Images imported from EPS are scaled differently

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1

My artist friend has created EPS files from a vector-drawing application and I’m importing them into my font. Now the problem is even though the original EPS files are in correct size proportion to each other with varying heights, when I import them into FC, they are all squeezed to the same height. Why is this? How can I have FC maintain the original proportions when importing? Otherwise in a font of over 300 glyphs I’m forced to touch up most of them even though the input EPS are in correct form.

Please find attached a part of the font – Brahmi Tamil NGA series and the original EPS files. My artist wanted to know whether there is anything he can do during exporting the EPS files so that importing them into FC works correctly.
Tamil Brahmi NGA Series EPS.zip (14.6 KB)
Tamil Brahmi NGA Series.ttf (3.34 KB)

2

A couple of post-scripts. (no pun intended)

  1. While all glyphs are being scaled to the same height, FC is not making them all the same width (thank heavens). So one observes that the width of the glyphs does vary.

  2. See NGI and NGII which have ascenders. Also see NGU and NGUU which have descenders. The body of the NGA consonant in these glyphs is obviously smaller than that in the nominal NGA which is unchanged in NG, NGAA, NGE, NGEE, NGAI, NGO, NGOO and NGAU.

Basically I want to know what to do to get FC import all these EPS files with the original proportions without my having to resize them once more to what was essentially their original size before importing.

3

The EPS files are different sizes. I have no experience of creating EPS files, but with PDF files they must all use the same paper size, then they will import in the correct proportions. You need a bounding box that is the same for each glyph, whatever its size relative to the other glyphs.
Brahmi Glyphs.png

4

Bhikkhu, I’m not sure what you are saying. Are you advising to export to PDF rather than EPS? And how did you achieve that correctly proportioned display?

5

I am saying I don’t export to EPS, but use PDF instead. DrawPlus doesn’t export to EPS. That’s where the screen shot is from. I guess your drawing application will have a page size too. Don’t fill the entire page with the glyphs, but export the entire page as an EPS, not just the glyph.

6

Bhikkhu, please help. I have already exported 300+ glyphs. I would like to avoid re-exporting all of them individually.

When all image viewers clearly show that the exported vector images are in the proper proportion I am only getting problem in importing to FC probably because FC has no uniform frame of reference against which to judge the relative sizes of the 300 glyphs. Can you suggest what I can do to add such a uniform frame of reference to all my PDF/EPS files without having to re-export everything?

Thanks.

7

Sorry. No idea, as I said, I don’t export to EPS, and probably don’t use the program that you’re using. FontCreator needs some frame of reference to scale the glyphs. If its not there, it can only use the glyph’s bounding box.

8

I have now been successful in resizing all glyphs to the same size. I modified cheshirekow’s svg2pdf program (http://www.cheshirekow.com/redmine/projects/svg2pdf/wiki/Wiki) as follows:

In the svg2pdf.c file change the line

surface = cairo_pdf_surface_create (output_filename, width, height);

or in the svg2eps.c change the line

surface = cairo_ps_surface_create (output_filename, width, height);

to use constant values for width and height (just replace the variables width and height with a suitable integer whereby all output PDF files have the same size and FC imports the glyphs therein contained uniformly.

Thanks all.

9

Thanks for posting the solution. It may be useful to others. I have bookmarked the thread.