newbie: need help in creating font

[Dave_Crosby]

Hi Chandan,

And a wonderful New Year to you!

1. I am able to create new glyphs as per your suggested option 1. But, I don’t have any PostScript names for my characters. They are symbols used in a particular field of medicine, which till now, was done by hand. So, what can I do to introduce new PostScript names. Also, if in case there are similar looking symbols that have already been encoded, how do I verify that. Does there exist any database where I can go and check ?

Bhikkhu Pesala is by far my superior in this field. You might check with him.

In the meantime, see if you can find your field in this topic:

How to add characters defined in the Supplementary Planes...

[updated February 24, 2010] Note: This tutorial has specific parts for the two editions of FontCreator. In the Professional Edition, you can insert characters through the Insert Character feature. This ensures all required mappings and platforms are automatically updated. You can accomplish the same with the Home Edition, but it requires more steps. [updated September 21, 2009] How to add characters defined in the Supplementary Planes to an existing font? Within a font the glyphs are mapped …

2. Your suggested option 2 looks much simpler for me as a beginner. But, will there be any problem if I simply overwrite the glyph meant for A,B,C etc with my symbols. Eg. when I install the test font, pressing A would print the character that I have overwritten on glyph A. But that glyph would still have the PostScript name as ‘A’. Am I correct ? Would that be the correct way to develop a new font ?

You can change the post script name to anything you wish, and that name will show in FC or MainType, but as long as it is mapped to A or B, when your document is opened with another font, A and B will show up where your glyph was. If that does not bother you, then it works fine.
Option 1 is best if you want a permanent font usable by others.

3. Regarding the size of my glyph, it has a height of about 1500. But, still it appears small at font size 12. I can stretch the glyph sidebars horizontally. Is there any way to stretch them vertically as well ?

Go to Contour Mode and use the mouse to select all contours. They will turn red, and there will be a box around them. grabbing any side OR corner allows you to squeeze or stretch in that direction. You may have to re-select to change to an opposite side or corner.

Why not stretch it as high and wide as you need to for it to look the way you want at 12?

You must stay within the solid black lines at the top and bottom of your glyphs. They indicate Win Ascent and Win Descent. Anything extending beyond them will be clipped off.