HI all..
My name is Holly and I am new to this Creating Fonts program..
So I have a few questions.
IS there a NEWBIE Site? If not here are some other questions..
Since I am new I do NOT know how to make my own fonts.. can someone tell me how to creat a letter in the Grid? I know how to bring in a font to edit it.. But I dont understand how I draw a letter and make my own..
Thanks a lot!!
Holly
I did read the getting started tutorial that comes with the install.
I tried to even make my OWN A… but I dont know what I am doing wrong.. How do I draw an A??? Or do I need to do it in another program and then bring it into that program and edit it only. IM SOOOO Lost!!
Holly
Nope. What you need to do is click the menu item file:new and choose the format you want (probably wgl4.ttf). Once you have a new font, double click on the character you want to create. (I think you’ve already got this far from your description) From there, you have two options: 1. Right click and select New Contour 2. or click the menu item Insert:Contour. Left click for on curve points, right click for off curve points. Place other contours inside the one’s you’ve already created to make white areas (you may need to right click and select change direction if it just draws another black contour inside the first) That should get you started and help you figure out what the tutorial is talking about.
Though you can do what Vanisac suggests, it may be better to draw it on paper first, scan it, then import the bitmaps into Font Creator. The program can create contours by tracing the bitmaps. Some people use the program to create fonts from their own handwriting. A vector drawing tool is not a very good way for creative people to work, but for adding a few special characters or extra symobls to an existing font it is fine.
I use the program only to add accents to existing fonts.
Designing a new font from scratch is a huge task. If it is to look professional, the characters must all be in perfect proportion, with the same stroke weights, same shaped serifs, same x-heights, etc.
What would you like to do with Font Creator?
Don’t knock creating the glyphs entirely within the program: The structure and mathematical precision of bezier curves allows some of us (and by “some of us” I mean “me”) to actually be artistic. I have always seriously lacked in artistic ability, but I have a highly refined aesthetic sense. Creating those curves in the program is the only way I will ever be able to impart any artistic vision.
Holly1, I would recommend you play with some existing fonts to get used to the program and learn the basics. Find a good freeware font whose author expressly allows users to modify the font (there are some - try www.1001fonts.com). Also, if you want to try scanning your own fonts into the computer, take a look at Chank’s tutorial at http://www.chank.com/howto/ for a good basic lesson.
Most of all just click on everything! You can’t hurt a font unless you save it…
Try this One: http://www.1001fonts.com/font_details.html?font_id=1069
Just kidding. I hope that you are not too prickly.
Holly. This is it. You are already on the Newbie site. Apart from Erwin and a few others we are all pretty new to this font creating business. It is a case of learning on the job. If you give us a better idea of what exactly you want to do we can give more useful help.