42:ATrueTypefontwrappedupinPostScript.SortoftheoppositefromOpenType.CID:ThisformatisusedforCJKfontswithlargenumbersofglyphs.Theglyphsthemselvesarespecifiedeitherastype1ortype2glyphformat.TheCIDfontitselfhasnoencoding,justamappingfromCID(anumber)toglyph.AnsetofexternalCMAPfilesareusedtoprovideappropriateencodingsasneeded.

Glossary

199

Python

Acomputerprogramminglanguagethatemphasizescodereadability.

R

Reference

Areferenceisawayofstoringtheoutlinesofoneglyphinanother(forexampleinaccentedglyphs).Sometimescalledacomponent.

Rightsidebearing

Thehorizontaldistancefromaglyph'srightmostextenttotheglyph'sadvancewidth.Thismaybepositiveornegative.

S

SansSerif

SeeSerif.

Script

Ascriptisacharactersetandassociatedrulesforputtingcharacterstogether.Latin,arabic,katakanaandhanjaareallscripts.

Serif

BacktwothousandyearsagowhentheRomanswerecarvingtheirlettersonstonemonuments,theydiscoveredthattheycouldreducethechanceofthestonecrackingbyaddingfinelinesattheterminationsofthemainstemsofaglyph.

Thesefinelineswerecalledserifs,andcametohaveanaestheticappealoftheirown.Earlytypedesignersaddedthemtotheirfontsforaestheticratherthanfunctionalreasons.

Attheendofthenineteenthandbeginningofthetwentiethcenturies,type-designersstarteddesigningfontswithoutserifs.Thesewereinitiallycalledgrotesquesbecausetheirformappearedsostrange,theyarenowgenerallycalledsans-serif.

Otherwritingsystems(Hebrewforone)havetheirownserifs.Hebrewserifsareratherdifferentfromlatin(cyrillic,greek)serifsandIdon'tknowtheirhistory.Hebrewserifsonlyoccuratthetopofaglyph.

SFD

SplineFontDatabase.TheseareFontForge'sownpersonalfontrepresentation.ThefilesareASCIIandvaguelyreadable,theformatisdescribedhere.Asof14May2008theformathasbeenregisteredwithIANAforaMIMEtype:application/vnd.font-fontforge-sfd.Otherpeopleusetheacronym'sfd'too.(Unfortunately)

Tops-10,ontheDigitalPDP-10usedsfdtomean"SubFileDirectory".Tops-10madeadistinctionbetweentop-level(home)directories,called"userfiledirectories",andsub-directories.TeXusesittomean"SubFontDefinition"whereaTeXsfdfilecontainsinformationonhowtobreakabigCJKorUnicodefontupintosmallsub-fonts,eachwitha1byteencodingwhichTeX(orolderversionsofTeX)needed.

Glossary

200

SFNT

ThenameforthegenericfontformatwhichcontainsTrueType,OpenType,Apple'sbitmaponly,X11'sbitmaponly,obsolete'typ1'fontsandAdobe'sSINGfonts(andnodoubtothers).TheSFNTformatdescribeshowfonttablesshouldbelaidoutwithinafile.Eachoftheaboveformatsfollowthisgeneralideabutincludemorespecificrequirements(suchaswhattablesareneeded,andtheformatofeachtable).

SIP

SupplementaryIdeographicPlane(0x20000-0x2FFFF)ofUnicode.UsedforrareHancharacters(mostarenolongerincommonuse)SeeAlso

BMP:BasicMultilingualPlane(0x00000-0x0FFFF)SMP:SupplementaryMultilingualPlane(0x10000-0x1FFFF)SSP:SupplementarySpecial-purposePlane(0xE0000-0xEFFFF)

SMP

SupplementaryMultilingualPlane(0x10000-0x1FFFF)ofUnicode.Usedforancientandartificialalphabetsandsyllabaries—likeLinearB,Gothic,andShavian.SeeAlso

BMP:BasicMultilingualPlane(0x00000-0x0FFFF)SIP:SupplementaryIdeographicPlane(0x20000-0x2FFFF)SSP:SupplementarySpecial-purposePlane(0xE0000-0xEFFFF)

Spline

Acurvedlinesegment.ThesplinesusedinFontForgeareallsecondorthirdorderBéziersplines(quadraticorcubic),andRaphLevien'sclothoidsplines.

SSP

SupplementarySpecial-purposePlane(0xE0000-0xEFFFF)ofUnicode.Notusedformuchofanything.SeeAlso

BMP:BasicMultilingualPlane(0x00000-0x0FFFF)SMP:SupplementaryMultilingualPlane(0x10000-0x1FFFF)SIP:SupplementaryIdeographicPlane(0x20000-0x2FFFF)

Statemachine

Astatemachineislikeaverysimplelittleprogram,theyareusedonthemacforperformingcontextualsubstitutionsandkerning.ThestatemachinedialogisreachablefromElement->FontInfo->Lookups.

The"statemachine"consistsofatableofstates,eachstateinturnconsistsofaseriesofpotentialtransitions(tothesameordifferentstates)dependingontheinput.Instatemachineswithinfonts,themachinestartsoutinaspecialstatecalledthestartstate,andreadstheglyphstreamofthetext.Eachindividualglyphwillcauseastatetransitiontooccur.Asthesetransitionsoccurthemachinemayalsospecifychangestotheglyphstream(conditionalsubstitutionsorkerning).

Stem

Astemisthepartoftheletterwhichisvertical.TheIandlareallstemexceptforserifs.TheHconsistsoftwostemsandacrossbar.OtherglyphswithstemsincludeBbFfKkPpRr1and4.

Glossary

201

Strike

Aparticularinstanceofafont.Mostcommonlyabitmapstrikeisaparticularpixelsizeofafont.

