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Creating a single stroke ttf from ai files

Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 10:05 am
by elkrissobakke
Hi,

I've just downloaded a trial version of this software. I'm looking for a program which I can use to convert our old proprietary fonts (which we have drawn our selves) from our old engraving system to TrueType fonts.

All the fonts has single lines in them. When I try to import the vector files into FontCreator it force closes the vectors.

I have searched the forum for a solution to no avail, so please if the is an option I need to check to be able to import the single line vector into the software please point me in the right direction. I will ofcourse purchase a license if it works. :)

Attached is JPG files showing how the fonts are with end nodes etc. Also a small a is included as an ai file.

I hope you can help me out. :)

Re: Creating a single stroke ttf from ai files

Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 10:58 am
by Bhikkhu Pesala
Previous topics on CNC Engravers fonts seem to indicate that it's not possible or at least impractical using the TrueType format.

I have not heard of any change in recent versions, though this topic has come up several times over the years.

Re: Creating a single stroke ttf from ai files

Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 11:25 am
by elkrissobakke
Bhikkhu Pesala wrote: Fri Jan 12, 2018 10:58 am Previous topics on CNC Engravers fonts seem to indicate that it's not possible or at least impractical using the TrueType format.

I have not heard of any change in recent versions, though this topic has come up several times over the years.
Thanks for your reply. The topics I have found in the forum are quite old, so I thought perhaps there was something new on the subject. :)

Rhino has a TrueType font that is singlestroke for their software. So it is possible, but not what the ttf format was meant for.
https://wiki.mcneel.com/rhino/engravingfonts

Re: Creating a single stroke ttf from ai files

Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 11:39 am
by Erwin Denissen
We have a special private release of FontCreator that allows you to design such single stroke fonts. Since the specification only allows closed contours, FontCreator will go over the same path twice so in the end you have a single stroke font, but it actually contains a double outline, so your cutter will go through each line twice.

Here is how it looks like while designing:
SingleStrokeA.png
SingleStrokeA.png (37.27 KiB) Viewed 3917 times
I've imported your a.ai file into a new font, so you can see if it suits your needs. The exported font file is here:
SingleStrokeDoubleLine.ttf
(8.22 KiB) Downloaded 382 times

Re: Creating a single stroke ttf from ai files

Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 11:56 am
by elkrissobakke
Erwin Denissen wrote: Fri Jan 12, 2018 11:39 am We have a special private release of FontCreator that allows you to design such single stroke fonts. Since the specification only allows closed contours, FontCreator will go over the same path twice so in the end you have a single stroke font, but it actually contains a double outline, so your cutter will go through each line twice.

Here is how it looks like while designing:
SingleStrokeA.png

I've imported your a.ai file into a new font, so you can see if it suits your needs. The exported font file is here:
SingleStrokeDoubleLine.ttf
Wow, that looks like an amazing solution. :)

How do we solve the licensing?

Re: Creating a single stroke ttf from ai files

Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 12:48 pm
by Erwin Denissen
On request we send this release to users who have a license for FontCreator professional edition, so do buy that and then we'll send you a link to the special release for single stroke fonts.

Please be aware it is still a private build mainly used internally, so it has its quirks. It works but isn't always as intuitive as you would expect from commercial software.

Re: Creating a single stroke ttf from ai files

Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2018 4:33 pm
by Erwin Denissen
elkrissobakke wrote: Fri Jan 12, 2018 11:25 am Rhino has a TrueType font that is singlestroke for their software. So it is possible, but not what the ttf format was meant for.
https://wiki.mcneel.com/rhino/engravingfonts
We know which software they used to make the font ;-)

I'm pleased to tell you we've further improved the way you can design single stroke fonts with FontCreator. See this post about the details:

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=7532

And here is the font project for Capital A:
SingleStrokeDoubleLine3.fcp
(7.45 KiB) Downloaded 366 times
SingleLineA.png
SingleLineA.png (47.87 KiB) Viewed 3790 times