Tag Archives: letter spacing

Quick and easy letterspacing in FontLab

Skilled Workman Posted on by

I decided to post this. It’s part of my new book, Practical Font Design Streamlined. I found as I was recording the videos for My Udemy course, Practical Font Design, that I had gradually developed a new, much faster, and more efficient workflow for designing fonts. It takes what was in the original three editions of Practical Font Design to a whole new level. This post is going to offer some pieces which will be referenced in the new book. … Continue reading →

First-line indents and a second interior alignment

Skilled Workman Posted on by

First-line indents I have briefly touched on first-line indents for body copy paragraphs in talks about styles. This is the preferred method of telling the reader that a new topic sentence is being developed—a new thought expressed. I also mentioned my practice of adding a point or two after paragraphs to help the reader see that first-line indent on a busy page. I realize that this is anathema to many, but they should get a life. If … Continue reading →

Looking professional: Letterspacing, kerning, and tracking

Skilled Workman Posted on by

Letterspacing Here is another typesetting capability that cannot even be considered by word processors. We mentioned letterspacing earlier. Letterspacing is the built-in spacing between characters in a font. The basic idea is that the white space between letters should be identical for all letter pairs. Obviously, this is not simple or easy. AT, OOPS, and silly have very different spacing problems—especially the ill. The better the font, the better the letterspacing. In very cheap fonts, individual letters … Continue reading →

Fontographer: Practical Font Design for Graphic Designers

Skilled Workman Posted on by

    Why do you want to use Fontographer? For the fun of it! When I received the opportunity to go back to my roots, and see what the new Fontographer was like, I was a little concerned. I had just spent nine years painfully teaching myself to letterspace by hand, to write OpenType features, and to become accustomed to the tool set of FontLab. Don’t get me wrong, FontLab is a great program and I am … Continue reading →

Fontographer 5.1 book: proofing release extended

Skilled Workman Posted on by

I’ve decided to extend the proofing release for at least another month until I decide what to do with letterspacing in Fontographer. I want to develop an easy way for font designers (who do it for fun) to letterspace their work. I no longer believe that Fontographer will auto space well enough for pro releases of fonts for sale. Please take a look at the proof and let me know what you believe. http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/practical-font-design-for-graphic-designers-fontographer/17144172 The PDF download … Continue reading →

Silly me! Found a new shortcut in FontLab

Skilled Workman Posted on by

It really helps production efficiency and speed. Great find! Command+Arrow Key on selected pieces moves 100 units This shows my ignorance of things like this, but I just discovered a great shortcut built into FontLab. As I have mentioned many times, moving selections right or left is a constant thing—especially while building composite glyphs and letterspacing a new font. One of my irritations over the years has been the internal debate over whether it is more efficient … Continue reading →