Sounds good Gary.
Printable View
Sounds good Gary.
#16248G kicked my bottom. Not so much the drawing of it, but getting a clean AI file into TT. Gave up on that so in the ZIP file is also TT's VFB file--the character is in the M position (not that it won't be obvious).
Take care, Mike
Do we need to sign up again for the sequel? If so consider me signed up.
Another source of images that may be useful is http://store.doverpublications.com/index.html - they provide weekly free samples of the clip art in many of their publications which I understand are all out of the copyright period. Unfortunaterly they do not ship to the UK.
Christine
@Mike—
The glyph looks beautiful and I don't see missing control points in the vfb file compared to the Xara file, although they might be microscopic, eh?
Suggestions:
1.) Submit the Xara file to us if/when there's a glyph you suspect is not traveling from Xara to EPS to Type Tool v3 correctly. I have a roundabout method for forcing glyphs to transfer accurately, and I won't keep it a secret: Xara -->CMX-->CorelDRAW -->Type 1, and then I copy the Type 1 to a new FontLab template. Stupid, but it works.
2. Use Illustrator *.AI instead of EPS as the file type to export to FontLab. Illustrator has a much smaller set of page description commands in the internal dictionary than PostScript=less to muck up.
@Christine-consider yourself signed up! I'm in New York and yes I am signed up for the free clipart of the week from Dover. Some of it is useful, fewer pieces are useful for fonts, fewer still are of a resolution that the human eye could accurately trace off. They're hardly giving away the farm, but it's a good resource on occasion.
The P.D. book Barbara dug up—one of them—has pages like this sample. If we can invent the characters not shown, we could have a spectacular typeface to offer to the world via tg. And there's still more for me to sift through.
Attachment 88646
From Xara, it doesn't matter if one uses the AI extension or EPS extension, they are identical files. Here is an example section of the AI import I cleaned up in TT:
Attachment 88648
Note the (small) yellow nodes. In this screen shot, you can actually see bunged up lines as well. In XDP, there is a single node at each position, with the nodes being smooth nodes. In TT, the one at the right is only 2 nodes on top of each other, the other 3 nodes. In other cases there can be more extra nodes and many nodes change from smooth or cusp/corner and no longer represented as a smooth arc.
In any case, I'll probably clean them up in TT and also attach that file with the XDP file because the changes bug me...
Take care, Mike--cannot wait to see the whoel thing as a font. Thank you for doing this, Gary.
... one of Mike's...
Posts 8, 14 and 42 have a total of four of my attempts. I'm a workin' on more...
Take care, Mike
Just to show I am actually doing something :D
So far I have 8 of the 10 completed and have a test font using those to see how they look on screen and how they print.
The .xar file contains the font rather than the source drawings. Please let me know if the font embedded and can be seen.
Embedded great, Bill.
Attachment 88665
Mike
Thanks Mike.
Did the font embed in the .xar file?
Yeppers.
Attachment 88666
Thanks Mike the warning is what I expected to happen but I was not sure if it would embed or be substitued.
I can see them just fine, Bill.
Understand, dear volunteers, that I'm being critical in two areas: the design and how it looks, and how the paths are designed, what attributes the control points have and where they are located.
I'm hesitant to begin with Frances, you know, building the prototype font before the final one.
Let me check back in around 5pm New York time, and see if I can't begin something in FontLab.
Take your time, but let's not lose the momentum! How's that for an oxymoron?
-g-
How can I tell if what I have done is correct? I am worried because on some of them I have deleted some of the points and am concerned that the span may be too long.
Thanks Gary. The test font has pointed out some areas where I forgot to add shapes or correct an extreme node or twenty. Over lapping shapes may look good on screen but tend to open up what should be a closed shape when printed as a font. ;)
@Larry—
Post a few here and Bill or I or both of us will check out your work and offer help/direction/spiritual guidance.
:)
-g-
Quote:
Originally Posted by wizard509
Larry if it looks good to you don't sweat it. Gary and I will do tweaking if it is needed.
Something you may look at though is change to outline view and see where shapes may be overlapping.
The first image shows where I had shapes overlapping. The overlap printed out as an open area without a fill.
The second image shows the same areas after I added the shapes which printed out as filled area as it was planned to be done.
