When I created a OpenType font from a TTF to allow me to use the OpenType ligature feature, the hinting in the TTF version, when used in the OTF font, stretches the x-height in the small point sizes (<18). Am I just out of luck with this, or are there controls?
The auto hinter rounds the x height to the pixel grid, with a slight preference for rounding up. There is not much room for adjustments there, so I wonder if you can show us a sample of the original font, and the one exported by FontCreator 7 so we can better understand the problem. E.g. is this happening with all characters, or only with small letters?
It is happening with all characters. I attach a PDF to show the behavior. (I hope your rendering engine behaves the same as mine.) If one zooms in on the text, it looks just fine, of course, but for normal viewing, the smaller letters, as you say, clearly round up.
test.pdf (21.2 KB)
Let me submit a more clearly labeled version of the test file. It is best to view the changes in hinting at 100% rather than higher. At the higher zoom level, the effect on the extenders (by which I mean the ascenders and descenders) disappears.
test2.pdf (39.9 KB)