![]() Glyphs and RoboFont, which can be considered the modern type designer's tools, are changing the face of type design. The desktop computer has liberated typography and made it accessible to everyone – for better and worse. ![]() While both Fontographer and FontLab have proven to be really good tools, they have lain dormant while new tools have appeared and flourished, such as the more designer-friendly Glyphs App or the highly scalable RoboFont. Its interface looks more fun, the necessary tools are included and the font naming is easy (this being one of the toughest challenges for a beginner, so you'll praise any software that makes it any easier for you).įontLab Studio displays the 'Q' from FS Lola But stick with it if you definitely need that extended range of tools, and feel ready for the challenge.įontographer suits the needs of a novice type designer or a digital designer. Indeed, its steep learning curve can be disheartening. ![]() For a beginner, FontLab's interface may be confusing and look dated compared to modern apps. Its Multiply Master support is powerful but not intuitive, nor easy to set up.ĭespite these issues, FontLab is probably still the most used type design tool for font production (although that's probably about to change). Workflow can be automated with Python scripting (the type designer's favourite programming language) – you can access most of its internal objects via Python, but the lack of proper documentation can be daunting. Just some of FontLab Studio's many menus on display, as Frank edits the 'Ç' glyph from FS Joey Pro Using FontLab, you can fine-tune everything from OpenType features (advanced typographical features like small capitals) to manual TrueType hinting (for superb rendering on screen). They are powerful enough to create robust, commercial-quality fonts and they run on OS X as well as on Windows. And while this isn't exactly true any more, they're still around because many individual designers and companies based their workflow on them. Fontographer and FontLabįontographer and FontLab were for a long time the de facto tools of type design. This will help you to make an informed decision that will affect your workflow and results before you even set out to create a font. So let's take a look at some major font editor tools available out there: FontLab Studio, Fontographer, Glyphs and RoboFont. I bet you suspect by now that you need something to make it all easy for you. You set information and data to make your font work consistently on all platforms, hint it to look good on your printed page and on screen, and finally export it to the appropriate file formats. The process of type design is a complex one. FS Lola ExtraBold, as seen in the RoboFont interface
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