I want to design an Open Type font. How?

[_D_Akey_]

Where can I get an overview of making fonts for Open Type?

I've never made a font before, but have a reason to make a personal artsy one with a decidedly hadnwritten look at this time.

My limited understanding tells me there are many more characters available per font in the Open Type format, and for this reason I'm looking at this format for my own use. I like the idea of making a handwritten font that does not use only one single version of the letter 'E' for example.

I took a quick look at some of the older fontmaking programs.

Any suggestions? Is Open Type developer friendly or is it way complicated to the point of being accessible to a highly technical few?

Article recommendations?

If this works out and I have a knack for it, I may want to pursue it commercially.

Thanks.

[_Herb_V_B_]

Talk about jumping in with both feet!

The best current tool for general use is FontLab.

Best information about open type fonts can be found with ... that's
right, Google.
Opentype specification
and other combinations

Microsoft and Adobe both have excellent papers on the subject at a
variety of levels. The Fontlab manual (available separately and free
from the Fontlab site) should give you some indications of the effort
involved.

- Herb

[_D_Akey_]

Thanks Herb.

I went and looked at a few of the links. I'm now beginning to wonder if I shouldn't avoid designing in it until it's more common.

I would have thought OpenType would have been more widely supported than any other considering it being a format pushed by both Adobe and Microsoft (though now the Microsoft font development team has been axed?).

Have you seen a list of the programs that support OpenType that I could go look at?

One would think that at least all the Adobe programs would be okay with it. Flash? Adobe acquired Macromedia. Shouldn't these now be made to support OT? Hmmmm.

Definitely need to do some more research.

- Thanks.

[_Herb_V_B_]

Right now, only Adobe products can use the full range of Open Type
facilities, and even they don't at the same level. My understanding
is that InDesign is the most complete. Illustrator has the "glyph
palette" that eases access to the full glyph complement. It's
possible, but more difficult, in Photoshop.

Microsoft's Unicode and Opentype support is almost random across
applications. CharacterMap seems to work well with the extended glyphs
for some fonts but not with some others.

If someone has better information than I've offered, PLEASE feel free
to correct me!