Window -->Control Bars --> Arrange.
Use the Boolean operations button (Add, intersect, subtract, and so on) religiously.
Bill, on the mark. Add Shapes.
-g-
OK here is what I have done so far. Still working on the last one. It's the first few That I am concerned about. I have colored all light blue so you can see them better.
Attachment 88672
I didn't realize I'd put the same glyph in your file twice, Larry.
Your work is beautiful, man. Seriously nosed around it, great work!
-g-
Thanks Gare. I tried, and I try to be a perfectionist in all I do except for oil painting where is was a struggle to "loosen up" After so many years of having to be so precise in painting, loosening up has been a challenge for me. Anyhow I tried real hard with these and I must say it's been a learning experience. I feared they might not be up to snuff yet.
Ah, Frances hath returned :)
Hey, toots, I saved you a sheet! One or two need straightening, but I also gave you some big ones.
Let's we focus on the typeface, sure let's practice, but I don't want to go around the bend with the borders quite yet, because I think we need a presentation idea and format.
I really want to show our collaborative efforts off to tg first, and then the world to get more members and more participants in the future.
Community Building, IOW.
Welcome back, Frances. They'll stamp your hand at the door, show it to your server for the free beer—
g
show it to your server for the free beer— Yuck! Could I substitute nice cold iced tea (plain, non alcholic) instead? :))
Ahem getting back to the matter at hand I'll start working on these, ( it will take my mind off the dang blasted itching of my healing incisions!)
Here's "Burgeon beta" in original FontLab/Type Tool file format (vfb) and as an Opentype font.
I only have lowercase a-g hooked up, but I thought it might be fun for some of us to see the font in action as it's being built.
Sort of like driving a car at 75mph while assembly line workers are trying to put the hubcaps on.
Attachment 88679
-g-
P.S. Font Audit is pulling a lot of errors, but some I disagree with, and other need help, Bill. Every ornate Pi font I've ever tried out has yielded scores of connection errors.
It's an expression from my college days, Frances. You did get your hand stamped to get into high school dances, didn't you? :)Quote:
Originally Posted by angelize
If not, invite me over and I'll stamp on your hands. It will take your mind off the itching.
-g-
Gary I agree with you, some of the Font Audit errors are not useful at all. After spending almost an hour of "fixing" some of the errors the glyph was completely trashed. With FontLab 5 it seems the font audit is worthless, the Contour > Convert > Curves to TrueType clears most if not all of the errors without changing the glyph.
Okay, here's an opportunity for a point of information.
There is a difference in how Truetype and Type 1 curves are expressed. Even though our group font won't be going to a Type 1 version, Opentype can support the two types of geometry (TT and T1). Once in a while you might see older versions of Xara report that highlighted text is "Opentype (PS)", which is confusing, and means internally, Type 1 geometry was used in building the glyphs.
Truetype uses quadratic B-splines along curves. Mathematically, it's a verbose language and most of the time a TT font will be of larger file size than an equivalent OTF. Why? Because B-splines require 2 control points off the curve and two on the curve to express a path segment. This produces really smooth curves and is probably why Bill got fewer or no errors when he had FontLab translate a glyph from Type 1 to Truetype.
Here's a screen cap of a Truetype glyph in FontLab, expressed in its native structure and as Type 1 curves.
Attachment 88683
Me, I'd like to keep with Type 1 curves while working this font together, because it's easier to manipulate 2 control handles over 4.
Let's see how this goes. Agreed, FontLab's auditing feature is a piece of...inaccurate code.
—g
Gare here are the Bergeon stamps. I made one twice and left one off (that I noticed you had made), I can go back and make the one that's missing if you like. Have a look I did the lot on layers and have sent ai files as well. Any that don't work out, you'll have to send back! ;)
Thanks, Michele—
I'm going to look at one of the more difficult glyphs you traced off in a moment in FontLab.
Only two suggestions in the future:
1.) Keep parallels perfectly parallel. There are some straight segments that should be perfectly at 0 or 90 degrees and they aren't.
2.) I think you used more than a necessary number of control points to declare a curve segment, but this is me shutting up now because 1a.) You worked hard and I don't want to discourage you and 2b.)FontLab might think the gylphs are Purrfekt.
