Hello all - I am new to FontCreator and I am struggling to understand what setting would be appropriate settings when creating fonts that contain symbols. I want to create a symbol library that will be used in a GIS mapping application and I want to control the insertion point of the symbols. Is there documentation that describes what an appropriate Typo Ascender, Typo Descender, Win Ascent, Win Descent etc…
Thanks
I have not used a GIS mapping application and I do not understand what you mean by “the insertion point of the symbols”.
However, I have produced fonts with symbols in them for my research over a number of years and I am writing here about my experiences in the hope that that will be helpful. Please bear in mind that my fonts have only been used by me for my research and by anyone who has used them on a free download basis. Nevertheless, I have found the metric settings that I have used to be effective and to produce good results, though with my being careful about the point sizes at which I use the fonts.
I have used the following metrics.
Typo Ascender 2048
Typo Descender 0 or -768 or -1024.
If the font is of just symbols I might well use a value of 0. This is good if I am trying to produce patterns by having symbols used next to each other both left to right and up and down. I use -768 or -1024 where the symbols are in the same font as alphabetic characters where there are characters with descenders such as g, j, p, q, y.
Typo Line Gap 0
I do not know quite what that is for, so I set it to 0 and as the fonts do what I want them to do, I have not changed the value.
Win Ascent 2048
The same value as Typo Ascender.
Win Descent
The same value as Typo Descender
Ascender
The same value as Typo Ascender.
Descender
The same value as Typo Descender
Line Gap 0
As with Typo Line Gap, I do not know quite what that is for, so I set it to 0 and as the fonts do what I want them to do, I have not changed the value.
Please note that I use multiples of 256.
Something else that might be useful is that I design symbols with the follwing setting.
Tools
Grid Options…
Show Grid checked
Between grid points in units 256
Between grid points in pixels 4
Solid
I use a colour setting for the grid lines of red=244, green=209, blue=11, which is a colour that a call “fontmaking orange”. What colour to use for the grid is a matter of personal preference: I have found the fontmaking orange colour to be good as I find that it is present without being confusable with the lines of the contours and is also different from both the lines of the contours and the red lines that are in the display.
I try to make points in symbols be a multiple of 256 where possible and to have lines running along grid lines. Where the symbol needs more detail, I use multiples of 128 or even 64.
As you may know, contour points can be moved around precisely using the set if four keybord arrows keys. Direct use of an arrow key moves 10 font units. An arrow key pressed with the shift key down moves 100 font units. An arrow key pressed with the control key down moves 1 font unit. The position of a selected single point is displayed on the Statusbar. If it is not already being displayed, the Statusbar can be switched on using View Toolbars and then checking the name Statusbar in the cascaded menu.
I do most of my font designing using the arrow keys to move points around with precision.
I have found that fonts made using the above settings display well on a Windows xp system at 12 point, 24 point, 36 point and so on. The display at 18 point can be good depending upon the design of the symbol. Display at 14 point can be very poor.
If you would like to have a look at a font that I have designed where I have used the 256 font units grid for producing symbols then there are some fonts available in the Gallery forum of these forums.
One further point, it is a choice for you as to whether you make your font as an ordinary font or as a Symbol Font. I usually use an ordinary font, as that does not limit my number of symbols as much as a Symbol Font does, and I do tend to have the symbols in the same font as an alphabet. I have made at least one Symbol Font, mostly as a learning experience. However, it is a matter of choice and it depends what you are doing and, perhaps, with what application software you wish to use the font.
I hope that this helps.
William Overington
15 May 2012
This forum post is worth reading:
FontCreator for symbology in ArcGIS?
Another forum post from 2004; but might still be helpful:
Moving Origin