Do's and Don'ts of creating/repairing fonts

[Gare]

Frances had asked for screen caps to explain some of the do s and don'ts when you build or repair a character.

The first is: don't leave control points at extremes. That is: don't define one control point to support a very steep concave area. You know you're going wrong when the control handles are 14km away from the control point.

When you have a very steep spike and the control handles seem too close to one another, zoom in as close as possible and put a second control point next to the first, and make the connection a straight segment, in effect, blunting the point.

I know we all do this in drawings, but this is a font a font is a runtime program, and it doesn't like extremely pointed cusps on curves. They fair to print properly and occasionally they'll disappear from screen when you zoom in, because the OS can't render the area, the math is too preposterous.

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—g

[angelize]

I have a question too, would you prefer that each glyph be a different layer on the same page or would you rather have each glyph on a separate page?

Edit: Thanks for the screen cap now I understand that much better.

[Gare]

It'd be easiest for me, angelize, if you did one character per layer, and name the layers if the character is unfamiliar (extremely "artistic"). You can prepare you font any way you like, but I'd prefer—but don't actually demand—one character per layer.

Also, characters can only be one path, not two or three, so if and when you do paths, join them by addition, subtraction or other Arrange>Combine Shapes command. I'll do this for you if I hit one layer with more than one path. A typeface character can only have one path and only one color and no outlines. You need to convert lines to editable shapes if that's part of your font, and there is no such thing as colors in a typeface, no shades of gray, only the inside of the character (black, sort of), and the outside which is clear, transparent.

Another thing to avoid is using too few points to define a curve. I suggest no too many and not too few. A good rule is that you add a point at every 45 degrees of curve, like the attached illustration.

And if you want smooth curves along a character, use a Smooth connection, not a Cusp, and try (but this is not always possible) to keep the control handles on one side of the curve, the outside, not one in and one out. You'll know what I mean if you design smooth connection and the control handles sort of run diagonal to the connection. This produces a bumpy character segment.

Seems like a lot to ask, but when a good typeface is done, it lasts forever, you know?

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