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usermanual
version3.2
©2013
CR8SoftwareSolutions
cr8software.net
2.
Contents
Introduction 3
Support
Navigation 4
GettingStarted 5
Creatinganewfont
Commonissues
Definitions
ViewModes 8
TrueTypepointsview
Nodesview
TheToolbox 9
Select
Pen
Nodesandpoints
Ruler
TheMappingWindow 12
Mappingwindowmodes
Mappingglyphs
Mappingmenu
Resizing
FontParameters 14
Names
Fontmetrics
Fontdescription
CompositeGlyphs 16
Copyandpastefunctions
Hinting 17
Gasp(grayscale)hinting
AppendixI. 18
FontOptions
AppendixII. 19
FontBasics
AppendixIII. 21
PostScript,TrueTypeandOpenType
AppendixIV. 23
KeyboardShortcuts
Copyright 24
3.
Introduction
TheartofTypefacedesignhasbeenaroundforcenturies,andmanyofthefontsinusetoday
werefirstdesignedhundredsofyearsago(Garamondtypeface,forexamplewascreatedinthe
1500’sbyagentlemanbythenameofClaudeGaramond).Backthenfontswerecutintosteel-
todayyouhavetheconvenienceandeaseofmoderncomputersoftware.
Typelight3.2isabasic,freewarefonteditor,thathasbeendesignedtomakeiteasyfora
beginnertogetstartedintheprocessofmakingandeditingfonts.
Type3.2fullversionincludesafullrangeofdrawingtools,integratesanautotracingfeature,
vectorimageimport,andadvancedoptions:kerning,automatedactionscripts,hintingand
OpenTypefeatures.Downloadthetrailversionhere:http://cr8software.net/type.html.
ThismanualisintendedtobeaninstructionmanualforTypelight3.2ratherthanatutorialor
introductiontofontdesign.Ifyouarenewtomakingfontsthenitisrecommendedthatyou
readAppendixII&IIIofthismanualfirst,andalsocheckoutthelinksbelow.
Formoreinformation:
Visithttp://cr8software.net/truetype.html fortutorials,articlesandlinksaboutmakingfonts
(generalaswellasspecialisedType3.2articles).
Thereisapublicdiscussionforumhere:http://cr8.proboards.com whereyoucanpostquestions
orsuggestions,orjusttoseeifsomeonehasalreadyaskedyourquestion.
Forfreesupportpostyourprivatequeryhere:http://cr8software.net/support.html orsendan
emailto:[email protected].
4.
Navigation
Navigatearoundtheeditwindow(maindisplayarea),byusing
thescrollbarsorbyrightclickingonaclearareatograband
dragthewindow.
Zoominandout,usingthemagnifyandreducebuttons,
the+keyand-key,orthemousescrollwheel.
Themagenta(p1)andgreen(p2)verticallinesmarkthewidthoftheglyph(seeAppendixII).
Movethesebydraggingatthetopofeachline,orselectglyphmetricsfromtheglyphmenu.
Thedashedhorizontallinesare:ascent,descent,caps-heightandx-height.Anythingthatisnot
betweentheascentanddescentlinewillbe‘clipped’.Thevaluesoftheseparameterscanbeset
usingmetricsfromthefontmenu(WinAscent,WinDescent,Capsheightandx-height).Donot
confuseascentanddescentwithtypographicascenderanddescendermentionedinAppendixII).
Toolbox
Status Glyph number Progress Current tool Mapping window
Glyph previewpanel
5.
GettingStarted
CreatingaNewFont
Selectnewfromthefilemenu.Youwillbe
promptedforthenamesofyournewfont.
Allfieldsarerequired.Theseare:
Familyname: Arialforexample
Subfamily: Regular,Bold,Italicetc.
Fullname: Familyname+Subfamily
(egArialBold).ForaRegular
font,justputtheFamily
name(Arial)
Copyright: Yourcopyrightdetails.
Thefirstfourglyphswillbeautomaticallycreatedandmapped(seeAppendixIIformoredetails).
Thefirstglyphalwaysrepresentstheundefinedcharacter–normallyanemptybox-likesymbol.
Youcaneditthesymbol,butyoucannotmapthisglyphtoanything(mappingtotheundefined
characterisequivalenttounmapping).
Thenexttwoglyphsaremappedtocertaincontrolcharacters,andthelastismappedtothe
spacecharacter.Thisglyphmustbeleftblank,butyoucanchangeitswidthtomatchthespacing
ofyourfont.
Pressthenewglyphbuttontostartcreatinganewfont.
or
Doubleclickononeofthecharactersinthemappingwindowandsayyestotheprompt–anew
glyphmappedtothatcharacterwillbecreated.
