Making Software: The Surprising Journey of How to Make a Font
Making Software: How to make a font
I explore the intricate process of creating a font from scratch, revealing the hidden complexities behind what seems like a simple design task. This journey highlights the blend of art and engineering required to craft typefaces that feel natural on screen, offering insights into the tools and techniques that define modern typography.
Designing a font is not just about drawing letters; it is about understanding the invisible rhythm that makes text readable and beautiful.
- lifthrasiir
I used to make a hybrid bitmap-vector font called Unison [1] a decade ago and I made it in that way so that I don't have to learn the fine art of (vector) typography. Or at least that I could skip most of it (for example, kerning is still required for proportional fonts, but that doesn't have to be very precise in bitmap fonts). I'm now working on Unison once again after 11 years of time, this time armed with a dedicated font editor called Uniform. I haven't publicly released Uniform in public yet but anyone interested can already download and compile it.
- interleave
Thank you, that was perfect Sumday-morning reading: Easy to read yet dense information-wise.
I learned today: The difference between ttf and otf, what strong and weak characters are, what an Em is and where kerning and leading really come from.
My favorite parts: Learning where the magic of ligatures and those tiny postion-changes in moments like "To" come from.
Upvoted and favorited!
- rippeltippel
Misleading title. This is an explainer on how fonts are encoded and rendered, not a tutorial on how to actually make a font.