Re: how to create a font out of small images?


I am looking for a font editor that can create a font out of small
images. I have seen fonts that have letters made out of butterflies,
snowflakes, etc. I need to create a font like that using a set my own
images (few dozen of different small images).
Do I have to go through the pain of arranging my images into letters
manually, or is there a font editor that can do it for me?

First of all the images has to be closed outline shapes i.e. vector images. (With an exception, see below)

There are several font formats TrueType, Type1 (Postscript) and OpenType. I will not go much into details but only OpenType works in several platforms while the other two needs different file format for (about) each platform. TryeType is the most common for Windows. Type1 and OpenTpe are commonly used in publishing (print) while TrueType is best on screen due to better hinting.

Anyway, glyphs can have any shape, so there is no rule that letter A cannot look like a butterfly. Only rule is that the shape should fit into the 'slot' so it can be used as a character. The nominal height cannot be adjusted but width can - letters usually do not have the same width. So it is for you to decide how your images are 'mapped'.

There are pro quality editors available by FontLab (www.fontlab.com) and they have also Photofont which can create bitmap image fonts for Photoshop. TypeTool may be best for your purposes. Fontographer was THE editor but is now outdated and do not support OpenType and TrueType support is just a poor conversion from Type1 font.

There are a few cheaper editors like FontCreator by www.high-logic.com and they will probably get the job done too.

There are also freeware and shareware editors which are ok if you make the font for your own use but if you plan to distribute (even sell) the font or you plan to continue making more fonts a better (more expensive) editor may be a good choice.

****

I make a lot of book layouts and find myself making a symbol font very often or modifying existing font for my purposes - with FontLab Studio5. Or sometimes I fix commercial fonts I've purchased, which I hate to do of course.

HTH
Jukka
.

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