I am just starting out with FC by modifying an existing font. I want to go to certain characters and stretch out part of the glyph. I see that in contour mode, I can stretch the whole glyph, but I only want to stretch part of it. I also see that in point mode, I can select the points controlling the part of the glyph I want to stretch, but I don’t see any way of stretching the selected area. Any suggestions?
You can use the freehand selection tool to select the nodes you want to move. Then you can move them accurately with the keyboard cursor keys using Shift (100 funits) or Control key (1 funit) Modifiers.
See my tutorial on using the Glyph Transformation feature to make Small Capitals fonts.
Thanks for your reply. I already understand how to move part of a glyph. But I don’t want to move the part, I want to stretch it.
Your glyph transformation tutorial tells me how to programmatically stretch or squash an entire glyph, but it doesn’t tell me how to stretch or squash a part.
Do you know Hindi? I am modifying a Devanagari font intended for Sanskrit. This font has only one width of the i-matra, the “i” character that goes between the consonants. I want to make several versions of the i-matra, with various widths. This means leaving the danda portion alone, and stretching the top arc.
You can cut the top stroke off with the knife tool, making it a separate contour, stretch it, then select the two contours and rejoin them with “Get Union of Contours”, however, if you do it this way the stroke weight gets thicker. I think it is better to move the nodes.
Stretching and Moving.png
I made two copies of the top contour, stretched one in contour mode, and moved the nodes of the other in points mode.
I don’t think there is anything to be gained from cutting and rejoining the top stroke. Just add a couple of nodes and move the right part of the top stroke horizontally.
Moved.png