Tally so far: I have 100% of Michele's, 100% of Wizard's, Frances hasn't begun yet, Mike did 4 out of ten, and Bill?
No rush, please give us quality over quickness.
This thing is looking awesome. I think it's going to be over 70K as a file, and the ornaments are intricate and gorgeous. The TTF version will be fun to use in Xara 3D, no?
BTW, give us suggestions for credits and how we should advertise this on the forum. Credits will be embedded in the font, as in our names and TG as the origin.
-g-
Actually I have some of mine done, I'm working at them slowly but surely :) I thought I'd post them when they are all done.
Perhaps an announcement in the announcements section of the forum along with a posting in the free and fixed fonts gallery?
I also have an idea for a future project, I have this nice wall paper in my kitchen that has images of spice bottles and the names of an assortment of spices, I like the lettering, perhaps I could take some photos and we could work from those. The lettering is all caps and we would have to make up some missing letters I have counted 9 missing ones, and there is no puntuation. would this be a do able project?
Finally finished the last two glyphs of my set. :)
I followed Gary's lead and put all 10 on 1 layer but each is a different color. The Page & Layer Gallery make selecting the individual draws easy.
Hi Frances—Quote:
Originally Posted by angelize
If were are to obey copyright laws (hint: we are), we can't use your wallpaper—nice as it might be—as a resource. All textile patterns—at least in the US and I suspect Canada, too—were created by graphic designs, and the pattern art belongs to the mill or other company that produced the wallpaper, gift wrap, clothing pattern, and so on. That's why you'll never see exactly the same design on a dress by different distributors.
I'm not campaigning to use the Linotype specimen book, or the other three Barbara procured, but the bottom line is they are Public Domain. All designs we trace over have to be PD, or we need permission from the creator.
Sorry to be a wet blanket, Frances! I occasionally riff on a pattern I see online, but if I think I'm coming too close, I don't show the art in public.
I think the very first step in the next typeface needs to be copyright permissions. I'd be nice to do a group font from scratch, but me, I couldn't volunteer that amount of time, and our gang here appear to enjoy the challence of accurate tracing of source material.
-g
Here is #12885K from my page.
Take care, Mike
17506L
Take care, Mike
OK finally here are all my glifs. I saved the hardest for last. It's the top middle one I took a few liberties with it because I thought the line work was too delicate and didn't show well so I beefed it up just a little.
Attachment 88737
10005H
Take care, Mike
10070K
Take care, Mike
A correction to one of my glyphs.
Got it, Bill, thanks.
I'm spending the wee hours putting the next version of the font together, not a final, but you all will be able to play with a fairly complete typeface shortly, probably today.
We wouldn't be learning if I didn't mention 2 faults I'm running into.
First, it's very inventive to use Pressure Profiles—I do this all the time to then convert the line to a shape. But it adds unnecessary nodes, that's just the nature of Xara's Pressure Profiles, and I asked last year that another look is taken at this feature.
Attachment 88748
The other thing is that when you flip a copy to complete a gylph, you have to make sure the inner sides touch and probable overlap before you Add Shapes.
I'm seeing some microscopic gaps at the center of gylphs. I've repaired them, but please do use Xara's fantastic zoom capability to nail these guys.
This is one of the most professional collection of gylphs, intricate and valuable, and I want people to use this font and marvel at the craftsmanship.
My Best,
Gary
I put version 2 together of the font, worked the code pages, Bill, and I've attached the vfb project file along with a TTF and an OTF version of the font.
Try it out: I've done custom spacing and kerning so you can, for example, type 777, and the gylph becomes a border. Let me know what's wrong (I think there's a dupe in there), and let's get however many more to make it a complete typeface. I've also tried to organize the glyphs in some sort of similarity: Art Deco, Victorian, no classification.
Here's what's left to go, 15 I think:
Attachment 88750
-g-
Hi guys, is it just me or is it getting a bit confusing discussing two different projects in the same thread? Perhaps we should finish the burgeon stamps font in this thread and if Larry and Christine want to begin on the Morning Glory or was it roundhouse? Perhaps Larry, you or I could move the posts pertaining to that project into a new thread? Opinions?
I have one more glyph to do in my set so I hope to have them posted later this afternoon