I’m having a problem probably best described by the pictures below. I draw two shapes: a circle and a shape that bisects the circle on a 45 degree angle. I then use Join Contours|Exclusion, but I don’t get the correct result. It works fine if the non-circular shape is off of the circle’s center or if bisection is at an angle other than 45 (or 135, 225, 315) degrees.
I don’t think I’m doing anything wrong, but if I am, let me know. I am currenlty evaluating FontCreator 5.5 and find this “feature” very limiting.
Are there any other simple workarounds to create a semicircle rotated 45 degrees? I thought about drawing a circle, bisecting it horizontally, and then rotating it manually, but there doesn’t seem to be a way to snap the rotation or enter it with keyboard.
Thanks,
j.thomas
Get union and get exclusion of contours works in 99% of cases, but it is not perfect yet. I tried your method and it worked fine, but there are lots of other simple ways to get the same end result.
Font Creator is not a vector drawing program, but all the tools you need are there. Look at some of the Tutorials to pick up some tips on using them.
The Easy Way
- Drag a circle from the sample toolbar
- Enter Points Mode
- Drag select all the points on one side
- Delete
- Enter Contour Mode (double-click)
- Select the semicircle
- Show the Transform toolbar
- Select the rotate Tab
- Rotate 45º
- Show the Validation Toolbar
- Click to add on-curve extremes
The Very Easy Way
Circle04.png
- Enter Points Mode
- Select the Knife Tool
- Cut across the diagonal
- Press Escape key to deselect the knife tool
- Select one semicircle and delete
Because I have a lot of experience using the drawing tools in Font Creator I can do most things easily.
Some users may prefer to draw the shapes in another program and copy and paste the finished shapes into Font Creator, using its autotrace abilities to create the contours. I used that method when creating some complex symbols such as five pointed stars. It is easy to create quick shapes in Page Plus and paste them into Font Creator. This was easy in Page Plus, but would have taken ages to draw in Font Creator.
Petal01.png
One can also draw by hand, scan, and import bitmaps.
A-ha! In all my playing so far, I hadn’t discovered the transform toolbar. Guess I need to play some more. 
Thank you for your help!
j.thomas
Bhikkhu Pesala is right, the join feature isn’t perfect yet. I’ve been able to reproduce your issue and I’ll try to find a fix for it.
In your case there is an easy solution; in points mode, select the two off curve points as shown here:
Then right-click one of them and select Add Points. Now you should have two on curve points as shown below.
Note: If you see two new points added on the wrong side, your contour is not running clockwise. Press the undo button and then either change the direction of the contour, or select the two other off-curve points. And of course you need to right-click one of the selected points and select Add Points to actually add the new on curve points.
The newly added points will help the join feature succeed as shown below:
Join → Union (1 contour)
Join → Exclusion (4 contours)
Do let us know your results.
Gentlemen, thanks again. I have been able to use your suggestions (particluarly adding points on the curve) to suit my needs. The letter form I was trying to make (and have now completed) was considerably more complicated than the example I provided, but, being educated as a software engineer, I figured I would give you an easily reproducible example.
In any event, I hope that you are able to find a fix if not for any reason then to make this most excellent program that much better. [Putting my engineer hat on again, my money is on a boundary condition with atan(). ]
Regards,
j.thomas