I have been creating fonts for about 2 years now using Corel. It may not be the best but I have familiarized myself with the process and am comfortable with it. I purchased FCP in hopes that it would be easier, but never really caught on to it. I use it only in naming and copyrighting. I have just downloaded the newer version 3.1 to try out if I have the time.
Though I us a PC I really need a program that I can use to comvert fonts for use on Mac. I am trying to decide between Font Lab (very expensive) and Fontographer (also rather expensive compaired to FCP).
Any comments, suggestions, help in general about any or all of these programs would be much appreciated..... See my web site www.signfonts.com
Steve Contreras
FCP,Font Lab,Fontographer, Corel.
-
Steve Contreras
- Posts: 23
- Joined: Sun Nov 10, 2002 4:44 pm
- Location: Ft. Worth, TX
- Contact:
-
carterhouse
- Posts: 9
- Joined: Fri Oct 04, 2002 8:32 pm
I would urge you to keep trying with Font Creator. Play with editing some of your existing fonts and you may get the hang of it. I assure you, Fontographer will not be easier. I've never used Font Lab, so I can't comment on that.
You might also post a request in the High-Logic forum for a conversion feature in future versions of Font Creator.
If you need conversion capabilities and don't want to pay retail for fontographer, check out Ebay.com. Just type "fontographer" in the search window and see what is available. Occasionally, copies show up for PC, however, most copies for sale on Ebay seem to be for Mac. It is worth the hunt, if you want to save money.
There is also an educational version of Fontographer that is cheaper (around $125.00) if you qualify as a student or teacher. Try finding it on one of those price comparison websites.
You might also post a request in the High-Logic forum for a conversion feature in future versions of Font Creator.
If you need conversion capabilities and don't want to pay retail for fontographer, check out Ebay.com. Just type "fontographer" in the search window and see what is available. Occasionally, copies show up for PC, however, most copies for sale on Ebay seem to be for Mac. It is worth the hunt, if you want to save money.
There is also an educational version of Fontographer that is cheaper (around $125.00) if you qualify as a student or teacher. Try finding it on one of those price comparison websites.
-
Bhikkhu Pesala
- Top Typographer
- Posts: 9875
- Joined: Tue Oct 29, 2002 5:28 am
- Location: Seven Kings, London UK
- Contact:
Font Creater is Best on the PC
If you use a PC, then Font Creator is excellent. If you want to create fonts for use on the MAC, better use a MAC. There is a shareware program called Crossfont (and others no doubt) that will convert TTF files to the MAC platform. Just out of curiosity, I downloaded it, and converted both ways without any noticeable loss of data. But since I don't have a MAC I cannot tell how good the fonts are on a MAC.
I used Corel Draw 3.0 then 4.0 for many years to edit Truetype fonts because Fontographer was hundreds of pounds more expensive. I tried it on a friend's machine, and found it easy enough to use, but we had some problems with the fonts on his HP Laserjet IV. I don't doubt that it is a professional package, but unless you are a professional font editor, Font Creator is going to be easier to learn.
Corel Draw is very limited for font editing. It can only handle the ANSI character set for a start. All copyright information is lost, underlining is lost, hinting is lost, composite characters (letters with accents) are not supported and the program crashes frequently when exporting characters to certain fonts. Nor does it support the Euro Sign. For editing outlines it is better than Font Creator, and if you are familiar with it, easier to use. You have the benefit of more flexible guidelines, layers, etc. So you could use it for the initial task of creating the basic outlines.
However, you can only edit one character at a time. In Font Creator you can load all four typefaces of a font at once and compare them side by side. You can edit all of the font's parameters, naming, copyright info etc., and test and install fonts for $50. That is about ¼ of what I paid for Corel Draw 3.0 just before Corel Draw 4.0 came out.
Most people seem to be using Font Creator to create fonts from their handwriting, but is a serious tool with which one can produce professional results. However, professional results take a lot of study and effort. To make a font that works on both Windows and MAC is not a simple task.
Try to create one decent font for the PC first, and then use a shareware program to convert it. If the results are satisfactory on the MAC, register the shareware program and keep using Font Creator. If the fonts don't convert well, you will still have a good Truetype font for the PC, and can import it into Fontographer or Fontlab on the MAC for any final tweaking necessary.
I used Corel Draw 3.0 then 4.0 for many years to edit Truetype fonts because Fontographer was hundreds of pounds more expensive. I tried it on a friend's machine, and found it easy enough to use, but we had some problems with the fonts on his HP Laserjet IV. I don't doubt that it is a professional package, but unless you are a professional font editor, Font Creator is going to be easier to learn.
Corel Draw is very limited for font editing. It can only handle the ANSI character set for a start. All copyright information is lost, underlining is lost, hinting is lost, composite characters (letters with accents) are not supported and the program crashes frequently when exporting characters to certain fonts. Nor does it support the Euro Sign. For editing outlines it is better than Font Creator, and if you are familiar with it, easier to use. You have the benefit of more flexible guidelines, layers, etc. So you could use it for the initial task of creating the basic outlines.
However, you can only edit one character at a time. In Font Creator you can load all four typefaces of a font at once and compare them side by side. You can edit all of the font's parameters, naming, copyright info etc., and test and install fonts for $50. That is about ¼ of what I paid for Corel Draw 3.0 just before Corel Draw 4.0 came out.
Most people seem to be using Font Creator to create fonts from their handwriting, but is a serious tool with which one can produce professional results. However, professional results take a lot of study and effort. To make a font that works on both Windows and MAC is not a simple task.
Try to create one decent font for the PC first, and then use a shareware program to convert it. If the results are satisfactory on the MAC, register the shareware program and keep using Font Creator. If the fonts don't convert well, you will still have a good Truetype font for the PC, and can import it into Fontographer or Fontlab on the MAC for any final tweaking necessary.
-
Steve Contreras
- Posts: 23
- Joined: Sun Nov 10, 2002 4:44 pm
- Location: Ft. Worth, TX
- Contact:
Since my first post I have been working with FCP, editing nodes and spacing. It is really much better than corel. But I think corel will still be better for designing. I still cant export charactor but once the font is created, FCP is great for editing. And the best part is I can now do auto kerning! Wish I had tried it sooner. I am marketing my fonts via the internet and still need to offer Mac versions.
Thanks a bunch for the input.
Steve
signfonts.com
Thanks a bunch for the input.
Steve
signfonts.com