New to font creation

[laasr]

hi,

I'm sort of new to font creation and I think it's time I jumped into it. So I started googling up and came across fontcreator. I started looking for the comparison charts of fontcreator vs fontlab studio and I came across a very old article posted in 2008 which didn't help. So my basic question is what are the key features and missing features of fontcreator vs fontlab as of this point?

Thanks

[Bhikkhu Pesala]

If you're new to creating fonts, the various features probably won't mean much to you.

A few things that FontLab Studio (US$649) has that FontCreator Pro ($199.00) doesn't

1. Mac version
2. Support for Type 1 fonts
3. Multiple master fonts

A few things that FontCreator has that FontLab doesn't

1. Colour font support for Windows 8.1
2. Export/Import Web Fonts (*.woff)

If you tell us what kind of fonts you want to create, and for what purpose, we can give you a few pointers.

[laasr]

Thanks for replying so soon.

When you mean type 1 fonts or multiple master fonts, what's that? Can you explain that to me like I'm a 5 yr old?

Thanks


My goal:
Create artwork in Illustrator and then import it to fontcreator and then work from there. Most likely the kinda stuff I'd be working on specificially are brush fonts, script, cursive. From time to time I'd like to do a few serifs, sans serifs, maybe even black letter but that's not in the priority list. If I do make these as fonts, I'd like to be able to let people use it if they wish be it whatever format TrueType, OpenType or whatever it is that works across most platforms. Lastly I'd like to make my own ligatures for some of the commont fonts that exist already.

[Bhikkhu Pesala]

When you mean type 1 fonts or multiple master fonts?

If you don't know what they are, then you probably don't need to create them.

Google is your friend if you want to learn more: Postscript and Truetype

Create artwork in Illustrator and then import it to fontcreator and then work from there.

FontCreator can import AI files as vectors, so you shouldn't have any problems producing Truetype or OpenType fonts. You can do most of the drawing in Illustrator, and adjust the spacing and kerning in FontCreator later.

If the fonts are for commercial use, you need the Pro version. See the comparison chart for details. Later, when you become skilled at the basic font creation process, the automation in the Pro Edition will save you a lot of time. If you're only producing a few fonts for personal use, then the Home Edition may be enough for you. You can always upgrade later.

Simple ligatures like ff, fi, fl can be encoded as Alphabetic Presentation forms. The default script will produce OpenType fonts that will automatically substitute these ligatures when a user types ff, fi, fl, etc. However, that's only true if the user is using a program that supports OpenType features (e.g. Word 2000) and has enabled ligatures. Users of other applications will have to insert the Alphabetic Presentation Forms from a character map.

[MikeW]

I would like to add something about the 3 items that Bhikkhu lists that Fontlab can do versus FontCreator.

#s 2 & 3. The only product of Fontlab's I like is TransType. I have used Fontlab and TypeTool (and Fontographer before Fontlab. I used versions when owned by both Altsys and Macromedia). TransType will convert Type 1 fonts and Multiple Masters (and TrueType Collections) to TrueType or Opentype formats. And it is cheap, currently @ $39 USD. So for anyone reading along now or in the future, if you have a library of Type 1 fonts, like I do, and want to be able to use FontCreator to alter/update them, this is the way to go.

***Edit to Add*** My upgrade to TransType was $39, the purchase price is $99. Sorry for the misinformation above. Still, I have over 2000 fairly unique fonts I culled from many thousands. So for me it was worth it.

FWIW, having used FontCreator for less than a year, I think it is far easier to use than Fontlab, produces fonts in less time. Works well in conjunction with AI and with my main drawing application, Xara Designer Pro. However, if you do not presently have AI and need a less expensive vector drawing application to draw the glyphs in than either AI or Xara, there are less expensive options than Xara Designer Pro that Xara makes. But also there is Serif's DrawPlus. Usually the previous version can be bought from Serif for an incredibly cheap price. Serif DrawPlus X6 is the current version, so go for DrawPlus X5.

In all cases, I set up a page size with guidelines that with a little trial and error for the sizing of the page and the placement of the guidelines, I copy and paste the outlines into FontCreator.

Mike

[laasr]

Thanks Bhikku and Mike. That should be ample info.

Cheers