FontLab Studio 5 by FontLab

In a review here recently we gave you the quick lowdown on the entry-level tool by FontLab Ltd, TypeTool 2. With an accessable interface and familiarly-working tools, it opens digital font design for pretty much anybody who wants to do it and has an impressive array of interface elements that makes the font design and generation experience as simple or as complex as the motivated digital typefounder wants.

Another level of information we found particularly exciting was the hinting display. Between the hint information in the Glyph window–in the form of large gray dots which suggest printing at low rezzes–to the amazing previewing facility–we could see at a glance how our glyphs were going to print. And not only does FontLab Studio support OpenType, the OpenType window allows direct, textual editing of the PostScript code.

While solid, TypeTool has an important drawback. Whilst it can generate Win and Mac TrueType and Type 1 fonts, which, admittedly, are still very popular and in widespread continuing use, it cannot produce OpenType, the newest font format that provides ligatures, ordinals, an all sorts of extras, not of course to mention the amazing 64K glyph range available, which makes the 255-glyph range of TT and T1 fonts…well, pretty measly.

For these reasons (amongst others), OpenType is in the ascendant. Well-known typefounders such as Lintotype and Monotype have, at last reports, moved the majority (if not thier entire ranges) to OpenType styles. Clearly, OpenType seems the wave of the future; at least, that seems the way to bet. Also, while TypeTool’s metrics and controls are generous to the beginner, our using them left us wondering if a finer level of control could be had.

That next level does exist. It’s FontLab’s professional-level tool, FontLab Studio, capable of everything TypeTool can do, plus brain-bending customization functionality, and the ability of generating OpenType fonts of up to 6,400 glyphs.

The GUI of FonLab Ltd’s professional level tool, FontLab Studio 5.

Meet The New GUI–Same As The Old GUI

The new FontLab Studio user, especially coming up from TypeTool, will be pleasantly surprised by the interface; it’s familiar.

In our commentary on TypeTool, we cited the respect for the design-app paradigm that we felt TypeTool respected, and the positive value this brought to the experience, namely, that if you’ve used a program like QuarkXPress or Adobe InDesign/Illustrator/Photoshop, you already have a foot in the door. FontLab Studio respects the paradigm as well, as the illustration shows.

In the main, the principal parts of the application are very similar to TypeTool, so a TypeTool user will already have a very good foot in the program; a font window can be created from go or a font can be opened using a single-button or the file drop-down; the Glyph window, where glyph editing happens, can be accessed by a simple double click on the desired glyph cell. Floating palettes containg layer access and glyph information, and drawing tools occupy the floating toolbox.

The point of departure is the more numerous ways to get at information–which will thrill the pro and should excite the relative beginner.

More Controls Than You Can Shake A Stick At

A good example of the increased control FontLab Studio provides is in the layer control. In TypeTool, layer control is pretty brief: the layers containing guidelines, metrics and the like can be switched on or off. The editing layers palette for FontLab Studio, by comparison, offers locking, snapping, and viewing toggles on no less than fourteen layers.

The Expanded Mode of the Layers Palette

If this level of control is too much, the button in the upper right hand corner of the palette will collaps it to a much briefer version–one that looks more like TypeTool’s. One may want to keep the palette in the expanded version, though, because the controls–particularly the preview toggle–are quite useful.

Just about anything metrical–from sidebearings to baselines, kerning, and organzing OpenType glyphs into classes for kerning–can be approached through dialog boxes we found very clear and largely intuitive.

The OpenType editing window. Individual glyphs are selected from the sidebar on the left and the PS descriptions can be directly edited in the windows.

FontLab Studio diplays Type 1 hinting on a glyph that is to be printed at a rather tiny 7 PPM. The hinting display is incredibly flexible and informative (click to enlarge). Note especially the preview window on the left, allowing quick previewing for a wide range of PPMs.

As Complex or As Simple As You Want

For all the possibilities of use with FontLab Studio, however, it can (and does) do all the same things that Type Tool does and at the same level of complexity. The Metrics Window, while requiring a short learning curve, can be made to appear just like the one TypeTool has, and works mostly the same way (a grid holds cells that have metrical values that can be changed by double-clicking, and the kerning can be varied by dragging a handle). The program can be used more or less the same way TypeTool can.

The biggest weakness in FontLab Studio, as with TypeTool, is the lack of live online help.

With all that said, why consider FontLab Studio? Anyone wanting to work on a level above amateur or semi-pro will want to move up from TypeTool eventually, or perhaps a designer wants to start on the top level with the most flexible tool possible. FontLab Studio not only has everythng one needs to create quality TT and T1 fonts, but also every device and functionality that the aspiring digital type designer could hope to want–and the ability to generate OpenType is of inestimable value to those wanting not only the design options perforce available but also those wanting to market thier fonts to the world.

The Skinny

Designorati:Typography recommends FontLab Studio for the professional or budding professional typeographer, especially if they are looking to create fonts for marketing..

The application builds on the successful TypeTool by adding what serious digital typographers need: tools to craft a font with as much or as little adjustment of the metrics as deemed necessary, with a superior range of informational functions. Perhaps most importantly, FontLab Studio provides ready generation of OpenType fonts with up to 6400 glyphs (FontLab suggests thier Asia Font Studio if they need larger sets) , something type designers will really need to have available to produce fonts that will give users the features they are becoming accustomed to and starting to demand–features that only OpenType can offer.

The price is quite a bit higher than that of TypeTool, but in return for this one gets a “swiss-army knife” for font design–it’s certainly ready for any situation we can think of! There are really a whole lot of features that are quite stunning, from Unicode 4.1 support to Microsoft VOLT compatibility to using Python to create your own plugins. Just jump to the FontLab Studio homepage (see link below) and read it yourself–then download the trial version and take it out for a spin.

• Software: FontLab Studio 5
• Publisher: FontLab Ltd., http://www.fontlab.com
• Street Price: USD$649. Upgrade from version 4.6 for USD$99.
• System Requirements: For Windows version: Microsoft Windows (95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP). Windows XP SP2 with Python 2.4 recommended. For Mac version: Mac OS X 10.3 or higher (FontLab Studio will not run on Mac OS 9 but it will run on Intel-based Mac OS X).
• Available: Download a free demo version or purchase from FontLab

Still To Come…

Please make sure to join us in two weeks’ time, on 4 October 2006, when we decide which tool we’ll go forward with and begin to explore font development from the ground up. We’ll start with the pencil and paper but we’ll move into the digital realm and render away.