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If you are using a wide image, in proportion to the height, the line
in the TTF window will be inside your glyph. If you were to move it to the
right, the width figure would go above 2048, and if you were to do this on
two or three images in a font, Softy would crash and you would not be able
to complete your font. You must never let the width figure go above
2048. |
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To get the right side adjustment line outside the glyph in the TTF window,
the proportion of the image must be altered in the Softy window. Pull the
lower pink line down below your image. The other horizontal lines will follow
it. Push the top pink one to the top of the image, and adjust the turquoise
one to just underneath the image. The space bounded by the left and right
edges of your graphic and the two pink lines needs to be very roughly square.
In the TTF window you will see that the line has moved to the right. |
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Adjust the lines in the Softy window till the one in the TTF window is
just to the right of the image. If you have overdone it and need to push
the bottom pink line in the Softy window up a little, you will have to move
the top pink line down a little to make space, because the other two lines
always follow the bottom pink one. Adjust the top pink line and the turquoise
one again so that they frame the image. In the TTF window you can now pull
the line to the left to frame the right side of your glyph. The width figure
will go below 2048, but that is perfectly acceptable. 2048 is the upper limit,
not a fixed figure. |
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Now, with the glyph framed on the three sides (Left, Bottom, Right),
go to the menu and select GLYPH > OUTLINE TEMPLATE |
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Before it reads the glyph, It will ask if you intend to save the changed
character map? to this you answer YES, otherwise, it will discard
the previous information you entered, which was the blank space, needed for
all new files that you begin. To discard this information would make this
a failed .ttf file. Be careful with this, took a while for me to understand
that it was prompting for the saving of the previous information |
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Very rapidly, It will scan the glyph from left to right. Once this is
done, your glyph should look something like the graphic on your left, Depending
on how complex it is, the more crowded this graphic will look since the program
has made note of the thickness and the curves and turns in the glyph.The
glyph is now mapped. |
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Your next move is to Update the glyph, but since I did this snaps, I
thought it wiser if you CENTER the glyph first (this will assure you
the glyph is located dead center), which is just below the UPDATE,
So, in essence you must Center and then UPdate at this point. |
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Once you have UPdated the glyph, you will notice that a small representation
had appeared in the column on the extreme left. Now to make this a finished
glyph continue on to the next step. |
As I went along, making this study of
Softy I cleaned up the graphics you have see on the previous page.
I didn't think much about it except that I wanted it to be neat. However,
Now I see a reason, from this point on, you will have to work within
TWO windows and will be switching back and forth, thus you will see
both windows with white as a reminder that there are two open windows. Now,
Select TEMPLATE from the main window
You will be prompted to locate the glyph
that you want to turn into a dingbat font. ALL your graphics must be in the
Two Color Pallette (Black/White) and saved in the Windows .BMP
format. Locate and highlight the .BMP file you want and double click or select
OK
SO far, the only way that I could move
this line was to grab the actual crow foot, I could not move it by just grabbing
the line and dragging it to where I wanted it.
Once you have aligned the glyph with
the baseline and the vertical axis, you then switch to the TTF window and
if you observe, there is a slider (Crowsfoot) on the right side of the glyph
to align the right vertical axis. Adjust this crowfoot also.