With unique killer features like native TrueType documentation and individual - windowpane Multiple Master redaction , FontLab ’s Studio 5.0.2 is the most capable font - editing tool available today , easily outpace both the current Fontographer ( ) ( which FontLab now owns ) and the old FontStudio ( formerly published by Letraset ) .
It has been , over time , a great favorite of font manufacturers , font designers , and graphic designer who want to customize baptistery for clients — hoi polloi who call for more advanced feature article than Fontographer offer , such as OpenType formatting support .
New feature for FontLab Studio 5 ( called FontLab in previous releases ) , include new editing tool for metric and kerning , in - context of use glyph design , meliorate Unicode and Multiple Master support , newfangled impression / proofing feature , and dozens of other user interface enhancement and functionality refinements , including the power to preserve your workspace preferences across font redaction sessions .
Multiple Master
One of Studio ’s glories is improved Multiple Master financial backing , which simplifies the production of large multi - weight family . Whereas in Fontographer , each weighting is contained in a separate data file with up to three disjoined window , in Studio 5 , a multiple - weighting phratry can be a exclusive file that you’re able to see in a single windowpane . The new release also improves robotlike generation of accented fibre , a useful feature for those who work with Eastern European languages .
Because of its efficient anti - aliasing capableness , you’re able to utilize Studio ’s novel multi - line Metrics window to show comparatively small lines of text on screen . The anti - aliasing lets you view much smaller characters on screen than you ever could before , without visible pixel artifact . Essentially , it makes your 150 dpi projection screen take care more like a 300 dpi or even 600 dpi screen door . No font editor could ever do anything like this before . A related new feature is call in - context of use redaction . The basic approximation is that when you are editing a glyph , shape - related glyphs seem in the background , making it gentle to keep related shapes in sync . This is an intriguing and original feature , but I would have been happier if Studio had offer deeper support for traditional foundry - vogue metrics correspond or else .
Python support
Studio 5 also offers improved integration with the Python programming language that is build - in to Mac OS ex , enable infinite usage programming and scripting potentiality . Studio 5 even has a build - in Python editing windowpane .
Studio 5 also include the Python - basedRoboFab toolkit , which lets you limitlessly misrepresent baptistery in Studio , and will even let you store font data point in a non - proprietary and extensile format . ( Though RoboFab lets you unfold , automatize , and customise Studio 5 to the limits of your imagination , you will need to be a fairly adept software engineer to get much out of it . )
While Fontographer users will appreciate that Studio now properly display tangent point , they might be let down by the weak print and proof feature , awkward treatment of scanned images , and Studio ’s average zoom factor of 1,600 percentage ( I would like to see 6,400 percentage ) .
However , for print proofing , Studio has just integration with Adobe InDesign CS2 ( ) , and the two together make a very satisfactory , though expensive , proofing solvent .
studio apartment 5 is the only commercially useable font editor in chief that edits TrueType directly ( all others convert a font to PostScript when you edit it , then reconvert it to TrueType when you generate it — resulting in substantial caliber red ) . Without Studio 5 , there is no way to create mellow - timbre TrueType fonts unless you have access to proprietary font edit software . Most of the font foundry that built font - redaction software in the past have now forsake that practice for Studio 5 .
Studio ’s extensive OpenType format support allow you build up fonts using all the racy capabilities of this Modern , complex format : huge fictitious character sets , infinite ligature , additional language , and sophisticated contextual variant financial backing .
Not easy to learn
To mine Studio 5 ’s riches , you will have to study the manual and probably also participate in forums where users share problems and top . fantabulous free reenforcement is available through vitamin E - chain armor . I appreciate FontLab ’s legendary reactivity : a reported bug will sometimes be fix within a day .
Unlike Fontographer , which is a relatively simple program , Studio will now and then give you an unpleasant surprise . For example , I perform a simple append operation in a Multiple Master face that result in the intromission of extra points , thus deflower the outline . The documentation provided with Studio is secure , but it does not shroud this issue , which I had to resolve through tech support .
One matter is clear : save frequently , and carry through multiple versions . More than once , I execute time of day of work , only to have to go back to a previous version of the file because a problem I caused was not immediately apparent . While there is extensive undo function in FontLab , it contain some perversely rude elements . And some actions , such as the Append performance , are not undoable . If an append goes awry you may not see that something bad has happened until hours later .
Despite that , I keep coming back to Studio because it lets me do things I could only daydream of with former multiplication of font editors . I did not like the interface of Studio 5 ’s predecessors : FontLab 3 and 4 . But Studio 5 ’s usability is now sound enough for me to be comfy doing most of my face piece of work with it .
Macworld’s buying advice
FontLab Studio 5.0.2 is the most subject font editor you may purchase today , but it is toilsome to learn . If you’re able to live without Studio ’s advanced features — OpenType and aboriginal TrueType financial backing , better metrics redaction , higher-ranking Multiple Master support , and programmability — then you will probably be felicitous with Fontographer . Serious font family apply them both , but Studio is too substantial an investment funds of time and money for casual substance abuser .
[ Bill Troop is a font designer and writer . ]