Youmaynowproceedtocreateglyphsusingtherangeoftoolsavailableinthetoolbox.
6.
GettingStarted(continued)
CommonIssues
Thefollowingarealistoftipstohelpyouavoidsomecommonissuesthatcanoccurwhen
creatingoreditingfonts.
• DonotopenfontfilesforeditingfromtheWindowsfontfolder.Copythemtoanotherfolder
beforeopeningthem.
• Don’tsavefontfilesdirectlyintotheWindowsfontsfolder(theywillnotbeinstalledcorrectly).
• Thecorrectwaytoinstallfontsistodragthefontfile(saveitsomewhereelsefirst)intothe
Windowsfontfolder.
• Ifyouareeditinganinstalledfont,thenyouwillneedtouninstalltheoriginalorgivethenew
fontadifferentfontfamilynamebeforeyoucaninstallthenewfont.
• Makefrequentbackups(alwaysgoodpractice)ofyourfontfiles,preferablyas.gfsfiles,during
thefontdevelopmentprocess.
• Whenafontdoesnotworkasexpected,itisoftenanaming(conflictingfontnames)or
encoding(makesurecodepageLatin1252isactive)issue.
• Youshouldonlyhaveuptofourdifferentfontsthathavethesamefontfamilyname–regular,
bold,italicandbolditalic.
• Ifyouchangethenameofafont,makesurethatyouchangetheadvancednamesalso.Some
programswilluseadvancednames(eguniquefontname)todistinguishfonts,sotheyneedto
beunique.
• Ifyouchangethenameofafont,makesurethatyouchangethenamesforMacintosh
(Roman)(otherwisethefontmaynotworkifinstalledonanAppleMac)andforotheractive
languages.
• Avoidcreatingglyphswithoverlappingcontours.Theglyphwilldisplaycorrectlyona
TrueType(.ttf)font(butisnotrecommended)butwillhaveawhitespaceintheoverlapping
regiononaPostScript(.otf)font.
• Whencreatingglyphswhereonecontourisenclosedbyanother(eg.theinnerandouter
contoursofan’o’),theinnercontourmustbeintheoppositedirection(clockwiseor
anticlockwise)totheoutercontour(seeappendixII).
7.
GettingStarted(continued)
Definitions
Glyph–Glyphsaretheshapesandsymbolsthatyoudesign.Theynormallyrepresentcharacters
orcomponentsofcharacters.AfontcontainsalistofglyphsindexedbyaglyphID.Theycan
beinanarbitraryorder,butcreatingthemincharactersetorderisnormalpractice,andhas
someadvantages.
Character–Charactersarethebasicsymbolsthatareusedtorepresentalanguage.Theletter
AisacharacterintheLatinAlphabetforexample.
Mapping–Mappingistheprocessofconnectingglyphstocharacters.GlyphID#36maybe
assignedtorepresenttheletterAcharacterinacertainfontforexample.Asingleglyphcanbe
mappedtomorethanonecharacter,and(usingOpenTypefeatures)severalglyphscanalsobe
usedtorepresentthesamecharacter.
Unicodecharacters–Unicodeisaninternationalcharacterencodingsystemthatassignsa
codetoeverycharacterformostoftheworldslanguagesystems.AUnicodescriptisarange
containingrelatedcharacters.ForexampletheBasicLatinscriptistheunicoderange0000
to007F.
Characterset–ACharactersetisthegroupofcharactersusedtorepresentaparticular
language.Singlebytecharactersets(Codepages)cancontainupto256characters.The
characterscanrepresentdifferentlanguagesdependingontheencodingused.Fontscancontain
morethanoneCodepage,whichcanbeselectedfromthefontselectionmenuonmost
programs.(Western=Latin1252).
8.
ViewModes
TrueTypePointsView
SelectTTpointsfromtheviewmenu.ThisisthenativeTrueTypeformatandcanonlybeused
withTrueTypecurves(seeAppendixIII).ATrueTypefontstoresglyphsasaseriesofcontours
madeofpoints–eitheroff-curve(darkbluedot/lightbluedotwhenselected)oron-curve(white
circle/lightbluesquarewhenselected).
Thegrayarrowbetweenpointoneandpointtwooneach
contourindicatesthecontourdirection(seeAppendixII
regardingcorrectcontourdirection).
Pointonemustalwaysbeanon-curvepoint.
Usingon-curveandoff-curvepointsisthecorrect
representationofaTrueTypeglyph,butitisnot
necessarilytheeasiestwaytodesignglyphs.
