Add a Language Block using Tools.

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Dave Crosby
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Posts: 793
Joined: Mon Feb 23, 2004 1:13 pm
Location: Enoch, Utah

Add a Language Block using Tools.

Post by Dave Crosby »

Help your Font to be the best it can be:

Perhaps you have friends interested in Math, Music, and the language of Myanmar; the Buddhist nation previously known as Burma.
You can easily add pre-mapped blocks of glyph editing windows for whatever you want -IF the Unicode Consortium has accepted them. If not, :cry: you can request that your special symbols be added at
http://www.unicode.org/pending/proposals.html

(*NOTE from vanisaac: "It's not horrible, but it's not easy either. The process is definitely skewed towards the frustratingly lengthy, however. There may, in fact, be a dedicated Dantean circle of purgatory in which the Unicode Technical Committee operates. It definitely resides at a higher level than, say, the middle east peace process, but is, nonetheless, an exercise in patience and hoop-jumping."

Step 1: A quick glance at http://www.unicode.org/Public/UNIDATA/Blocks.txt provides most of the information you need.

To make sure your font covers most Latin based languages, you may wish to be sure your font contains:

0000-007F; Basic Latin
0080-00FF; Latin-1 Supplement
0100-017F; Latin Extended - A
0180-024F; Latin Extended - B
2C60-2C7F: Latin Extended - C
A720-A7FF; Latin Extended - D


How far do you want to go with Math? Do not assume I found every symbol. I'm NOT a Brilliant mathematician.

2070-209F; Superscripts and Subscripts
2150-218F; Number Forms
2200-22FF; Mathematical Operators
27C0-27EF; Misc. Math Symbols - A
2980-29FF; Misc. Math Symbols - B
1D400-1D7FF; Math Alphanumeric Symbols


If at some point an added block is larger than $FFFF, FC will automatically add the needed Unicode Platform to your font.

(NOTE from Erwin: This is only true when you use the Insert Character feature, but that is only available in the Professional Edition.)
To be sure it is there you may check at Select Format / Platform manager.
If it is not present it is easy to add. Continue with / Add / Windows / UCS-4. / OK
1AddLang-UC5-4.jpg
1AddLang-UC5-4.jpg (60.92 KiB) Viewed 11173 times
Music is a snap.
1D100-1D1FF; Musical Symbols

And now for Myanmar:
1000-109F; Myanmar
AA60-AA7F; Myanmar Extended - A


Step 2: From Tools select Glyph transformer.
1GlyphTransformer-1.jpg
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Select Characters and Glyphs, Insert Characters, and press the insert arrow.
1GlyphTransformer-2.jpg
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In the script box that appears below, type a Dollar sign "$" in front of each starting and ending block number so the computer will know the number is hexadecimal.

(NOTE from Erwin: Also you then need to select "Copy from Windows Unicode BMP (UCS-2)".)
1GlyphTransformer-3.jpg
1GlyphTransformer-3.jpg (34.12 KiB) Viewed 11173 times
This is a very powerful tool. a glimpse of it's possibilities can be found at:
http://www.high-logic.com/fontcreator/manual/index.html
Image

Step 3: All that is left is to add the glyphs.
Scroll down to the last previous characters of your font and there you will find the new editing windows.
No matter what order you put them in, they always attach at the end. If this order bothers you, when you get through adding blocks you can always Sort Characters.
1AddLang-01.jpg
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To check on which glyph belongs in each editing window, right click on the window and select the last option, Properties.
1AddLang-02.jpg
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Select the Mapping Tab and you will see the Character expected in this glyph is the Myanmar Letter GA
1AddLang-03.jpg
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If you don't know what a Myanmar GA looks like, Go to the Unicode Roadmap
AddLang-04.jpg
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AddLang-05.jpg
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Selecting any name will allow you to download a PDF about that block AND representations of the glyphs that go in each window.
Mayanmar-01.jpg
Mayanmar-01.jpg (42.54 KiB) Viewed 11172 times
Have fun!
Last edited by Dave Crosby on Sat Mar 06, 2010 7:00 pm, edited 6 times in total.
Aut nunc aut nunquam
vanisaac
Posts: 337
Joined: Sun Mar 30, 2003 1:33 pm
Location: Washington State, USA

Re: Add an Alphabet using Tools.

Post by vanisaac »

Dave Crosby wrote:You can easily add pre-mapped blocks of glyph editing windows for whatever you want -IF the Unicode Consortium has accepted them. If not, you can request that your special symbols be added at
http://www.unicode.org/pending/proposals.html
A note of warning: the Unicode proposal process is NOT a quick and easy one. Even the most forward, clear-cut, and simple proposals can take over a year to go through the Unicode proposal process. This is not a route for the faint-of-heart or the intellectual light-weight. I should know; I'm a year and a half into getting my script encoded.

-Van

P.S. if your characters are in the current version of Unicode, but FCP does not give a character name for the mappings, you can get the most recent version of the Unicode Character database at http://www.unicode.org/Public/UNIDATA/ and replace the old Blocks.txt and UnicodeData.txt files in C:/Program Files/High-Logic/Font Creator/Unicode/. Make sure to backup ALL files before replacing.
Dave Crosby
Typographer
Typographer
Posts: 793
Joined: Mon Feb 23, 2004 1:13 pm
Location: Enoch, Utah

Re: Add an Alphabet using Tools.

Post by Dave Crosby »

Thanks Van, I never went through the process. Perhaps I should have placed
a warning of some kind between Easy and the Unicode proposal process. Perhaps a smilie?
What would you suggest, :shock: or :cry: ?

Perhaps Erwin needs to add
001_tt1.gif
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or
cursing.gif
cursing.gif (1.76 KiB) Viewed 11138 times
or perhaps even
hamer.gif
hamer.gif (2.21 KiB) Viewed 11141 times
Aut nunc aut nunquam
vanisaac
Posts: 337
Joined: Sun Mar 30, 2003 1:33 pm
Location: Washington State, USA

Re: Add an Alphabet using Tools.

Post by vanisaac »

It's not horrible, but it's not easy either. The process is definitely skewed towards the frustratingly lengthy, however. There may, in fact, be a dedicated Dantean circle of purgatory in which the Unicode Technical Committee operates. It definitely resides at a higher level than, say, the middle east peace process, but is, nonetheless, an exercise in patience and hoop-jumping.

I would place the Unicode proposal process as a low-level amalgam of negotiating a treaty and defending a thesis - you have a responsibility to a community out there, and you are working with people who represent an entirely different community, but you both, generally, want the same outcome, even if you have divergent provincial interests. Like a thesis, you get to really research, think about, and come to conclusions about a mind-bogglingly arcane subject, and then have all of your research, thought, and conclusions questioned by people who have gone through the process before.

Not that I would trade the time and effort I have put into this project for something else - I'm very glad I've done this.

-Van
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