Can I use scripting to color Arabic diacritical marks (e.g., red) for export?


Hello Mr. Erwin,

I’m currently exploring ways to enhance the readability of Arabic fonts by visually distinguishing diacritical marks (e.g., fatha, damma, sukun) through color — ideally red — to differentiate them from base glyphs.

I understand that FontCreator allows internal glyph coloring via the UI or scripting for visual aid, but I’m specifically asking:

Can I use a script within FontCreator to apply color (such as red) to Arabic marks — in a way that is retained in the exported font and visible in applications (using COLR/CPAL or SVG)?

More specifically:

Is it possible to programmatically create and assign color layers to mark glyphs via scripting?

Does the scripting API support applying COLR/CPAL tables or SVG layers?

If not fully achievable through scripting, what is the best (semi-automated) workflow for doing this?

:warning: I’m asking because I’ve tried doing this manually but encountered technical limitations inside FontCreator.

If anyone already has a working script for this kind of task, I would be extremely grateful if they could kindly share it.
The goal is to implement this coloring efficiently for use in educational or Quranic fonts, where colored marks are essential.

Many thanks in advance!

Warm regards,
El Kharbouchi
(Calligrapher & Font Developer)

This is very easy to accomplish.

Make sure the selected color on the Palette panel is set to red or any other color you prefer. Then select all marks in the glyph overview and right-click Color → Colorize to Selected Color.

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