I've just finished creating my very first font. I've done it with a bamboo graphic-tablet, hence it is not dissimilar to my own handwriting. yet i have tried to embellish each letter in order to not make it look as if it were written by hand.
I'd be glad if someone could give me a little feedback and told me what i could increase in quality.
http://rapidshare.com/files/81774446/Ph ... g.rar.html
My first font
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Bhikkhu Pesala
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Here's a few things I noticed:
1. You used pixel import instead of the default trace import. This results in hundreds of nodes and makes the font nearly impossible to edit. Try a smooth trace setting.
2. Some of the edited glyphs like "a" now have flat line endings instead of rounded endings. The serifs should all be the same. Since this is a felt-tip pen designed font, round endings work best.
3. The weight of "z", "5" and "N" is greater than for the rest of the font. Probably you drew these letters too small and resized them to match the other letters. In view of point 1, try drawing the font again, scan again, and import with the trace smooth (or super smooth) setting.
4. Don't forget to do the punctuation. You have a comma and full-stop so you could make a semicolon, but you also need curly quotes, asterisk, back slash, square brackets, forward slash, hyphen, curly brackets, etc.
5. Line spacing is too tight. This can be fixed easily with Format, Settings, Metrics, Maximum, Calculate.
6. Letter-spacing is too tight. A quick fix is Tools, Autometrics, select all, Calculate, White space before (about 40) white space after (about 30). Fine tuning can be done later for individual letters, but autometrics will loosen the font up a bit.
7. The @ symbol is too small. In most fonts it is the same size as Capitals. Draw it bigger before scanning rather than resizing afterwards.
8. Try to avoid long swashes like on the "g" and "y." These can look very nice in handwriting fonts done with a calligraphic pen, but unless they are designed very carefully you get clashes between letters. In the font test window type hg, hy, hj, fj, etc., to see the problem caused by swashes.
See my Hattha handwriting font for an example of how to turn rough handwriting into smooth letter forms. My draft was very rough, and each letter was manually edited in Font Creator. This method takes a lot of work. It is much better if you can draw the letters the right shape in the first place.
1. You used pixel import instead of the default trace import. This results in hundreds of nodes and makes the font nearly impossible to edit. Try a smooth trace setting.
2. Some of the edited glyphs like "a" now have flat line endings instead of rounded endings. The serifs should all be the same. Since this is a felt-tip pen designed font, round endings work best.
3. The weight of "z", "5" and "N" is greater than for the rest of the font. Probably you drew these letters too small and resized them to match the other letters. In view of point 1, try drawing the font again, scan again, and import with the trace smooth (or super smooth) setting.
4. Don't forget to do the punctuation. You have a comma and full-stop so you could make a semicolon, but you also need curly quotes, asterisk, back slash, square brackets, forward slash, hyphen, curly brackets, etc.
5. Line spacing is too tight. This can be fixed easily with Format, Settings, Metrics, Maximum, Calculate.
6. Letter-spacing is too tight. A quick fix is Tools, Autometrics, select all, Calculate, White space before (about 40) white space after (about 30). Fine tuning can be done later for individual letters, but autometrics will loosen the font up a bit.
7. The @ symbol is too small. In most fonts it is the same size as Capitals. Draw it bigger before scanning rather than resizing afterwards.
8. Try to avoid long swashes like on the "g" and "y." These can look very nice in handwriting fonts done with a calligraphic pen, but unless they are designed very carefully you get clashes between letters. In the font test window type hg, hy, hj, fj, etc., to see the problem caused by swashes.
See my Hattha handwriting font for an example of how to turn rough handwriting into smooth letter forms. My draft was very rough, and each letter was manually edited in Font Creator. This method takes a lot of work. It is much better if you can draw the letters the right shape in the first place.
Last edited by Bhikkhu Pesala on Mon Jan 07, 2008 7:59 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Erwin Denissen
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A direct download of the font file:
postedfiles/PhilHandwriting.ttf
postedfiles/PhilHandwriting.ttf
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Dave Crosby
- Typographer
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Discussion
Hi Phil,
Welcome to the club! I like your first attempt.
It is said that "Consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds."
Perhaps that is a cop out because most of us like consistency and lazy people don't want to bother with it.
Trying to keep all the letters at the same weight is the only problem I see.
I would make adjustments on those few glyphs that have wider stems than the others rather than start over.
Take ! for instance. Select the points on one side and move them toward the other side using the arrows and arrows plus Ctrl for final touches until stem width is the same as the majority of your characters.
Do the same with 5 and N and possibly a few others and you have your own unique special font.
There are things I don't like about Arial and Times New Roman, not to mention my own fonts.
Perfection is a journey, not a destination.
Welcome to the club! I like your first attempt.
It is said that "Consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds."
Perhaps that is a cop out because most of us like consistency and lazy people don't want to bother with it.
Trying to keep all the letters at the same weight is the only problem I see.
I would make adjustments on those few glyphs that have wider stems than the others rather than start over.
Take ! for instance. Select the points on one side and move them toward the other side using the arrows and arrows plus Ctrl for final touches until stem width is the same as the majority of your characters.
Do the same with 5 and N and possibly a few others and you have your own unique special font.
There are things I don't like about Arial and Times New Roman, not to mention my own fonts.
Perfection is a journey, not a destination.
Aut nunc aut nunquam
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DesolationRow
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2008 10:54 pm