© 1997 - 2021 High-Logic B.V. All rights reserved.
FontCreator 14
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caused or alleged to have been caused directly or indirectly by this document.
June 2021
FontCreator Manual
© 1997 - 2021 High-Logic B.V. All rights reserved.
I
Contents
I
© 1997 - 2021 High-Logic B.V. All rights reserved.
Table of Contents
Part I Getting Started
................................................................................................................................... 21 Welcome to FontCreator 14
................................................................................................................................... 32 What's New in FontCreator 14
................................................................................................................................... 43 Getting Started with FontCreator
................................................................................................................................... 44 Technical Support
................................................................................................................................... 55 Registration
................................................................................................................................... 66 Credits
Part II Quick Start Tutorial
................................................................................................................................... 81 Your First Font - a Brief Tutorial
................................................................................................................................... 92 Edit a Glyph - Character 3
................................................................................................................................... 103 Edit a Glyph - Character A
................................................................................................................................... 114 Edit a Glyph - Character B
................................................................................................................................... 125 Test and Install the Font
Part III About Fonts
................................................................................................................................... 161 TrueType
................................................................................................................................... 162 OpenType
................................................................................................................................... 163 Variable
................................................................................................................................... 174 Color Extensions
................................................................................................................................... 185 Web Open Font Format (WOFF)
................................................................................................................................... 196 Unified Font Object (UFO)
................................................................................................................................... 197 Font Copyright
Part IV Opening, Creating and Saving Fonts
................................................................................................................................... 221 Working with Font Projects
................................................................................................................................... 222 Open a Font
................................................................................................................................... 243 Create a Font Project
................................................................................................................................... 254 Save a Project
................................................................................................................................... 265 Export a Font
................................................................................................................................... 306 Close a Font
Part V Editing Fonts
................................................................................................................................... 321 Editing Options
.......................................................................................................................................................... 32Undo Command
.......................................................................................................................................................... 32Redo Command
.......................................................................................................................................................... 32Finding a Glyph
FontCreator Help
II
© 1997 - 2021 High-Logic B.V. All rights reserved.
.......................................................................................................................................................... 33Tags
................................................................................................................................... 342 Editing Fonts
.......................................................................................................................................................... 34Using the Font Overview
.......................................................................................................................................................... 35Glyph Names
.......................................................................................................................................................... 38Used By
.......................................................................................................................................................... 39Insert Characters
.......................................................................................................................................................... 41Insert Glyphs
.......................................................................................................................................................... 44Copy and Paste Glyphs
.......................................................................................................................................................... 46Adding a New Character - the EURO Sign
.......................................................................................................................................................... 47Font Name
.......................................................................................................................................................... 47Font Family (typeface) Settings and Flags
.......................................................................................................................................................... 50Font Embedding
.......................................................................................................................................................... 50Monospaced versus Proportional
.......................................................................................................................................................... 51Unicode versus Symbol
.......................................................................................................................................................... 51Recommended Glyphs
.......................................................................................................................................................... 56Variable Fonts
.......................................................................................................................................................... 56Last Resort Fonts
.......................................................................................................................................................... 57Single Line Fonts
................................................................................................................................... 593 Editing Glyphs
.......................................................................................................................................................... 59Introduction
.......................................................................................................................................................... 60Glyph Metrics
.......................................................................................................................................................... 64Empty Glyphs
.......................................................................................................................................................... 64Simple Glyphs
......................................................................................................................................................... 64Introduction
......................................................................................................................................................... 67Contours
......................................................................................................................................................... 72Points
......................................................................................................................................................... 76Join and Split Contours
......................................................................................................................................................... 78Free Draw Tool
.......................................................................................................................................................... 78Composite Glyphs
......................................................................................................................................................... 78Introduction
......................................................................................................................................................... 80Add Glyph Member
......................................................................................................................................................... 81Glyph Member Properties
......................................................................................................................................................... 82Complete Composites
......................................................................................................................................................... 84Auto Attach
.......................................................................................................................................................... 85Color Glyphs
......................................................................................................................................................... 85Introduction
......................................................................................................................................................... 86Layered Color Glyph (COLR)
......................................................................................................................................................... 87SVG based Color Glyph
......................................................................................................................................................... 88Palettes and Colors
................................................................................................................................... 894 Format
.......................................................................................................................................................... 89Properties
......................................................................................................................................................... 89Identification
......................................................................................................................................................... 91Extended
......................................................................................................................................................... 95Legal
......................................................................................................................................................... 98General
......................................................................................................................................... 98Overview
......................................................................................................................................... 101Font Header Flags
......................................................................................................................................................... 104Metrics
......................................................................................................................................................... 109Ranges
......................................................................................................................................... 109Overview
......................................................................................................................................... 112Unicode Character Range
......................................................................................................................................... 112Code Page Character Range
......................................................................................................................................................... 114Characteristics
III
Contents
III
© 1997 - 2021 High-Logic B.V. All rights reserved.
......................................................................................................................................................... 115Smoothing
......................................................................................................................................... 115Overview
......................................................................................................................................... 117Insert Range
.......................................................................................................................................................... 117Font Information
......................................................................................................................................................... 117Calculated Fields
......................................................................................................................................................... 120Unsupported Tables
.......................................................................................................................................................... 122OpenType Layout Features
......................................................................................................................................................... 122Introduction
......................................................................................................................................................... 122Types of substitution and positioning
......................................................................................................................................................... 124OpenType Designer
......................................................................................................................................... 124OpenType Designer
......................................................................................................................................... 129Automatic OpenType Layout Features
......................................................................................................................................... 145Class Manager
......................................................................................................................................... 146Subtable Manager
......................................................................................................................................... 147Designer Settings
......................................................................................................................................... 148Autokern Settings
......................................................................................................................................... 149Substitutions
......................................................................................................................................... 150Single Adjustment
......................................................................................................................................... 151Pair Adjustment
......................................................................................................................................... 154Marks
......................................................................................................................................... 156Cursive Attachment
......................................................................................................................................... 157Anchor Manager
......................................................................................................................................... 157Chained Context
......................................................................................................................................... 160Feature Parameters
......................................................................................................................................................... 162OpenType Proofing
......................................................................................................................................................... 164Script Editor
......................................................................................................................................... 164OpenType Layout Feature Code Editor
......................................................................................................................................... 166Script Syntax OTLFD
................................................................................................................................... 166Basics
................................................................................................................................... 166Comments
................................................................................................................................... 166Script
................................................................................................................................... 167Language
................................................................................................................................... 168Class
................................................................................................................................... 168Feature
................................................................................................................................... 169Feature Params
................................................................................................................................... 170Lookup
................................................................................................................................... 171Lookupflags
................................................................................................................................... 171Subtable
................................................................................................................................... 172Sub
................................................................................................................................... 173Pos
................................................................................................................................... 176Examples and Help
.......................................................................................................................................................... 176Unicode Variation Sequences
................................................................................................................................... 1785 Tools
.......................................................................................................................................................... 178Glyph Transformer
.......................................................................................................................................................... 179AutoMetrics
......................................................................................................................................................... 179Metrics
......................................................................................................................................................... 181Glyph Selection
.......................................................................................................................................................... 182AutoKern
......................................................................................................................................................... 182Setup
......................................................................................................................................................... 185Kern
.......................................................................................................................................................... 186Import Images
......................................................................................................................................................... 186Import Raster Image
......................................................................................................................................................... 188Import Vector Image
.......................................................................................................................................................... 194Sorting Glyphs