# Using Grayscale question. **URL:** \ **Category:** FontCreator - Support\ **Created:** [January 18, 2009, 4:09am UTC](https://forum.high-logic.com/t/using-grayscale-question/2368 "2009-01-18T04:09:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tetragramm](https://forum.high-logic.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@Tetragramm](https://forum.high-logic.com/u/Tetragramm)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 4:09am UTC](https://forum.high-logic.com/t/using-grayscale-question/2368/1 "2009-01-18T04:09:25Z")
I have a problem. I am trying to create a font based off of somebody’s handwriting, but the samples I have are so small, that I need to be able to use more that just black. For example, this is the ampersand. ampersand.jpg I don’t need to be able to view it any bigger than this, but as you can see, the gray parts are integral to how you view it. Without that, it would just be a sort of square blob. It looks good when small, but when you zoom in, you can see that it is a mass of black and gray pixels. If you remove all the light gray ones and make all the others black, it loses most of its effect. So, what I want to do, is enable grayscale in such a way that I can keep the nuances of the gray. FontCreator automatically makes it all black, but I want to prevent this. Does anyone know how? Thanks for your help. ---
**Author:** ![Bhikkhu\_Pesala](https://forum.high-logic.com/user_avatar/forum.high-logic.com/bhikkhu_pesala/32/9411_2.png) [@Bhikkhu\_Pesala](https://forum.high-logic.com/u/Bhikkhu_Pesala)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 5:52am UTC](https://forum.high-logic.com/t/using-grayscale-question/2368/2 "2009-01-18T05:52:03Z")
The only solution is to scan the handwriting at a much higher resolution. Typically, handwriting may be only 12 points high, which is 1/6th", but to make an acceptable vector outline in FontCreator you need a sample at least 200 pixels high. To use the grey pixels as well as the black ones, you need to adjust the threshold on the image import dialogue. Please see this tutorial thread: [Size Does Matter](https://forum.high-logic.com/t/import-images-the-right-way-size-does-matter/1476/1) To make fonts look better at small sizes on screen, you need to add greyscale values to the font. ---
**Author:** ![Tetragramm](https://forum.high-logic.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@Tetragramm](https://forum.high-logic.com/u/Tetragramm)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 6:20am UTC](https://forum.high-logic.com/t/using-grayscale-question/2368/3 "2009-01-18T06:20:50Z")
I don’t quite understand. It is importing the portions that are grey, but it turns them black. So it’s just a black rectangle instead of a recognizable shape. What I want is for the gray pixels to stay gray. I have added the grayscale values, but it is still all black. ---
**Author:** ![Bhikkhu\_Pesala](https://forum.high-logic.com/user_avatar/forum.high-logic.com/bhikkhu_pesala/32/9411_2.png) [@Bhikkhu\_Pesala](https://forum.high-logic.com/u/Bhikkhu_Pesala)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 8:21am UTC](https://forum.high-logic.com/t/using-grayscale-question/2368/4 "2009-01-18T08:21:19Z")
In fonts, you can have any colour you like as long as its black. You cannot even have white — only transparent. It is not a bitmap, but a vector, so pixels are either included or not included. You can adjust how many grey pixels turn to black, between none and all, but to get better quality, you must have more pixels, i.e. you must scan at a higher resolution. What greyscales will do is add grey pixels to the edges of the font when it is displayed at small sizes. Since a monitor cannot display half a pixel, it will display one grey pixel instead of one black pixel. This is a screen shot of the text on my screen magnified x 8, but the Verdana font will be all black in the FontCreator design window, and the letter “e” will be 1174 funits high by 1014 funits wide, not just 10 pixels high by 9 pixels wide. Grayscales.png ---
**Author:** ![Tetragramm](https://forum.high-logic.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@Tetragramm](https://forum.high-logic.com/u/Tetragramm)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 2:52pm UTC](https://forum.high-logic.com/t/using-grayscale-question/2368/5 "2009-01-18T14:52:55Z")
Is there anyway to specify what color if grey it goes to? ---
**Author:** ![Bhikkhu\_Pesala](https://forum.high-logic.com/user_avatar/forum.high-logic.com/bhikkhu_pesala/32/9411_2.png) [@Bhikkhu\_Pesala](https://forum.high-logic.com/u/Bhikkhu_Pesala)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 6:44pm UTC](https://forum.high-logic.com/t/using-grayscale-question/2368/6 "2009-01-18T18:44:38Z")
Never mind the output — it is the input that you need to improve to stop your glyphs looking like one black blob. Did you get any better results yet? Did you understand the issues in the Tutorial that I recommended reading? [Greyscale Rendering](http://www.high-logic.com/fontcreator/manual/grayscaleoverview.html) is done by Windows. Tables in the font can only tell Windows at what font sizes to use greyscale rendering. ---
**Author:** ![ErwinDenissen](https://forum.high-logic.com/user_avatar/forum.high-logic.com/erwindenissen/32/9430_2.png) [@ErwinDenissen](https://forum.high-logic.com/u/ErwinDenissen)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2009, 7:25pm UTC](https://forum.high-logic.com/t/using-grayscale-question/2368/7 "2009-01-18T19:25:08Z")
> [@Bhikkhu Pesala](#): > > This is a screen shot of the text on my screen magnified x 8, but the Verdana font will be all black in the FontCreator design window, and the letter “e” will be 1174 funits high by 1014 funits wide, not just 10 pixels high by 9 pixels wide. Your screenshot shows font smoothing through ClearType. That technology uses colors in subpixels on LCD screens. So the term grayscale is a bit confusing here. I think it should be renamed to Smoothing in FontCreator.