NodesView
Selectnodesfromtheviewmenu.Anotherwaytorepresentaglyphisbyusingnodes(white
circle/lightbluesquarewhenselected)whicharealwayson-curve,andcontrolpoints(lightblue
dot)whicharealwaysoff-curve.Thelightbluelinebetweenthecontrolpointandthenodeisat
tangenttothecurve.Movethepositionofthecontrolpointstochangetheshapeofthecurve.*
Cornercurveshavecontrolpointsthatcanbemovedindependantly(unlinked).Smoothand
symmetriccurveshavelinkedcontolpointsthatarealwaysinlinewiththenode.Straightlinesdo
nothaveanycontrolpoints.
Usethepointmenu(orrightclick)tochangethetypeofcurve.
*OtherfonteditorsonlyallowthistypeofeditingwithPostScriptcurves–Typelight3.2alsoallowsyouto
edit TrueType curves in thismanner, but limits are imposed to restrict the outline to a TrueType curve.
Becauseoftheselimits,thecontrolsmaynotbehaveasyoumayexpectwheneditingTrueTypecurves
inthismode-nodesotherthantheoneyouaremoving,mayalsomove,forexample.
Off-curve points On-curve points
Corner curve Smooth curve Symmetric curve Straight corner
9.
TheToolbox
Selecttool(F1)*
Pen(F2)
Cornercurve(F3)
Smoothcurve(F4)
Straightcorner/On-curve(F5)
Off-curve(F6)
Line(Shift-F1) Rectangle(Shift-F2)
Ellipse(Shift-F3)
Ruler(Shift-F4)
Thetoolboxcontainsthetoolsthatyou
willneedforcreatinganddrawingglyphs.
Usingdifferenttools,youcanmovepoints
andcontours,drawandmanipulatelines
andcurves,createshapes,andmeasure
distances.
*ThekeyboardshortcutkeysfortheToolbox
arethefunctionkeysF1-F6.
TheSelectTool
Youcanusetheselecttooltohighlightandmovepointsaround.
Dragarectangleoverpointsornodestoselectmultiplepoints.
Pressingshiftatthesametimeallowsyoutoselectmorepoints,
eitherbydrawinganotherrectangle,orbyclickingonindividual
points.Pressingctrlatthesametimeasselectingpointswill
selecttheentirecontour.
Multiplepointselectionallowsyoutomovemanypoints
(moveoneoftheselectedsquarestomoveallofthem,oruse
thecursorkeys),performtransformations(seebelow)andallows
othercontouroperationsusingthecontourmenu.
Selectingapointbyclickingonitallowsyoutomoveasinglepoint,andgivesyouaccesstothe
optionsonthepointsmenu–eitherfromthemainmenuorbyclickingtherightmousebutton.
Ifyouareinnodesviewmodethenwhenyouselectanode,thecontrolpointsbelongingtothat
nodewillbedisplayed.Thecontrolpoints(lightbluedots)controlthecurve-clickanddragthem
toaltertheshapeofthecurve.Controlpointscanberemovedbydraggingthemintothenode,
andthenreleasingthemousebutton(PostScriptcurvesonly).Clickingonanodewhilepressing
shiftallowsanewcontrolpointtobedraggedoutofthenode(PostScriptcurvesonly).
WheneditingaglyphwithTrueTypecurves,movingaconrolpointmayalsoaffectneighboring
nodes.PostScriptcurvesdonothavethislimitation.
10.
TheToolbox(continued)
ThePenTool
Thepentoolwilldrawsmoothcurves.Leftmouseclicktoaddanode,anddragthemouse
beforeyoureleasethebuttontoextendthecontrolpoints.Thecurveswillbesymmetricabout
thenode.Iftheshiftkeyispressedthenthecontrolpointswillnolongerbelinked,andyouwill
beabletoformsmoothorcornercurves.
IfyouareeditingaglyphwithTrueTypecurves,thenwhenyoureleasethebuttonthecurvewill
converttoaTrueTypecurve(withadditionalnodes).
TheNodeandPointsTools
Thesefourtoolsworkasfollows:
• Ifnopointornodeiscurrentlyselected,clickingwillstarta
newcontour.
• Ifthelastpointornodeonacontourisselected,thenclicking
willaddanodeorpointtothecurrentcontour.
• Clickingonthefirstpointornodeofacontourwillclose
thecontour.
• Ifthemousepointerisoveracurveorline,thenasmallbox
willappearnexttothemousepointerindicatingthatclicking
willinsertanewpointornodeinthemiddleofthecontour.
Thecornertoolandcurvetoolallowyoutoadjustthedegreeof
curve.Ifyoumovethemousebeforeyoureleasethebutton,you
canchangethepositionofthecontrolpoints.
Theoff-curvetoolfunctionsonlywheneditingaglyphwith
TrueTypecurves.
Pointsandnodescanbepreciselypositionedbyusing
propertiesfromthepointsmenu(orrightclick,proporties).
