About font production

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OpenType production

Papers

 Font Naming
About naming font families. Presents two common naming schemes, other schemes can be regarded as variations.
v1.02 [beta] / 140KB
 Font Metrics
About assigning vertical font metrics. How to avoid clipping or squashing of large glyphs.
v1.05 [beta] / 150KB
There is no warranty that information and suggestions provided in my PDFs are correct, and you use them at your own risk. Please feel encouraged to make a lot of tests yourself – if you don't believe me, believe an expert.
Both PDFs are, to my delight, getting obsolete now that FOG5 determines both font names and vertical metrics automatically, which is likely to be adopted in FLS6.

FontLab Studio 5 Python scripts

Scripts below are available against a license fee. By licensing them you agree to the following terms:
1. The software may be used on up to 4 computers within your organization. For more computers you need more licenses as outlined in the manual.
2. You are not allowed to distribute or 'share' the software, be it the original or a modified version thereof.
3. The software is provided "as is". There is no warranty for performance or results obtained by using the software. KLTF will not be liable for any damages, claims or costs whatsoever or any direct, indirect, special, incidental or consequential damages, business interruption, nor for lost profits, savings or business information, arising out of any use of, or inability to use, the software.
 KLTF Make Kern Feature  $59.00*
Script generates an AFDKO-syntax 'kern' feature. It automatically splits large subtables into smaller ones and activates use of extension type lookups when necessary.
Before licensing the script, please download and read the manual to find out if you need it at all: If you have never experienced the "overflow of offset to a subtable" error message when compiling OpenType features in FontLab Studio 5, you do not need this script.
Requires FontLab Studio 5 version 5.0.3 or later.
v0.9 (7 Aug 2010) / 156KB

FontLab Studio 5 Python scripts (free)

Scripts below are for free. By downloading them you agree to the following term:
1. The software is provided "as is". There is no warranty for performance or results obtained by using the software. KLTF will not be liable for any damages, claims or costs whatsoever or any direct, indirect, special, incidental or consequential damages, business interruption, nor for lost profits, savings or business information, arising out of any use of, or inability to use, the software.
Always make copies of your .vfbs and run scripts on the copies! Save .vfbs regularly. Scripts may damage .vfb files or crash FLS5.
 KLTF Plug In KernMaster
Toolset exports fonts for KernMaster (BE format) and imports KM-generated kerning back to FLS5. MultipleMaster compatible. A detailed manual is included in the package. Also see the KM manual. For more personal remarks see my font production note.
Requires FontLab Studio 5 version 5.0.2 or later and DTL KernMaster.
v0.17 [beta] (4 Mar 2008) / 830KB
 KLTF Plug In Volt
Scripts export glyph data and groups for use in Microsoft VOLT. With manual.
Requires FontLab Studio 5 version 5.0.2 or later.
v0.3 [alpha] (4 Mar 2008) / 88KB
 KLTF Make vmtx Table
Script generates, right out of FLS5, 'vmtx' table overrides in AFDKO syntax for use with AFDKO's MakeOTF. The math was kindly provided by Adobe's Ken Lunde. (His Perl script "mkvmtx.pl" generates 'vmtx' table overrides in AFDKO syntax from an AFM file and a coverage file. Please find his contact information here.) The 'vmtx' table re-adjusts Latin script glyphs' vertical position in vertical typesetting.
equires FontLab Studio 5 version 5.0.2 or later.
v0.01 (9 Nov 2008) / 8KB
 KLTF Glyph Generator
Like FLS5's 'Generate Glyphs' function, script generates composite glyphs from an 'composition.dat' file. Unlike FLS5's function, script automatically generates all composite glyphs defined in 'alias.dat' – if the required components exist! Please read the accompanying text file for details.
Requires FontLab Studio 5 version 5.0.2 or later.
v1.03 (9 Nov 2008) / 8KB
 KLTF Glyph Data Collector
Script collects glyph information from each open font: gName (glyph name), gWidth (glyph width), gLSB (left sidebearing), gRSB (right sidebearing), gHeight (total height), gYMax (top extension), gYMin (bottom extension), gPointNo (number of points), gContourNo (number of contours). For each font, it creates a a comma-separated .txt file which can be imported, sorted and analysed e.g. in Excel.
Requires FontLab Studio 5 and Letterror's RoboFab. For Python version, see RoboFab documentation.
v1.01 // 4KB
 KLTF Transformer
Functionality of FLS's 'Interpolate Nodes ...' in a different interface. See the PDF included in the download.
Requires FontLab Studio 5 version 5.0.2 or later.
v0.5 [beta] (18 Dec 2007) // 1.2MB
 KLTF Glyph Tweaker
Functionality of FLS's 'Interpolate Nodes ...' in a different interface. See the PDF included in the download.
Script allows you to distort selected glyphs in a controlled manner: Scale glyhps while maintaining stem weight. Change stem weight while maintaining size. Narrow or widen glyphs yet maintain stem weight. Change stem weight differently in x and y direction, and maintain size. Widen italic glyphs horizontally while maintaining stem weight and italic angle. Also see the PDF included in the download.
As a brief how-to: (1) Measure basic stem widths and height of your caps. (2) Run the script and fill in these values, plus stem widths and height of the small caps. (3) Hit the 'Tweak' button.
The script relies on FLS5' Bold function whose results are not perfect. If you switch on FontAudit, you will see what I mean. Especially diagonals need corrections – Bold cares for x and y directions only. Still this is a good starting point to get the proportions. I put these into the uppercase's mask layer and adjust uppercase by moving nodes or with John Hudson's method to match the automatically generated proportions.
For comparative notes about Glyph Tweaker and Tim Ahrens' RMX tools, see the Typophile discussion starting here, with explanations by Tim further down.
Requires FontLab Studio 5 version 5.0.2 or later.
v1.14 [prototype] (23 Dec 2007) / 1MB
 KLTF Master To Master
Copy node coordinates from one master to another master or to all other masters. Allows copying coordinates of selected nodes only.
Requires FontLab Studio 5 version 5.0.2 or later.
v1.0 (25 Oct 2008) / 1.2MB
 KLTF Add Flags To Kern Classes
For kern classes whose name indicates that it is 1st or 2nd in kern pairs, script sets the left/right flag accordingly. Default search strings ('_1st' and '_2nd') can be adjusted in the script.
Requires FontLab Studio 5 and Letterror's RoboFab. For Python version, see RoboFab documentation.
v1.0 / 4KB
 KLTF Check Kern Classes
For the 'kern' feature to compile properly, each glyph must be present in only one leftside (1st) and only one rightside (2nd) class. Script reports when these conditions are not met.
Requires FontLab Studio 5.
v1.0 (Nov 2007) / 4KB
 KLTF Add Metrics Classes
Script removes existing metrics classes, then derives a metrics class from each kerning class. Sorts classes into OT, kerning, and metrics classes; in each section, leaves original order intact. Run KLTF Add Flags to Kern Classes!
Requires FontLab Studio 5.
v1.0 (10 Jun 2007) / 4KB
 KLTF Underline & Strikethrough
For every open font, script extracts thickness and position of 'underscore' and 'endash', then sets FontInfo values for underline & strikethrough accordingly.
Requires FontLab Studio 5 and Letterror's RoboFab. For Python version, see RoboFab documentation.
v1.0 / 4KB
 KLTF Anchor Make First
Script makes the currently selected anchor the first one. This is similar to reordering components with 'Make First' from the context menu.
Requires FontLab Studio 5 version 5.0.2 or later.
v1.0 (5 Mar 2008) / 8KB



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