Fraction Divisor

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Sidehugs143
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Jan 12, 2016 6:33 am

Fraction Divisor

Post by Sidehugs143 »

I am interested in creating a stacked fraction font. I successfully generated the pre-sets that are produced when the glyph transformation script is ran, but I do not see a divisor.

I tried to create my own by setting the bearings to negative numbers. When I reviewed the font, it displayed correctly. However, when I exported the font, it did not.
Bhikkhu Pesala
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Re: Fraction Divisor

Post by Bhikkhu Pesala »

The divisor at 60600 (hex $E678) is generated from the Underscore glyph by the Transform script.

Does your font have an underscore glyph _?

Anyway, you can create your own stacking fractions divisor at 60600 (hex $E678) and it will be used by the Stacking Fractions.

See my Odana Font (attached) to see how a set of stacking fractions is designed.

Please note that running the Glyph Transform script is only an automated aid to the design process. Depending on how the digits are designed in your font, you may have a lot more work to do to make the stacking fractions look right for use with the digits. Often, they will need manual editing to fix problems like Intersecting Contours caused by the part of the script that makes the small digits bolder. This screen shot is from Calibri after running the Stacking Fractions script on it.
Intersecting Contours.png
Intersecting Contours.png (1.42 KiB) Viewed 2612 times
Attachments
Odana.otf
(1014.86 KiB) Downloaded 227 times
My FontsReviews: MainTypeFont CreatorHelpFC15 + MT12.0 @ Win 10 64-bit build 19045.2486
Sidehugs143
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Jan 12, 2016 6:33 am

Re: Fraction Divisor

Post by Sidehugs143 »

Seeing your font helped me get an idea of what I need to do in order to create my font as I want it.

Yet, perhaps I should have been more specific in describing my goal. I want to enable users to type in a numerator, then the divisor, then the denominator. I also want to map these characters to lower-case letters, so the numbers can be accessed easily.

Users would have to hit the key I assign as the divisor how ever many digits the numerator is.

Am I being clear in describing my goal? Is it even possible to do this?
Bhikkhu Pesala
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Posts: 9873
Joined: Tue Oct 29, 2002 5:28 am
Location: Seven Kings, London UK
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Re: Fraction Divisor

Post by Bhikkhu Pesala »

Open my font, open the OpenType Designer, and select the Alternative Fractions feature. Then open the code editor from the icon at top right.

Fractions are typed by the user very easily in OpenType aware applications:

3 / 4 will type ¾ if the Fraction feature is enabled
3 / 4 will type the Stacking Fraction version if the Alternative Fraction feature is enabled.

I would not recommend using any other method for typing these fractions. It's just too difficult for users.

See the attached tutorial on Working with Fractions.
Attachments
Working With Fractions.pdf
(210.24 KiB) Downloaded 206 times
My FontsReviews: MainTypeFont CreatorHelpFC15 + MT12.0 @ Win 10 64-bit build 19045.2486
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