Open Type Font Creater Program?

[Steve Contreras]

I have done some reading on Open Type Fonts and still not clear on the differences. Not sure I ever will be completely clear. However, I was wondering if Font Creater Program will ever be upgraded to edit and or create OTF.
I am on the verge of buying FontLab. I need to create fonts for Mac as well as pc. And the demand for OTF seems to be getting greater. I have
Cross Fonts Program for converting to Data Fonts and I know that OSX will use pc TTF. but the people who use my fonts on MAC seam to be having problems with installing and font recognition in their management programs.
Will FCP ever upgrade to an OTF Creater Program? Or do I get FontLab?

[William]

Something which I have wondered about FontLab is as to whether it will produce OpenType fonts on its own or does one need to use the Microsoft VOLT software package as well?

I obtained the VOLT software some time ago and tried to produce some OpenType fonts using it, starting with fonts which I had produced using FontCreator.

It might be that I produced some perfectly good OpenType fonts, VOLT seems to indicate that I have. Yet I do not have any OpenType aware applications to test them. Specifically I tried to make the sequence ct become substituted in a display by a ct ligature glyph. I often add a ct ligature glyph at U+E707 in the Private Use Area in my fonts.

The attempt is documented in the following thread.

viewtopic.php?t=1698

I still do not know if the font works.

If it does, then maybe using FontCreator as it stands followed by using VOLT is sufficient to produce at least some OpenType fonts.

William Overington

20 December 2007

[Steve Contreras]

I have a free trial version of FontLab and you can generate OTF files. And
convert across any platform. I am still trying to learn my way around
the program. FCP is certainly much easier to use, but FontLab seems to
have many more tools.

If my understanding is correct, you may create special glyph ligatures.
such as the one mentioned "ct". So that in the OTF with a program that
is OTF compatible, if you type "c" and "t" consectutively it would
automatically insert the "ct" ligature. This would be a great tool for
script fonts. When creating scripts it is alway a problem manageing the
connection between characters that connect at top and those that connect
at the bottom. Lower case "o" could be combined with other characters
so that the connection would be different on different combination. Also
other decorative character combinations and swashes.

This is one reason for the need to create OTF as well as being compatable
with both PC and MAC.

[Bhikkhu Pesala]

IHowever, I was wondering if Font Creater Program will ever be upgraded to edit and or create OTF.

I don't know whether it will happen any time soon, although if past form is anything to go by, we can expect some improvements to FontCreator in the second quarter of next year. OpenType Support is at the top of the list of Feature Requests, but the reason it is not that high a priority in my opinion is that not many programs support OpenType features yet. I don't have a single program that does. I could add OpenType features with MS VOLT for free, but would have no way to test or use them, so I got no further than downloading VOLT.

I took another route to implement ligatures like st and ct by adding them to the Private Use Area. Your word-processor can be made to substiute them with macros. If OpenOffice or Serif PagePlus add support for OpenType features, then I may want them. If, by then, FontCreator adds support for OTT ligatures, it will be a quick task to add the Glyph Substitutions.

FontCreator's Complete Composites feature has been designed to help with the creation of ligatures so that it is relatively easy to add them to a font.

If you need to create fonts for the Macintosh, then you might have to buy FontLab. However, as you say, Windows TTF fonts should work. If you have a Mac to test them with, then perhaps you can find out what you need to do to ensure that your fonts can be installed and work as expected.

[William]

When creating scripts it is alway a problem manageing the
connection between characters that connect at top and those that connect
at the bottom. Lower case "o" could be combined with other characters
so that the connection would be different on different combination. Also
other decorative character combinations and swashes.

Some readers might like the following link.

http://www.linotype.com/1175/zapfino-family.html

I have just been having a look and if one clicks on the Usage Samples heading a page of miniatures is shown. Clicking on a miniature causes a larger version to be displayed.

William Overington

21 December 2007

[Joop Jagers]

Microsoft Word 2003 (and 2007 I assume) supports some basic OpenType features.

Bhikkhu's approach to ligatures is completely different from and incompatible with OpenType. His macros *replace* two glyphs, say f and i, with one glyph, the ligature fi. After doing this the word "fist" looks great on screenand in print, but searching for "fist" will fail. OpenType will show and print the ligature character but the text as it is saved still has the two original characters f and i, so searching for "fist" will NOT fail.

[Steve Contreras]

A few design applications that are open type friendly.

CorelDraw 9 or newer
Illustrator 9 or newer
Photoshop 5.5 or newer
InDesign 1.0 or newer
Quark 4 or newer
Freehand 10 or newer

[Erwin Denissen]

We might add more OpenType support (e.g. OpenType Layout Features) in the next release, but as Bhikkhu Pesala already mentions, this might take a while.

but the people who use my fonts on MAC seam to be having problems with installing and font recognition in their management programs.

Please see this discussion:
viewtopic.php?t=1932

I could try to add basic hinting to your font, just let me know.

[William]

Erwin wrote as follows.

We might add more OpenType support (e.g. OpenType Layout Features) in the next release, but as Bhikkhu Pesala already mentions, this might take a while.

Does "OpenType Layout Features" include the automated glyph substitution using a GSUB table or is "OpenType Layout Features" something different from automated glyph substitution please?

For me, automated Glyph Substitution is something that I would like to be able to add into my fonts. I tried with the VOLT software and it may be that I have succeeded in doing so, but I have no way of knowing that at present.

In order to break the cycle that OpenType font making support is held back because of a lack of budget software which is OpenType aware, would it be possible for High-Logic to consider producing a basic word processor that is OpenType aware please? I am thinking that maybe High-Logic would be able to use software routines used in FontCreator in order produce much of the software of such a basic word processor: is that correct please? The basic wordprocessor need only be black and white and need not export to pdf: it would however enable those of us who wish to try to produce OpenType fonts with glyph substitution to be able to test fonts and have fun using them.

William Overington

21 December 2007

[Erwin Denissen]

Does "OpenType Layout Features" include the automated glyph substitution using a GSUB table or is "OpenType Layout Features" something different from automated glyph substitution please?

Yes that's what we have in mind.

In order to break the cycle that OpenType font making support is held back because of a lack of budget software which is OpenType aware, would it be possible for High-Logic to consider producing a basic word processor that is OpenType aware please?

We have no plans that go that route. Right now we are working on a third product that is also focussed on font creation.