11.
TheToolbox(continued)
TheRuler
Therulertoolcanbeusedtomeasuredistances.Clickatthestartposition(ornode)anddragto
theendposition(ornode).Variousmeasurementswillappearinthestatusbar:
dx (481,201)
(1627,665)
dy r
12.
TheMappingWindow
MappingWindowModes
Themappingwindowmodetoolbarbutton
willsequencethroughthedifferentmodesavailable.
Youcanalsochangethemappingmodefromthe
mappingmenu.Themodesavailableare:
1-CodePages(charactersets)
2-UnicodeScripts(arangeofunicodevalues)
3-GlyphList(allmappedandunmappedglyphs)
Userangeselecttoselectwhichcharactersaredisplayed,
andtherangeactiveboxtoindicatewhichrangesare
usedinyourfont.TomakeaWesterncharactersetfont,
forexample,selectthe1252Latin1pagerange,and
mapglyphstothesecharacters,thenchecktherange
activebox.
MappingGlyphs
Modes1and2allowglyphstobemappedtounicodecharacters(uni0000touniFFFF).Ifthe
newglyphbuttonwasusedtocreatetheglyph,thenitwillneedtobemapped:
Tomapthecurrentglyph(theglyphintheeditwindow)toacharacter,selectthecharacterinthe
mappingwindow(itwillbecomehighlightedblue),thenpressthemapbutton.Asingleglyphis
normallymappedtoasinglecharacter,butmaybemappedtomultiplecharacters.
Multipleglyphscanbemappedtomultiplecharactersinoneoperation.Selectthefirstcharacter
tobemapped,then,whilepressingshiftorctrl,selectthelastcharacter.Thewholerangeof
characterswillbehighlightedblue.If,forexample,glyph#10isthecurrentglyph,thenitwillbe
mappedtothefirstcharacter,glyph#11willbemappedtothesecondcharacter,etc,whenthe
mapbuttonispressed.
Modes3(glyphlist)allowglyphstobemappedtoallunicodecharacters,includingcharactersin
thesupplementaryplanes(uni10000touni10FFFF).Selectaglyphorrangeofglyphsinthe
mappingwindow,thenpressthemapbutton.Apromptwillappear.Entertheunicodecode
point(inhexadecimalformat)thatyouwanttomaptheglyph(orfirstglyphintherange)to.
Menu button
Range select Range active Mapped characters Unmapped characters
13.
TheMappingWindow(continued)
MappingMenu
Fromthemappingmenuyoucanadd,selectorremovebookmarks.Abookmark
willallowyoutoreturntoyourcurrentlocationinascript,codepageorglyphlist.
Toremoveabookmark,selectthebookmarkfromthemappingmenu,thenselect
removebookmark.
Resizing
Someglyphs(compositeglyphsorglyphsofsomenonlatinalphabets)maynotfitintothedefault
rowsizeofthemappingwindow.Toresizetherows:
1-Makesureenablerowresizingischeckedinpreferences.
2-Selectarowinthemappingwindow(highlightedblue).
3-Widenthecharacterspacebyclickinganddraggingwhere
thetextmarginislocated.
4-Increasetheheightofthecharacterspacingbydraggingthe
baseofthehighlightedcell.
SymbolFonts
Asymbolfontisaspecialtypeoffontnormallycontainingpictorialtypeglyphs.Symbolfont
glyphsaremappedtounicodeF020toF0FF(correspondingtoASCIIcharacters20toFF).
Tocreateasymbolfont,mapglyphstothecharactersintheSymbolCharacterSetCodePage
andsettoactive.NOTE:SettingtheSymbolCharacterSettoactivewilloverideanyotheractive
CodePages,andonlycharactersF020-F0FFwillbemappedintheoutputfont.
14.
FontParameters
AnOpenTypefontcontainsawholelotofinformation–names,fontdescriptions,parametersand
metricsspecifictoyourfont.Typelight3.2allowsyoutosetandchangemostofthese.
Ifyouarenewtofontdesign,andarecreatingabasicfont,thenyoucankeepthedefaultvalues
andusetheautomaticsettings.SeeAppendixIIforabetterunderstandingofvarious
parameters.
Names
Whenyoucreateanewfont,youarepromptedforcertainnameinformation.Thisinformationis
forthedefaultlanguage–English(US).Yourfontcancontainnameinformationforother
languagestoo.Usethenamesfromthefontmenutoaddmoreentriestothenamestable.
Selectthelanguageatthebottomofthewindowandchecktheboxtothelefttomakethe
languageactive.Blankfieldswillnotbelistedinthenamestable.IfaEnglish(US)boxis
checked,thentheEnglish(US)stringwillbeduplicatedinthatnamestablelisting.
