Typo Line Gap

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Karin1610
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Typo Line Gap

Post by Karin1610 »

I know there are already threads about this topic out there, but I just still don't really get it.
No matter what value I set this metric to, when I test the font, nothing changes. Not in Word, not in Open Office and not in Corel Draw.
What is actually the point of it?
Bhikkhu Pesala
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Re: Typo Line Gap

Post by Bhikkhu Pesala »

I think that not many programs support Typo Line Gap.

Use Line Gap This works for me in LibreOffice:
Line Gap.png
Line Gap.png (17.51 KiB) Viewed 7809 times
  1. Make sure that line-spacing is set to "Single"
  2. Change the line gap
  3. Test the font (F5)
  4. With the Font Test dialogue still open, select the test font and apply it to the selected text. If it is what you want, save the changes to your font.
  5. Uninstall the old version
  6. Install the new version
Test Font.png
Test Font.png (10.58 KiB) Viewed 7808 times
Top is the default version with Line Gap = 0
Bottom is the test version with Line Gap = 600
Line Spacing.png
Line Spacing.png (7.57 KiB) Viewed 7808 times
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Karin1610
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Re: Typo Line Gap

Post by Karin1610 »

Thanks for the screenshots!
I don't have LibreOffice, so I guess I don't have any program to test it with. Too bad that the font test feature doesn't support this. It would be very useful if there was a way to test it within FontCreator.
Anyway, am I correct that what the font test window shows is the same as Typo Line Gap and/or Line Gap set to 0? That would be just right for me, but when I click "Calculate" the value for Typo Line Gap is set to 205 (while Line Gap is at 0 anyway). I'm not sure if I should trust the calculation and leave it there or just change it to 0 too.
Bhikkhu Pesala
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Re: Typo Line Gap

Post by Bhikkhu Pesala »

Karin1610 wrote: Sun Sep 03, 2017 6:10 pmI don't have LibreOffice, so I guess I don't have any program to test it with.
As the name implies LibreOffice is completely free. It is a new branch of OpenOffice, which is no longer being developed.

You seem to have OpenOffice and Word. You can use any program that allows you to select fonts and set line-spacing to "Single," which is the usual default setting.

Calculate sets the Typo Line Gap to 205 funits (actually 10% of the funits/em setting, which is usually 2048, but may be 4096 or 1000 in some fonts).

Calculate sets the Line Gap to 0 or more, depending on the font's design. You can manually change it if you want the default line-spacing to be greater. I typically increase it in my fonts to make the default line-spacing to 120% of the pointsize, 130%, or even 150% in the case of my Odana typeface.
Odana Metrics.png
Odana Metrics.png (1.32 KiB) Viewed 7799 times
2139+888+43 = 3070
3070/2048 = 1.4990234375
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Karin1610
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Re: Typo Line Gap

Post by Karin1610 »

Bhikkhu Pesala wrote: Sun Sep 03, 2017 6:27 pm As the name implies LibreOffice is completely free. It is a new branch of OpenOffice, which is no longer being developed.
I know, I just never had the ambition to look into something else but OpenOffice because it's still working perfectly fine and there was never any reason for me to ditch it.

Okay, so I understand about the Line Gap value.
But I've seen fonts with Typo Line Gap at 0 too. What would happen if mine was at 0 instead of the suggested 205?
I guess I don't really understand the difference between Typo Line Gap and Line Gap.
MikeW
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Re: Typo Line Gap

Post by MikeW »

Don't know if this will help you, hurt the brain or ...

https://glyphsapp.com/tutorials/vertical-metrics

Mike
Karin1610
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Re: Typo Line Gap

Post by Karin1610 »

Oh well, for some part it's enlightening, but some parts confuse me even more.
What I still don't understand is, what will actually happen if I ignore the calculated Typo Line Gap value of 205 and set it to 0? I really don't want the space between lines to be any bigger than what I see in the test font window.
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Re: Typo Line Gap

Post by Bhikkhu Pesala »

If the calculated Line Gap is more than zero, you can set it to zero. Typo Line Gap does not seem to be used by most programs.

Only increasing Line Gap will make the line-spacing greater than what you see in the Font Test window.
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Karin1610
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Re: Typo Line Gap

Post by Karin1610 »

No, the calculated Line Gap value is at zero anyway, so that's alright.
I just worried that the Typo Line Gap at 205 might make the space greater than I want in whatever program might use this value.
But I guess if hardly and program does use it, I'll just ignore it.
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Re: Typo Line Gap

Post by Alfred »

Bhikkhu Pesala wrote: Sun Sep 03, 2017 6:27 pm ... OpenOffice, which is no longer being developed.
As the Wikipedia article explains, Oracle Corporation ceased development of OpenOffice.org and donated the project to the Apache Foundation. Development of Apache OpenOffice, although theoretically ongoing, has in practice slowed to a crawl, and there are several unfixed security vulnerabilities. As things stand, LibreOffice seems a better choice.
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