Sorry if you already have this question or tutorial. Also, I am new to font production, so there may be some misunderstandings.
This question text is written using machine translation.
As the title says, I want to create glyph slots that conform to the Adobe-Japan1-7 (AJ1-7) glyph set.
I am currently trying to create an OpenType CID font that contains kanji, hiragana, katakana, and symbols used in Japanese.
In FontForge, I was able to batch create glyph slots by importing a .cidmap file for AJ1-6 (or my own 7) that came with the software.
However, .cidmap files are a FontForge proprietary format, and I could not find such a feature in FontCreator.
How can I create a batch of empty glyph slots that conform to a specific glyph set?
If I could find this feature, it would motivate me to purchase the full version of FontCreator.
FontCreator does not support CID fonts directly, but you can insert character ranges into a font, and add substitutions and Unicode Variation Sequences to achieve similar functionality.
The Adobe-Japan1 character set is quite extensive, and it includes a wide range of glyphs that are covered by several Unicode ranges. While Adobe-Japan1 spans across multiple supplements (AJ1-0 to AJ1-7), here are the major Unicode ranges that cover most of the characters included in the set:
CJK Unified Ideographs (U+4E00 to U+9FFF)
This range includes the majority of the kanji used in Japanese and Chinese writing systems.
It covers thousands of characters, including the basic kanji used in everyday Japanese.
CJK Unified Ideographs Extension A (U+3400 to U+4DBF)
This range includes additional kanji that are used less frequently, but are still part of the extended character set.
CJK Unified Ideographs Extension B (U+20000 to U+2A6DF)
This extension includes rare and historical characters, mostly used in older texts or for specialized purposes.
Hiragana (U+3040 to U+309F)
Hiragana is one of the syllabaries used in the Japanese writing system, and this range covers all hiragana characters.
Katakana (U+30A0 to U+30FF)
Katakana is the other syllabary used in Japanese, primarily for foreign words, loanwords, and onomatopoeia.
Kanbun (U+3190 to U+319F)
This range includes annotation characters used for classical Chinese texts in Japan.
CJK Symbols and Punctuation (U+3000 to U+303F)
This range includes punctuation marks and symbols commonly used in Japanese text, such as iteration marks and corner brackets.
Enclosed CJK Letters and Months (U+3200 to U+32FF)
This range includes encircled letters and numbers, often used for lists or markers in Japanese.
CJK Compatibility Ideographs (U+F900 to U+FAFF)
This range includes characters that are duplicates of existing Unicode characters but are included for compatibility with older encoding systems.
CJK Compatibility Forms (U+FE30 to U+FE4F)
This range includes vertical forms and punctuation specific to East Asian languages, including Japanese.
Halfwidth and Fullwidth Forms (U+FF00 to U+FFEF)
This range includes characters that are commonly used in typesetting East Asian text, such as fullwidth Latin letters, punctuation, and katakana.
Katakana Phonetic Extensions (U+31F0 to U+31FF)
This range includes additional katakana characters used for the Ainu language, which uses an extended set of katakana.
By combining these Unicode ranges, you can cover the vast majority of characters included in the Adobe-Japan1 set, including kanji, hiragana, katakana, and symbols.
When working with the Adobe-Japan1 character set, you should consider including Ideographic Variation Sequences. These sequences allow for the use of different glyphs for the same base character, which is particularly important for East Asian scripts where regional and stylistic variations exist.
In FontCreator you have to add these to the list of Unicode Variation Sequences (UVS).