Theadvancedbuttonallowsyoutoentervariousothernames.Themostimportantonesare:
UniqueID[3]andPostScriptname[6].Ifyouchangethenameofyourfontthenyoumust
changethesealso–orblankthemout.Ifthesefieldsareinvalidorblank,thenTypelight3.2will
generatevalidnameswhenyousavethefont.
ForanordinaryLatinfont,nameinformation
wouldnormallyonlyenteredforEnglish(US)
andMacintosh(Roman)languages(thesetwo
mustalwaysbepresent).*
Namestringssupportunicode,soyoucanpaste
unicodecharactersintothenamingwindow
inputboxes.
*MostnonLatinfontsactuallyonlyhaveenteriesfor
English(US)andMacintosh(Roman).
15.
FontParameters(continued)
FontMetrics
Usemetricsfromthefontmenutosetyourfont’smetrics.Theseparametersarecertain
measurementsspecifictoyourfont.Someoftheseareselfexplanatorylikeunderlinethickness
anditalicangle.Themostimportantonestounderstandare:
EMUnitsize: Usuallysetto2048(TrueTypeorOpenTypeTT),or1000(OpenTypePS).
Thisisusedtocalculatethepointsizewhenthefontisdisplayed.
WinAscent: top(anythingabovethismaybeclipped)
WinDescent: bottom(anythingbelowthismaybeclipped)
Capsheight: uppercasecharacterheight
‘x’height: lowercasecharacterheight(heightofalowercase‘x’)
Ifyouhavecheckedtheoptionshowhorizontalmarkers(usingparametersfromtheview
menu)thenthelastfourparametersabovewillbevisibleinthemaineditwindowas
horizontallines.
FontDescription
Usedescriptionfromthefontmenutosettheparametersthatdescribethefont:weight,width,
versionnumber,italic,boldandmono-spaced.IfyousetthefonttoMono-spacedthenthe
advancewidthofallglyphs(exceptglyphnumber1-whichmusthaveanadvancedwidth
ofzero),willbeconstant.AdvanceddescriptionparameterscanonlybealteredusingType3.2
fullversion.
16.
CompositeGlyphs
Acompositeglyphhasnocontoursorpointsofitsown,butismadeupofotherglyphs.
Thecompositeisdisplayedasablueoutline,andalthoughyoucanmoveandtransformthe
components(asifyouweremanipulatingcontours)youcannotmoveindividualpointsunless
youfirstdecomposetheglyphbyselectingdecomposefromtheglyphmenu.
GlyphscanbestoredascompositesinaTrueTypefont(.ttf),butwhensavinganOpenType
PostScriptfont(.otf)theglyphswillbenotstoredascomposites–whenyouopenthefont
again,theywillbedecomposed.(Saveacopyasa.gfsfileifyouwanttoaltertheglyphsas
compositesatalatertime).
CopyandPasteFunctions
Contoursandwholeglyphscanbecopiedandpastedbetweenglyphs:
• Usecopyglyphfromtheeditmenutocopythecurrentglyphtotheclipboard.
• Userightclickcopyglyphfromthemappingwindow(glyphlistmodeonly)tocopythe
selectedglyphtotheclipboard.
• Usecopyfromtheeditmenutocopyonlytheselectedpointstotheclipboard.
• WhenthedestinationglyphisintheGlyphWindow,usepastefromtheeditmenu.
• Tocreateacompositeglyph,firstmakesurethatpastetocreatecompositeglyphsis
enabledinpreferences,thenpastetoablankglyph.Pastetoanexistingcompositeglyphto
addanothercomponentglyph.
• ThepastemetricsoptionfromtheeditmenupastesonlytheLeftSideBearingandAdvance
Widthfromtheclipboard.
17.
Hinting
Whenafontisdisplayedatasmallpointsizeonalowresolutiondevice(egascreen),several
distortionscanoccur.Thishappensbecausetherearenotenoughpixelstoaccuratelyrepresent
therasterizedfont.Adjustments(calledhints)canimprovetheappearanceofthefontat
lowresolutions.
Hintscaneitherbeglobal(applytoallglyphswithinthefont)orcanapplytoindividualglyphs.
YoucanuseTypelight3.2tospecifygasphintingonly.Type3.2fullversionalsosupports
globalhintingofPostScriptfonts,whichcanbeauto-hintedusingAdobe’sfreefont
developmentkit.
Gasp(Grayscale)Hinting
GasphintingallowsyoutospecifytherasterizationtechniqueforaTrueTypefontwhenitis
renderedongrayscale-capabledevicesatdifferentsizes.
