Images as good as glyphs?

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freeally

Hi,

I am new here and to Scribus. I'm looking for some advice which might save me a lot of time.

I want to create a book that uses unique signs inline in text: so the text will read like

. . . Name-of-sign (sign) . . .

One idea is to create a OpenType font file made up of these unique signs using Inkscape SVGs imported into FontForge.

However, I read in the Scribus Manual that "Scribus is extremely pickey when it comes to fonts . . ." etc.

I think I understand FontForge, Typographic Tables, etc. But is there an easier solution? Would images of the signs do just as well as gyphs at 10 or 11 pt font size?

Thanks for your help.

RodneyLee

for me, it would be, . . . Name-of-sign (.svg) . . . to keep it simple as possible

utnik

Quote from: freeally on May 16, 2020, 01:10:24 PM...One idea is to create a OpenType font file made up of these unique signs using Inkscape SVGs imported into FontForge.

a couple of years ago i did almost exactly this.
i needed some yin & yang signs for a project and i created a .ttf font using inkscape and fontforge. (see attachment)

scribus didn't complain...

utnik

[attachment deleted by admin]

freeally

Thanks utnik for your yin-yang font exemplar.

The font route is my preferred one. But, I will need to use advanced typography features, such as superscript.

Font validation in FontForge is very rigorous (see https://fontforge.org/docs/ui/dialogs/validation.html)

Would it be safe to say that a font which passes FontForge validation won't present problems when used in Scribus?


utnik

hi freeally

Quote from: freeally on May 16, 2020, 10:54:52 PM...I will need to use advanced typography features, such as superscript.

afaik 'superscript' is not a font feature. it's an effect you can apply to all fonts. ('font properties' → 'color & effects')
QuoteWould it be safe to say that a font which passes FontForge validation won't present problems when used in Scribus?

i'm not a font expert. but i think there are good chances for success.

utnik

freeally

If you're building your own font, you should be able to build a superscript character into one glyph, treating it like an accent or a vowel sign. You can also build in kerning, or have one unicode code point be replaced by a string of signs.

If you're going to use it for multiple projects, it seems like a good investment of time.

However, everything about fonts, from licensing to recommended names for glyphs, seems overly complicated and rife with potential problems.

utnik

hi freeally

as said before. i'm not in the font creation business. and your first post wasn't about creating 'real' typographic fonts. it was about scribus being too picky to use home built fonts.

for infos about font design you should take a look at the font forge tutorials, or you may find a font design related forum...

utnik