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Missing characters?
Hi!
I am a rookie at fontlab - and i have run into a problem.
I made a otf with some kerning pairs. But when I try to use it in Indesign or Illustrator three characters are missing. Its really strange because I can use the font in Pages without problems.
I have no clue how this happened or how to fix it - so advice is much appreciated! (help!)
Thanks in advance :)
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4 Feb 2011 — 2:45pm
I made a otf with some kerning pairs
Which three characters? Any other OpenType features in the font?
4 Feb 2011 — 3:04pm
Older InDesign versions tend to ignore kerning if it's the only OpenType Layout feature in the font. Add any substitution feature such as
feature liga {sub f i by f_i;
} liga;
A.
4 Feb 2011 — 4:34pm
When I've encountered this problem, the solution usually has something to do with the way those characters are named. For example, I can call the space, "blankspace" and it will show up as a missing glyph symbol in Adobe apps. Glyphs with no unicode can be a problem but that doesn't seem to fit what you described.
4 Feb 2011 — 4:39pm
Another thing worth checking in FontLab Studio is Preferences / Generating OpenType & TrueType, and the Kerning subsection.
In the first page, make sure that you have "Export OpenType layout tables" and "Compile feature definitions" enabled. In the Kerning page, make sure "Generate OpenType kern feature..." is enabled. For TrueType-flavored fonts, it's also definitely recommended to enable "Export old-style..." and "Expand class kerning...". For OpenType PS (.otf) fonts, this also won't hurt.
Best,
Adam
4 Feb 2011 — 8:17pm
Wait . . . are three kern pairs missing or three characters missing?
5 Feb 2011 — 2:13am
Hi! Thanks guys
It is the characters which are missing. It is 2,7 and 8.
It is not making any sense to me, after i kerned some of the letters these numbers just disapeared in Adobe programs (cs5)
5 Feb 2011 — 7:23am
By "disappeared", do you mean that they appear as blank spaces?
I run into this problem occasionally, and it can usually be resolved by simply changing the start points of the affected glyphs. Exactly what causes it is something I've never managed to figure out, though I have noticed that it doesn't occur if you turn off all autohinting options, so presumably it involves some interaction between hints and startpoints.
André
5 Feb 2011 — 9:35am
Per André's suggestion, here's a visual reference. Also, ensure that the glyphs are properly named and coded.
5 Feb 2011 — 2:16pm
No, the startpoint in this example is the node on the top right of the glyph, with a little right-pointing arrow. What you're showing is the reference point, which does not affect anything in the font.
Some other recommended techniques to try:
* disable compression using subroutines in OpenType PS export
* correct the path direction to "PS" for all glyphs
* decompose all composites
* perform Glyph / Glyph Names / Generate Unicode
A.
6 Feb 2011 — 5:06am
hi guys!
im really thankful for your advice :)
I mean disapeared in the way that when i open the Glyphs palette in Indesign or Illustrator they dont show, and if i try to type nothing happens, not even a blank space. But if a see the font in Fontbook it is all there, and there is no problem using it in Pages.
I tried redrawing the letters with new startpoint.
correcting the path to PS for all glyphs and performed Generate Unicode.
I dont know how to decompose all composites or to disable compression?
6 Feb 2011 — 7:13am
You don't need to redraw the characters to set a new startpoint. Just control-click on a point and select 'make node first'.
For composite decomposition and compression, go to preferences->Generating OpenType and TrueType->OpenType PS (.otf) and set the relevant options (alternately, you can decompose composited manually from the glyph menu but it's generally a good idea to keep things as composites within the .vfb file so I'd use the preference setting instead).
André
7 Feb 2011 — 10:54am
It is working!
Not quite sure what exactly made difference - but thanks for all your advice you lovely people!