FontForge Translation Project

Presented by Rachel Reyna

Why Font Creation?: Are fonts even worth a

second thought?• Why would someone want to be able to

create his or her own font?– Pre-created fonts can be limiting in

creativity– Fonts advertised as ‘free’ (i.e.

www.1001freefonts.com) may be misleading• These fonts tend to charge a fee if you plan to

use them commercially• Unnecessary costs for groups such as start-up

companies or underground artists

• Creating your own font seems like the perfect solution, however it is not as easy as you think

• Programs available are either:– Commercialized, with prices ranging from $50-$200– Free, but most likely limited in what the user is able

to do

My goal: to help font creation programs become less restrictive and more accessible to users.

Why Font Creation?: The Current Market Situation

Why FontForge?

• Two types of font creation programs:– Online Programs

• Allow user to create fonts online without downloading or installing any software

• Examples: FontStruct (http://fontstruct.fontshop.com/)

– Vector Manipulation Programs• Allows user to create more complex fonts using vector manipulation• Vector manipulation is the manipulation of “geometrical primatives

such as points, lines, curbes, and shapes or polygons” (Wikipedia)• Examples: FontForge (http://fontforge.sourceforege.net)

DoubleType (http://doubletype.org)

• Vector manipulation programs are more powerful• FontForge was more organized, powerful and user

friendly

How I Planned to Contribute:Spanish Translation

• Originally wanted to focus more on issue with using FontForge in Windows

• Tutorial available in Japanese, German and Chinese– No Spanish translation, listed on the website

as a suggested way of helping the project

• Fit my goal of helping make font creation less restrictive, and more available to the general population.– Different than expected but still fit

Strategy Overview

• Shouldn’t translating be very easy?• Tutorial length: 37 pages• Four major steps:– Save and format the HTML code from the site– Translate the text– Insert the translated text into the HTML code– Reformat HTML code

• Go more in depth about each step

STEP 1: “Save and format the HTML code from the site”

• Use Notepad• When first open code• Reformat so it’s easier to edit

STEP 2: “Translate the Text”

• I used two files– File with original English text– File with the translated Spanish text

• Why have a separate file for the translated text instead of translating directly in the code?– Easier to separate code and text– Easier with the Spanish accent codes• i.e. accented e = é or n with a tilde

= ñ

STEP 3: “Insert the Translated text into the HTML Code”

• Seems like the easiest step• However, formatting complicates

things– Links– Italicizing, bolding, etc.– Tables

STEP 4: “Reformat the Code”

• Some of the reformatting was mentioned in the previous slide

• Also need to check:– Page links • the Spanish pages have different titles

– Picture links • because the Spanish pages refer to a

different folder for the pictures

Implementing Translated Tutorial

• https://sourceforge.net/apps/trac/fontforge/wiki/

What I Learned from this Project

• An appreciation for open source projects– All of the time and effort– How many people it can take to make a

project work

• Learned more tricks with HTML coding– Differences in how I would have coded

something vs. how the FontForge team chose to code it

Thank you for listening.

Questions or Comments?