AtypicalGasptablecouldbe:
Fontsize^ Rasterizationtechnique
ppem<=8 grayscaleonly*
9<=ppem<=19 gridfitonly**
20<=ppem gridfitandgrayscale
Selectgasphintingfromthefontmenu.Enter8inthemaxppembox,selectgrayscaleinthe
smoothingselection,thenpressadd.Enter19inthemaxppembox,selectgridfitinthe
smoothingselection,thenpressadd.Enter65535inthemaxppembox,selectgrayscale&
gridfitinthesmoothingselection,thenpressadd(alwaysenter65535asthemaxppemfor
thelastentry).
^ppem=pixelsperem.Emfora72pointfontis1inch(1pt=1/72thinch).
Soa72ptfontrenderedona96dpi(dotsperinch)monitoris96ppem.
(Soitfollowsthat8ppemwouldbe6ptona96dpimonitor).
*Noteforyourcomputermustalsohavefontsmoothingactivatedforgrayscalerendering.
**GridfitmeansuseTrueTypehintinginstructions(theymustbepresentinthefont).
18.
AppendixI-FontOptions
OpenTypeTables
Typelight3.2createsTrueTypeandOpenTypeTTfonts(.ttf)withthesetables:
OS/2 cmap glyf head
hhea hmtx loca map
name post
OpenTypePSfonts(.otf)willhavetheabovetables,buttheCFFtablereplacestheglyftable.
Wheneditingafont,thefollowingtablescanbeincludedifpresentintheoriginalfile,or,inthe
caseoftheGasptable,ifithasbeencreatedbytheuser:
prep
cvt
LTSH
fpgm
If’Hinting’retained^.
EBDT
EBLC
EBSC
If’Bitmaps’retained.
vhea
vmtx
If’Verticalmetrics’retained.
hdmx*
kern
gasp
PCLT**
VDMX
Selectindividually.
BASE
GDEF
GPOS
GSUB
JSTF
If‘OpenType’retained***.
^ThesetablesforTTfontsonly.ForPSfontsthehintingoptionwillcontrolglyphlevelhintingonly.
*Ifyouhaveeditedanyglyphs,thenthehdmx(horizontalmetrics)tablemaynolongerbeaccurate–itisthen
recommendedthatyoudonotretainit.VDMXandhdmxtablescanbere-createdusingafreetoolfromMicrosoft
calledCacheTT.(www.microsoft.com/typography/tools/tools.aspx)
**Ifyouhavechangedthefontsdescription,thenthePCLTtablemaynolongerbeaccurate-itisthenrecommended
thatyoudonotretainit.ThePCLTtableisstronglydiscouragedforusewithOpenTypefonts.
***FontssavedasOpenTypewillalsobegivenanemptyDSIGtable,ThisistogivethefonttheOpenTypeiconon
WindowsXP.Theoriginaldigitalsignature(ifany)willnotberetained,asitisnolongervalidforaneditedfont.
19.
AppendixII-FontBasics
ABitofHistory
TrueTypewasoriginallydevelopedbyAppleinthelate80’s,afterApple&Microsoftrejected
aproposalbyAdobetouseAdobeType1(PostScript)fontsfortheiroperatingsystems.
ThroughadealwithApple,TrueTypewasadoptedbyMicrosoftin1992,fortheirWindows3.1
operatingsystem.
AdobejoinedforceswithMicrosoftin1996tocombinetheirtechnologiesandproduce
OpenType,whichsupportsbothTrueTypeandPostScriptformats.Adobefinishedconvertingits
entirefontlibrarytoOpenType(PostScript)fontsin2002withtheintentionthatAdobeType1
fonts(seeAppendixIII)eventuallybephasedout.
Glyphs(TrueType)
TheoutlinesofaTrueTypeglypharedefinedbycontours.Contoursaredefinedbypoints.
Pointsofacontourareeitheron-curve(definingstraightlines)oroff-curve(definingatypeof
curvecalledaquadraticspline).Thefirstpointonacontour(pointzero)mustalwaysbean
on-curvepoint.SeeAppendixIIIformoredetails.
Thefilled-inareaofaTrueTypeglyphisalwayson
theright-handsideofthecontour.So,forthe
letter‘o’here,thepointsformingtheoutside
contourwillincrementclockwise,andthepoints
formingtheinnercontourwillincrementanti-
clockwise.
(NotethattechnicallyPostScriptcurvesshouldbe
intheoppositedirection-withtheoutside
contourcounterclockwise.)
Theextremesofaglyphshouldbedefinedwith
on-curvepoints.
GlyphMetrics
Certainmetricsdefinethehorizontaldimensionsofaglyph.These
can be set using glyph metrics from the glyph menu, or by
draggingthetopoftheredandgreenverticalmarkers.
TheAdvanceWidth (AW),LeftSideBearing (LSB)andRightSide
Bearing(RSB)determinethespacingbetweencharacters.
