Mapping high Unicode glyphs into ASCII code points
Mapping high Unicode glyphs into ASCII code points
I create sheet music for an early music vocal ensemble (MostlyMotets.com) using Noteworthy Composer, which "supports true-type fonts...not...Unicode, so only the first 255 characters from a font can be reliably accessed". To indicate long and short vowels in Latin lyrics, I thought I could map a glyph with a macron and one with a breve for each of the vowels, so that they can be accessed in that 255-character range. I would use the codes normally used by the acute and grave accents (e.g. C1 and C0 respectively) and map glyphs from the higher Unicode code points (e.g. U+0100 and U+0102 respectively) to them. I would then use the modified font in Noteworthy Composer to generate PDF's of the output (with font embedding) and distribute the PDF's to the singers (who may have IBM- or Apple-compatible computers). I have spent hours trying to learn enough about fonts, character mapping, and FontCreator to try to accomplish my goals, but I would appreciate some help in determining the best way to do it. Thanks.
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Bhikkhu Pesala
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I downloaded NoteWorthy Composer trial version to look at the font. It only has one, apparently, with no glyphs for text, so I wonder what font it uses for lyrics? Presumably a Windows System font.
Do you know which font you need to modify?
Edit: I found out where you can change the font used for the lyrics in Page Setup. By default it uses Times New Roman 9pt. If you edit a GNU licensed font like Verajja or Guru, you can modify it as you wish without fear of copyright infringement. Just give it a new name and remove all the glyphs that you won't be needing.
The most important thing to decide first is how to type these accented vowels with a standard Windows Keyboard. The US International keyboard will give you easy access to vowels with grave, acute, circumflex, and diaeresis.
Unless this causes a typing problem for you, I would suggest using diaeresis and circumflex for macron and breve, as these accents are symmetrical, whilst grave and acute are aligned on their one third point over the centre of vowels. It is no problem to realign them later within FontCreator, but that is one more step you don't need to do.
Just copy the breve accent can paste the glyph outlines to the target glyph, whether that be grave or circumflex. Copy the macron accent to the acute or diaeresis. The composite accented vowels should update as soon as you do this. If they don't, then they're not composites. In which case, select the accented vowels, and use complete composites.
Do you know which font you need to modify?
Edit: I found out where you can change the font used for the lyrics in Page Setup. By default it uses Times New Roman 9pt. If you edit a GNU licensed font like Verajja or Guru, you can modify it as you wish without fear of copyright infringement. Just give it a new name and remove all the glyphs that you won't be needing.
The most important thing to decide first is how to type these accented vowels with a standard Windows Keyboard. The US International keyboard will give you easy access to vowels with grave, acute, circumflex, and diaeresis.
Unless this causes a typing problem for you, I would suggest using diaeresis and circumflex for macron and breve, as these accents are symmetrical, whilst grave and acute are aligned on their one third point over the centre of vowels. It is no problem to realign them later within FontCreator, but that is one more step you don't need to do.
Just copy the breve accent can paste the glyph outlines to the target glyph, whether that be grave or circumflex. Copy the macron accent to the acute or diaeresis. The composite accented vowels should update as soon as you do this. If they don't, then they're not composites. In which case, select the accented vowels, and use complete composites.