tangency and importing dxf files

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1

Hello,

I’m using a trial version of FontCreator to see if it will fill our need. I have 2 questions:

  1. Is there a way to make glyph contours perfectly tangent?

  2. Alternatively, is there a way to import a dxf file to be used as the glyph boundary? I can easily make dxf files with the tangency I need.

(Backgroud to my questions: I’m trying to create fonts to be used in CREO, a 3d modeling software. The glyph boundary curves have to be tangent to work properly in CREO and ultimately be exported to a CNC machine to engrave the letters.)

Thanks for the help.

Mark

2

The Standard and Professional editions of FontCreator include the font validation feature. This will fix the curves so that there are no off-curve extreme co-ordinates.

PDF or Adobe Illustrator files can be imported to FontCreator.

3

So dxf files are a no go. It seemed that way, but I wanted to make sure.

I will check out the font validation feature and let you know if it works for me.

Thanks for the quick reply.

4

The validation feature pointed out points that could be an issue, but it didn’t tell me anything about tangency. I’m going to submit a help ticket through the website. Thanks for your help though.

Mark

5

I attach some test files exported from a project I am working on in Serif DrawPlus X8. They are in a 7-Zip archive (a free application well worth getting if you work with fonts as they compress much better than with standard zip).

  • DXF format won’t import
  • PDF format imports OK
  • EPS format imports OK

Vector import has some limitations. You will need to fix the direction of some contours after importing, and resize the glyph to suit your needs.
GBA.7z (29.2 KB)

6

In point mode select all points, then right-click and select the Smooth… feature. See:
http://www.high-logic.com/fontcreator/manual9/points.html