AW=LSB+characterwidth+RSB
Points incrementing clockwise
Points incrementing anti-clockwise
H Advance Width
RSB LSB
20.
AppendixII(continued)
FontMetrics
CertainmetricsdefinetheverticaldimensionsofcharactersinanOpenTypefont:
ASCENDER: Heightofascender(usuallyheightof‘b’)
DESCENDER:Heightofdescender(usuallydepthof‘p’)
CAPSHEIGHT: Heightofuppercasecharacters(defn:heightof‘H’)
‘x’HEIGHT: Heightoflowercasecharacters(defn:heightof‘x’)
BASELINE: Aty=0
Donotconfusetheascenderanddescenderwithascentanddescent(calledWinAscentand
WinDescentinmetricsfromthefontmenu).Ascentanddescentdefinetheupperandlower
limitsofallglyphs–anythingoutsidetheselimitswillbeclipped.
TheEMsquaredeterminesthesizeofthefontwhenitisdisplayed.Forexample,whenthefont
isdisplayedat12points,theEMsquarewillbe12pointshigh(1point=1/72inch).
TheEMsquarewastraditionally(fromtype-settingdays)definedasthesizeofanuppercase‘M’,
buttypicallytheEMsquareencompassestheascendersanddescenderswithsomeextra
(internal)leadingaswell.
ThesizeoftheEMsquareisusuallysetat2048unitsforaTrueTypeorOpenTypeTTfont,and
usuallysetat1000unitsforOpenTypePSfonts.
StandardGlyphs
ItisstandardforaOpenTypefonttocontainmappingtotheMacintoshRomancharacterset,
evenifthefontisonlytobeusedforMicrosoftWindows.Also,tomeetApplespecifications,the
firstfourglyphsofaOpenTypeFontshouldbethese:
GLYPH#0 Usedforundefinedcharacters-normallyaboxshape
GLYPH#1 Specialglyphwithnocontours,andzerowidth
GLYPH#2 CRcharacter-nocontours,butwithadefinedwidth(mappedto0009and000D)
GLYPH#3 Thespacecharacter-nocontours,butwithadefinedwidth(mappedto0020)
Visitthetypographylinkshereformoreinformation:cr8software.net/links.html
x b p H
Ascender Caps height
Baseline
Descender
‘x’ height
21.
AppendixIII-PostScript,TrueTypeandOpenType
CurvesandOutlines
Outlines(thecurvesthatformcharacters)arestoredasaseriesofpoints,usingoneoftwo
methodstomathematicallydescribetheirshape.WecansaythatfontseitherhavePostScript
outlinesorTrueTypeoutlines.Thisappendixbrieflydescribesthedifferencebetweenthetwo,
andtheimplicationsforfontcreationandediting.
TypesofOutlineFonts
TrueType
extension:.ttf
TrueTypeoutlines
Type1(notsupportedbyTypelight3.2)
extension:.pfb&.pfm
PostScriptoutlines.
OpenType(TT)
extension:.ttf
TrueTypeoutlines.ActuallyidenticaltoTrueTypefonts,
butmaycontainadditionalOpenTypeinformation.
OpenType(PS)
extension:.otf
PostScriptoutlines.EssentiallyType1fontswrappedina
TrueTypefilestructure.
Abode’sintentionisthatType1fontsbeeventuallyphasedoutandreplacedbyOpenTypePS
fonts.AdobeType1fontsarenotsupportedbyTypelight3.2.
TrueTypeandPostScriptOutlines
Outlinesinafontaredescribedbyaseriesofpoints.Todescribeastraightline,youonlyneedto
specifytheco-ordinatesofthetwoendpoints,buttospecifyacurve,youneedsomeextrapoints
inbetween.Amathematicalequationcalledabeziercurveisused.
Fig.1ashowsacurvedescribedbytwoendpointsand
twooff-curvepoints.Thisisaquadraticbezier,or
TrueTypeoutline.
Fig.1bshowsthesamecurvewiththreenodesandtheir
controlpoints.Thisisacubicbezier,orPostScriptoutline.
22.
AppendixIII(continued)
Infact,quadraticbeziersareasubsetofcubicbeziers,soanyTrueTypecurvecanbeconverted
exactly toaPostScriptone (like inFigure1).Conversion intheotherdirectionisnotsosimple,
anditmayrequireseveralquadraticcurvestoapproximateaparticularcubicbezier.
Fig.2ashowsacircularcurverepresentedbya
PostScriptoutline.
Fig.2b,theequivalentTrueTypeoutline,requires
manymorepointsandisonlyanearapproximation
totheoriginalcurve.
