Font Forum

In FontCreator 7, when a person exports a font file, could there please be an enhancement such that, when the font has been successfully exported, a feedback panel is displayed that states that the font has been successfully exported and invites the user to click an OK button so as to close the panel?

As it might be that some users of FontCreator 7 might prefer the system as it is, with no such notification, could the above enhancement please be added as available upon a checkbox being checked in the Font Export Settings panel?

William Overington

15 May 2013

Have you ever had a font that failed to export?

Surely, its enough to see an error message if a font fails to export?

Bhikkhu Pesala wrote:Have you ever had a font that failed to export?

As far as I am aware, no.

Bhikkhu Pesala wrote:Surely, its enough to see an error message if a font fails to export?

Well, I suppose so.

I suppose it depends upon how big a job it would be for High-Logic to implement such a feature. Clearly it would take some programming time to implement, yet If it would not take a disproportionate amount of time then I feel that it would be a useful enhancement.

Maybe it is just me, but I quite like feedback when a task has been completed successfully.

William wrote:
As it might be that some users of FontCreator 7 might prefer the system as it is, with no such notification, could the above enhancement please be added as available upon a checkbox being checked in the Font Export Settings panel?

In the Scanahand 4 program, High-Logic uses a very effective technique when the end user is setting up the generation of a font. There is on the panel a checkbox for Show advanced settings. If the checkbox is checked then the panel changes to become a larger panel with various options that the end user can select.

This is a very effective technique as it allows a beginner to set up the generation of a font without concerning himself or herself about the advanced settings, yet the technique also allows extra options for those end users who wish to use them.

So, the facility that I have requested, should High-Logic decide to implement it, could be implemented using such a system.

Whether the checkbox would be checked or unchecked in a new installation of FontCreator would be a decision for High-Logic.

William Overington

20 May 2013

William wrote:Maybe it is just me, but I quite like feedback when a task has been completed successfully.

Maybe it's just me, but I feel that it's enough to see a confirmation dialog when I try to delete a file. That dialog tells me all I need to know about the nature and scope of the deletion, so I don't think anything would be gained by having feedback to tell me that the file has been either sent to the Recycle Bin or permanently deleted, as appropriate.

There's already a progress dialogue and a progress bar that shows as the font is being exported. Maybe on your PC its so fast that you miss it if you blink, but on mine it is a significant number of seconds.

In the case of Optical Metrics, which takes about 15 minutes or more, there might be a case for an optional message to show that it completed, but that is obviously completed OK, if one sees no error messages. Just look at the Undo history to see it on the list.

I'm not against adding useful options, but this is just a hindrance to most users, so its really not worth the space on the Options dialogue for a checkbox to disable it.