Font Software

"Robert BlackwellT" <robbie@nospamwowcentral.com> wrote in message<br />news:1de798ff.1@WebX.la2eafNXanI...<br />> The only feature I'm really interested in I'd say would be the ability for<br />me to import eps files because I'm really most comfortable with AI already.<br />And then on top of that. OT would be ideal. Thanks for the info.<br /><br />Robert,<br /><br />basically, you have two choices: Fontographer from Macromedia and FontLab<br />from http://www.fontlab.net/<br /><br />Fontographer is an excellent state-of-the art font editor that is well<br />suitable for drawing glyphs. It can import EPS/AI files and export them to<br />Type 1, and optionally to TrueType. However, the software hasn't been<br />updated since 1996 and has problems running on most current OSes. Yet, it's<br />still one of most favourite font editors used worldwide. After exporting the<br />font to Type 1, you can use the free Adobe OT FDK to convert your Type 1<br />font to PS OpenType (but not TT OpenType), although it's not a completely<br />straightforward process.<br /><br />FontLab is a newer program, with its latest release 4.5 that came out in<br />December 2002. It can import EPS/AI, export Type 1, TrueType, TT OpenType<br />and PS OpenType. The new version initially had some stability problems, but<br />some fixes were released recently that reportedly correct many of the<br />problems. FontLab runs on MacOS X and Windows, is extensible via Python,<br />supports flexible encodings, excellent native TrueType hinting, metrics and<br />kerning editing etc. However, the software is a bit more complex in<br />handling, while on the other hand, it's more powerful and somewhat less<br />stable.<br /><br />I've also heard of people using both applications :)<br /><br />I think Fontographer's biggest advantage over FontLab is in drawing glyphs.<br />Since you draw your glyphs in Illustrator, you may consider looking at<br />FontLab. There is a demo version available at http://www.fontlab.net/<br /><br />I would somehow compare the Fontographer-FontLab relation to that of<br />QuarkXPress-InDesign. Quark has been on the market for years, its versions<br />3.32 and 4.11 are rock-solid but then, it's showing its age and there's no<br />real dynamic development that can be seen. Just like Fontographer. On the<br />other hand, InDesign, just like FontLab, was initially suffering from some<br />"childhood illnesses", but now it's becoming mature. It's undergoing heavy<br />development, and the new versions are very powerful and give you more<br />options and possibilities altogether, although are sometimes more tedious<br />for the daily work.<br /><br />Best regards,<br />Adam Twardoch