Why are intersecting coordinates bad?

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jamadagni
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Why are intersecting coordinates bad?

Post by jamadagni »

I just ran the Validator over my font and it highlighted lots of minor nitty gritties as well as some major ones. One thing I am curious about is, why are intersecting coordinates bad?

Googling produced this page where someone else had this question but an answer somehow did not seem to address the actual question (while I can understand that a badly designed font can cause problems in 3D projection, which was the point that person was making).

Is the above (3D thing) the only issue or what are any other issues with intersecting coordinates?
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Bhikkhu Pesala
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Re: Why are intersecting coordinates bad?

Post by Bhikkhu Pesala »

I have run into real world problems with fonts having off-curve extremes, but so far not with intersecting co-ordinates. Possibly, applications might have problems with filling them properly — but I don't know to be honest. The answer above seems like a valid reason to avoid them.

Since they're easy to fix, its better to fix them. Use the validation toolbar, and zoom right in. Grab the nearest node and move it around to see what's causing the problem.

More serious problems are caused by fonts with a very large number of contours and/or nodes. Older computers can slow down to a crawl just rendering some complex fonts.
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vanisaac
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Re: Why are intersecting coordinates bad?

Post by vanisaac »

My understanding is that it can cause inconsistencies in rendering. Some programs will display a self-crossing area as white, instead of black, and they can't compensate like they can for an uncrossing contour with the wrong winding. In other words, your FCP preview may not be what shows up with some rendering engines if you cross a contour over itself.
Dave Crosby
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Re: Why are intersecting coordinates bad?

Post by Dave Crosby »

Different programs will interpret the glyphs differently as they use different rules.
What you see in one application is NOT what you get with another.
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