Style

Therearevariousconventionalvariantsofafont.Inprobablyanywritingsystemthethicknessofthestemsoftheglyphsmaybevaried,thisiscalledtheweightofafont.Commonweightsarenormalandbold.

InLGCalphabetsanitalic(oroblique)stylehasarisenandisusedforemphasis.

Fontsareoftencompressedintoacondensedstyle,orexpandedoutintoanextendedstyle.

Variousotherstylesareinoccasionaluse:underline,overstrike,outline,shadow.

SVG

ScalableVectorGraphics.AnXMLformatusedfordrawingvectorimages.Itincludesafontformat.

Syllabary

Asyllabaryisaphoneticwritingsystemlikeanalphabet.Unlikeanalphabetthesound-unitwhichiswrittenisasyllableratherthanaphoneme.InJapaneseKataKanathesound"ka"isrepresentedbyoneglyph.Syllabariestendtobebiggerthanalphabets(JapaneseKatakanarequiresabout60differentcharacters,whiletheKoreanHangulrequirestensofthousands).

SeeAlso:abjad,abugida,alphabetandtherelevantWikipediaarticle.

T

Terminal

Theterminalofaglyphisthepartwherethestrokeends.TheTopofthefhasaterminal.Theshastwoterminals.Whenaglyphhasserifstheserifsareconsidereddifferentfromtheterminals.Becausethebottomofthefwouldhaveaserififitisinaserifstylebottomisnotconsideredaterminal.Thebottomofthejandyarehoweverconsideredterminals.Similarlythe3hastwoterminalsoneatthetopandonethebottom.Themiddleisconsideredtobeajoinratherthanaterminal.Theclassificationofthesepartsisperhapsmoredeterminedbyconventionthanbyastrictlogic.

TeX

Atypesettingpackage.

Thorn

Thegermanicletter"þ"usedfortheunvoiced(English)"th"sound(asintheword"thorn"),IbelievethisisapproximatelythesamesoundvalueasGreekTheta.Currentlyacorruptversionofthisglyphsurvivesas"ye"for"the".SeealsoEth.

TrueType

AtypeoffontinventedbyAppleandsharedwithMicrosoft.Itspecifiesoutlineswithseconddegree(quadratic)Béziercurves,containsinnovativehintingcontrols,andanexpandableseriesoftablesforcontainingwhateveradditionalinformationisdeemedimportanttothefont.

Glossary

202

AppleandAdobe/Microsofthaveexpandedthesetablesindifferentwaystoincludeadvancedtypographicfeaturesneededfornon-latinscripts(orforcomplexlatinscripts).SeeAppleAdvancedTypographyandOpenType.

TrueTypeTables

Eachtruetypefontcontainsacollectionoftableseachofwhichcontainsacertainkindofinformation.

Type1

AtypeofPostScriptfont.

Type2

AtypeofPostScriptfont,usedwithinOpenTypefontwrappers.

Type3

AverygeneraltypeofPostScriptfont.

Type0

AtypeofPostScriptfont.

TypeHigh

Inthedaysofmetaltypethiswastheheightofthepieceofmetal—thedistancefromtheprintingsurfacetotheplatformonwhichitrested.

Typewriter

SeeMonospace.

U

Unicode

Acharacterset/encodingwhichtriestocontainallthecharacterscurrentlyusedintheworld,andmanyhistoricalonesaswell.SeetheUnicodeconsortium.

BMP:BasicMultilingualPlane(0x00000-0x0FFFF)SMP:SupplementaryMultilingualPlane(0x10000-0x1FFFF)SIP:SupplementaryIdeographicPlane(0x20000-0x2FFFF)SSP:SupplementarySpecial-purposePlane(0xE0000-0xEFFFF)Moreinfo.

Undershoot

SeeOvershoot.

UniqueID

Glossary

203

ThisisafieldinaPostScriptfont,itwasformerlyusedasamechanismforidentifyingfontsuniquely,thenAdobedecideditwasnotsufficientandcreatedtheXUID(extendedUniqueID)field.Adobehasnowdecidedthatbothareunneeded.

ThereisaverysimilarfieldintheTrueType'name'table.

UseMyMetrics

Thisisatruetypeconceptwhichforcesthewidthofancompositeglyph(forexampleanaccentedletter)tobethesameasthewidthofoneofitscomponents(forexamplethebaseletterbeingaccented).

V

VerticalAdvanceWidth

CJKtextisoftenwrittenvertically(andsometimeshorizontally),soeachCJKglyphhasaverticaladvanceaswellasahorizontaladvance.

W

Weight

Theweightofafontishowthick(dark)thestemsoftheglyphsare.Traditionallyweightisnamed,butrecentlynumbershavebeenappliedtoweights.

Name Number

Thin 100

Extra-Light 200

Light 300

Normal 400

Medium 500

Demi-Bold 600

Bold 700

Heavy 800

Black 900

Nord

Ultra

Whitespace

Thewhitespaceofthetypedesignincludesthespacebetweenlinesoftext,thespacebetweentheletters,thewordspaceandthespacesinsidetheletters.Itisabroadandencompassingterm.

Width

Glossary

204

Thisisaslightlyambiguoustermandissometimesusedtomeantheadvancewidth(thedistancefromthestartofthisglyphtothestartofthenextglyph),andsometimesusedtomeanthedistancefromtheleftsidebearingtotherightsidebearing.

X

X-height

Theheightofalowercaseletterabovethebaseline(withaflattoplike"x"or"z"or"v"asopposedtoonewithacurvedtoplike"o"oronewithanascenderlike"l").

SeealsoCap-height,Ascender,Descender,Overshoot,Baseline.

XUID

ExtendedUniqueIDinaPostScriptfont.Nowsomewhatobsolete.SeeUniqueID.

Glossary

205