SoconversionofTrueTypefontstoPostScriptonesisanexactscience(asidefromotherfactors
such as scale and hinting), but conversion of PostScript fonts to TrueType is only a close
approximation. Most commercial TrueType fonts are designed as PostScript curves, and then
convertedtoTrueType.
BecausePostScriptcurvesareasupersetofTrueType,agreaterrangeofcurvescanbedrawn
withfewerpoints,makingdesignmucheasier.Sothecubicbezier,withitsnodesandcontrol
points,isthedesignindustry’sdrawingstandard.
Basedonanarticle:cr8software.net/article004.html
23.
AppendixIV-KeyboardShortcuts
CTRL+O Openglyphdata
CTRL+S Saveglyphdata
ALT+O Openfontfile
ALT+S Savefontfile
ARROWKEYS Movemultipleselectedpoints(useshifttomovefaster)
+and- Magnifyandreduceglyphineditwindow
CTRL+T Toggleviewmode
CTRL+Y Togglemappingview
CTRL+K Togglepreviewfill
CTRL+H Toggleglyphpreviewpanel
CTRL+X Copywholeglyph
CTRL+C Copyselectedpoints
CTRL+V Paste
CTRL+B Pastemetricsonly
CTRL+Z Undo
CTRL+TAB Redo
CTRL+U Glyphinformation
CTRL+A Selectall
CTRL+D Selectnone
ESC/Enter Deselectpoint
CTRL+N Createanewglyph
CTRL+M Clearcurrentglyph
CTRL+P Point/nodeproperties
CTRL+E Selectcontour
8 Changetounlinkedcornercurve
9 Changetosmoothcurve
0 Changetosymmetriccurve
CTRL+R Reversecontour
CTRL+DEL Deletecontour
DEL Deleteselectedpoints
CTRL+F Setsizeofgrid
CTRL+G Show-hidegrid
F1-F6 Selecttools(1-6)
SHIFT+F1-F4 Selecttools(7-10)
24.
Copyright
Typelight3.2isCopyright©2013CR8SoftwareSolutionsLimited("SoftwarePublisher").
Allrightsreserved.
ThisEndUserLicenseAgreementaccompaniestheTypelight3.2fonteditor("Software")and
appliestoallassociatedfiles(exceptthirdpartyfonts),anyupgrades,documentation,modified
versionsorupdatesoftheSoftware.
1.USEOFTHESOFTWARE.
YoumayusetheSoftwareproductfortheproductionoffontsforpersonalorlimitedcommercial
use(youcansellfontsproducedbythesoftwareifyouarenotabusiness,andsellingfontsisnot
yourprimaryincome).TheSoftwaremaynotbeusedinanyothercommericialcapacity(including
theproductionoffontsforsalebyafoundryoreditingoralteringofexistingfontsforprinting,
designorotherindustrialorcommercialuse).
2.COPYRIGHT.
TheSoftwareiscopyrightoftheSoftwarePublisher.Youmaynotcopy,sellorredistributethe
Software.ThisAgreementdoesnotgrantyouanyintellectualpropertyrightsinTheSoftware.
3.RESTRICTIONS.
Youagreenottomodify,adapt,translate,reverseengineer,decompile,disassembleorotherwise
attempttodiscoverthesourcecodeoftheSoftware.Youmaynotalterormodifytheinstaller
programorcreateanewinstallerfortheSoftware.
4.LIMITEDWARRANTY
InnoeventwilltheSoftwarePublisherbeliableforindirect,special,incidental,tort,economic,
coverorconsequentialdamagesarisingoutoftheuseoforinabilitytousetheSoftware,
including,withoutlimitation,damagesorcostsrelatingtothelossofprofits,business,goodwill,
dataorcomputerprograms,evenifadvisedofthepossibilityofsuchdamages.Innocaseshall
theSoftwarePublisherbeliableformoneydamagesexceedtheamountpaidbyyouforthe
Softwareoutofwhichsuchclaimarose.TheSoftwarePublisherlimitsliability,accordingtothe
termsofthisAgreement,totheextentpermissibleatlaw.
5.THIRDPARTYCOMPONENTS
ThisEndUserLicenseAgreementdoesnotapplytocertainthirdpartyfontsbundledwiththis
package.Thesefonts,andtheirrespectivelicenses,arecontainedinthe/encsubdirectoryofthe
installdirectory.
TheFreeTypelibrary(freetype6.dll)isusedanddistributedundertheFreeTypeProjectLicense.
Seefreetype-license.txtintheinstalldirectory.
YOURACCEPTANCEOFTHEFOREGOINGAGREEMENTWASINDICATEDDURINGINSTALLATION.
©2013CR8SoftwareSolutionsLimited
Unit5,158HendonAvenue,Auckland1025,NewZealand.
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