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FAQ FontLab & TypeTool Glyph drawing

Q: How can I use Illustrator or Freehand to drawmy glyphs? How can I import glyphs from EPSfiles?

A: If you intend to use Adobe Illustrator to draw theglyph outlines:In Illustrator, go to Edit > Preferences > Units & Undoor Units & Display Performance. Change all units topoints (1 point is equal to 1 unit in FontLab). Go toPreferences > Files & Clipboard. Disable PDF, enableAICB and select Preserve Paths. In Preferences >Guides & Grid, set Gridline every: 10 pt andSubdivisions: 10.Still in Illustrator, select File > New. Set the width ofthe document in points to be the double of the UPMsize of your font (e.g. 2000 pt for a 1000 UPM font).Set the height of the document to be the same as UPMsize ?Descender (e.g. 1000 ? (?263) = 1263 pt). SelectWindow > Info, View > Show Rulers, View > Snap toGrid. Disable View > Guides > Lock Guides.Optionally select View > Show Grid.Now click on the top ruler of the Illustrator documentwindow and drag out a guideline. Position it at theheight that has the same (positive) value as the(negative) descender of your font (e.g. 263 in ourexample). From the left ruler, drag a guideline andposition it at 0. Click at the top left corner of theIllustrator document window (where the top ruler andthe left ruler meet) and drag out the origin point towhere the two guidelines you have just drawn cross.Finally, click on the top ruler and drag guidelines to thepositions of your ascender, x-height, and caps height.You can draw your letters. Remember to assign somekind of fill to all your Illustrator drawings and avoiddrawing letters that exceed the bottom or the top ofthe document size.If you have already drawn some letters before, copythem to the newly created document, place andre-scale so that they fit between the guidelines you'vedrawn. Remember that all points of your letters shouldsnap to the grid (otherwise FontLab will round theirposition).When you finished drawing your glyph in Illustrator,choose Select > All, Edit > Copy if you want to copythe outlines via clipboard or File > Export > IllustratorLegacy EPS or File > Save As, and select Illustrator 8EPS as your file format, if you want to save the artworkas an EPS file.

Importing GlyphsTo paste an outline from a vector-editing program intoFontLab Studio select the outline object that you wantto copy and choose the Copy command from the Editmenu (in the source application). To place the copiedoutline in FontLab Studio switch to FontLab Studio(Glyph Window) and select the Paste command fromthe Edit menu.To import an Illustrator 8-compatible EPS file intoFontLab Studio, open a Glyph window (make a newglyph if necessary) and choose Edit > Paste if you?repasting from clipboard or File > Import > EPS if you?reimporting from a file.

Q: Why does the Paste EPS command scale mypicture?

A: When you Paste an EPS file into an edit windowdoes the original size of the graphic have any effect onthe size of the symbol in the window. It appears thatpasting the height is independent of the eps file. Doesthe height in the edit window correspond the x-height,cap height or any other part of the font information ordescription? Does the original size that I make it inCorelDraw or Adobe Illustrator have any effect on thequality of the character when viewed (hinting) orprinted.

FontLab 4.6 scales imported EPS to fit in 70% of font'sUPM, starting from 0. FontLab Studio 5 scales importedEPS to fit between the baseline and the ascender line.Everything is limited by UPM that you can set inFontInfo/Dimensions page. You can prevent the scalingby setting an option in Options/Preferences.

Q: When I import Why is my illustrationdistorted?

Digital fonts use integer coordinates while EPS artworkcan use fractional coordinates. All fractionalcoordinates will be rounded to integers when youimport the illustrations into FontLab. Therefore, it isbetter to scale the illustrations into the exact size inIllustrator/Freehand (the points in your drawingapplication correspond to font units in FontLab). Formore tips, please read the Q/A just to the left.

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