03-12-2020, 12:47 AM | #1 |
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Need Font Forge Guidance
I have a font that needs to be made heavier for use on e-ink.
Years ago, on Windows Vista, I tried Font Forge briefly, but only achieved serial crashes. Now on Windows 10, I want to try again. I had a baby-step walk-through tutorial on how to do that embolding in Font Forge, but it is no longer available, and my Google-fu is not working. Does anyone know of a simple EASY-TO-FOLLOW tutorial to embolden an existing font? Or can provide me with a baby-step recipe??? I will bake quantities of cyber-cookies for any helper! |
03-12-2020, 01:44 PM | #2 | |
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Quote:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=276088 |
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03-12-2020, 10:11 PM | #3 |
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Thank you, Jon --- have some chocolate-chip cookies! Or would you rather gingersnaps?
I will have to do some fiddling with that. Maybe I will get better results than with FF by itself. I did try just the straight-forward Element->Style->Change Weight, and then Generate Font. I got error/warning messages (see attached pics). If I set the weight too heavy, I would get message that the generation Failed. When I cut down to setting of 25 or less, it still gave the warnings, but DID generate finally. My question now is, will there be any problems using this font even though it has those errors? Last edited by GrannyGrump; 03-12-2020 at 10:15 PM. |
03-13-2020, 02:55 AM | #4 | |
Running with scissors
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Quote:
I was playing around with Font Forge not too long ago and would often get those errors in your first screen capture. My memory was that the fonts still appeared to work. I don't remember exactly what I was doing but it was probably converting between different font file formats. Last edited by hobnail; 03-13-2020 at 02:59 AM. |
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03-13-2020, 05:17 AM | #5 |
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@hobnail -- good to know. I will take a chance on embedding this font (only for chapter heads, anyway, so no huge hit if it falls back to the user's choice).
Thanks for your input. |
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03-13-2020, 08:24 AM | #6 | |
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What font is there that you are adding weight to? |
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03-13-2020, 08:00 PM | #7 | |
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I tried it recently and it still works quite well. I am a Linux user. It can darken the font (I tested it with 20, 25, 30 and finally settled with the 30 value that I still use today). It can rename fonts. Last edited by roger64; 03-14-2020 at 02:46 AM. |
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03-16-2020, 03:52 AM | #8 |
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@roger --- I will have to try installing this script on Windows 10, and see if I can learn to use it correctly. Thank you!!!!
@Jon --- Font is "Bilbo" a handwriting font by Robert E. Leuschke ( TypeSETit ) under Open Font License. I used it for chapter titles in Wind in the Willows, just uploaded. I *think* I got the weight ok, and that it works all right (tried in ADE for PC, and in Kindle Previewer). |
03-20-2020, 09:57 AM | #9 | |
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Quote:
Every time I think about that font, I think about Zapfino. They're like my personal bête noires. Not that I don't like them--I do. But they seem to constantly put me into weird problems--like someone has used Zapfino in their word processor--and italicized it. I mean, spiffy, if you can do that, but you can't make that happen in an eBook. Ditto what you've just gone through with Bilbo, same thing--it's AWFULLY light. Tricky on some eInks. I've spent a fair amount of time cursing Zapf, I tell ya! And it's odd that with all the time that's passed, etc., good replacements for Zapfino are still few and far between. Yes, he came out with Forte, about 17 years ago, but still...that's a bold(ish) version, not an "italicized" version, whatever the hell italicized Zapfino would mean....I mean, italicized calligraphy? Kinda makes my brain hurt. Sheesh. Fonts. There are days when I think that they're out to get me. I'm glad it's working for you, GG! Congrats on conquering FontForge. Hitch |
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03-23-2020, 12:24 AM | #10 |
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HA! Conquered, indeed. I poked some meat through the bars of the cage, and the bear just *happened* to feel like standing on his hind legs just at that moment.
That doesn't make me a bear trainer. I will keep hunting for usable tutorials, and see if I can get any sort of understanding of FF. (The joys of applications with no "end-user testing" for "ease-of-use", "intuitive UI", etc, etc, etc. Mustn't complain, the price is right!) PS -- I found Bilbo uppercase to have some awkward kerning in spots (too wide for my taste), so did some manual adjustments here and there. A real "fontographer" (well, what DO you call them?) would scream to see how I abused this font! Last edited by GrannyGrump; 03-23-2020 at 12:32 AM. |
03-23-2020, 06:04 PM | #11 |
null operator (he/him)
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typographer.
But I like yours more better, it has the aura of being a black art This variant of 'font' stems from the same source as 'fondue' - another black art. BR |
03-24-2020, 07:18 AM | #12 |
Wizard
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hi
This is what I obtained in three minutes to darken (value 25) the Bilbo swash using fontforge and the script ReadifyGUI.py I renamed the darkened font adding a g to its original name |
03-24-2020, 09:54 PM | #13 |
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@roger -- Whee! Thank you!! It looks very good in my font manager. I will have to try it out by embedding -- I know it will look great.
I am thinking now of all the fonts I passed by in the past, because they were too thin and light for e-reading. I will absolutely have to get familiar with that script you posted about. Thank you again! |
03-24-2020, 10:47 PM | #14 |
Wizard
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You're welcome.
I need a single command to launch the GUI. (see screenshot) Code:
fontforge -script ReadifyFontGUI.py |
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