Using Truetype fonts to import drawings (again).

[Greybeard]

I've been looking at the problem of modifying letter shapes to add variations better suited to a particular layout.
The technique I'm trying is to modify the letter "s" in CorelDraw 8, then set up a new font folder with the new modified letter as the only character in it, so far.
This procedure works, in that it allows my word processing software to use this new character in a perfectly normal way, as does Corelpaint and coreldraw 8.
However, Designer doesn't seem to recognize it. The font is there in the list when I open the text tool, but if I key the letter( an "s" in this case), the font selection window jumps to the first font with a name starting with S,
instead of the letter appearing in the text window.

Has anyone else been experimenting along these lines, and have they had a better result than I am currently getting ?

John

[Greybeard]

Currently my copy of corelDraw ver 11 refuses to open, so it looks like a re-install.
This may be a coincedence, as I was using ver 8 to work with the font letter,
but it may stand as a caution to anyone trying workarounds :(

John

[Charles M]

Interesting. I have only tried this method once and it worked perfectly for me. Maybe Corel is the problem but it seems that if the font worked in other programs it should also work in Designer. Why don't you upload the font you made and I'll try it out to see if it works for me.

[Greybeard]

Hi Charles.
If I'd read your post ten minutes ago, I could have sent it.
I got into a situation where the text tool went haywire, raster, outline as well.
The only way I could regain control was to delete the font from windows and then reboot.
However if your still prepared to have a go, I can send you the font file.
Let me know and I'll post it tomorrow - I've just about had enough for one night ;)

John

[betacrash]

I used font creator 5.0 to make a logo into a font and it worked good in designer.

[Charles M]

Hi Charles.
If I'd read your post ten minutes ago, I could have sent it.
I got into a situation where the text tool went haywire, raster, outline as well.
The only way I could regain control was to delete the font from windows and then reboot.
However if your still prepared to have a go, I can send you the font file.
Let me know and I'll post it tomorrow - I've just about had enough for one night ;)

John

John,

I have been playing with the font creation this morning with mixed success. Seems to depend on the complexity of the object but I'm still testing. Go ahead and send me the font and I'll see how it works.

[BobHill]

John,

Fonts are in a world all their own. Just because you are able to give it a TTF format doesn't mean that it's meeting all rigid TrueType requirements that many, if most programs will allow. I suspect this is the case with Designer. I haven't used the TT ability in Corel (now using X3) for some time, so I can't say I've tried it. You can always raster it, of course, but without Designer recognizing it as a font, you can't centerline or outline it using the Type method. You can, of course do an outline by rastering the letter and then using Path Outline feature. Have you tried that? Won't do much good for centerline, but you could do that manually and since it's only a single letter, it shouldn't be much of a job.

Bob

[Charles M]

Bob,

The X3 version of CorelDraw that I have been using exports postscript fonts. I have not seen the ttf option so far. I have been able to put a whole string of "letters" that I created together and assign them to one character in the font and this keeps them spaced correctly so I don't have to worry about how I set up the font.

[Greybeard]

John,

Fonts are in a world all their own. Just because you are able to give it a TTF format doesn't mean that it's meeting all rigid TrueType requirements that many, if most programs will allow. I suspect this is the case with Designer. .......Bob

Thanks for that heads up on fonts, Bob. I'd mistakenly assumed that because it worked in other software, it should work in all.
I should have said in my firstpost that the end result had to be a centerline version.

Charles, I'll send the font in a couple of hours - I'm just taking a break from the gardening !

John

[BobHill]

Charles,

You had me looking in my Corel X3 User's Guide (No manuals, any more) and I don't even see anything about fonts listed in it (exceptions are the examples in the Clipart/photos/fonts gallery book). And cerrtainly nothing brings up the use of PostScript Type 1 fonts. Even Adobe is dropping the use of PostScript from it's regular use. EPS is still available as an option, but it's native state now is PDF for Illustrator graphics (.ai format), and TrueType and Open Face fonts instead of Type 1. It doesn't even offer Type 3 fonts of it's own, although they developed the format in the first place. You aren't counting the EPS format with fonts, are you? EPS (encapsolated post script) is post script, but is actually a graphic image format, and not a postscript font format. PostScript Type 1 fonts only come in PFB (PS ASCII) or PFA (PS Binary) format extensions.

Where did you find the option to create fonts in X3? I'm going to have to go back to see when they dropped that (if they did) option, but it's sure not covered in Help or manuals that I've found in X3. Goes to show, it's worth reading manuals more often <g>.

I'll like seeing your font, John. I'm always open for new ideas <g>.

Bob

[Charles M]

Bob,

Here's a ps font that I made. Unzip it and go to Control Panel > Fonts and install it. The only character is the capital C but if you insert it into Designer you will see the image that I created. This was done in Corel X3 by selecting all, combining, then exporting as PFB - Adobe Type 1 Font.

[BobHill]

Charles,

Thanks for the heads up. I completely ovelooked the Export to a PFB file. Interesting. Where did the ability to make TTF go to? It had perameters built into the ability as I recall.

Bob

[Greybeard]

Charles, here, I hope, is the font I created in corel 8.
The default letter is an open rectangle, and only the lower case "s" is the one that I was trying to re-draw.
While the original need has gone, I would still be interested in pursuing this idea of using the "home-made font" idea as a way of importing small vector graphics into various programs, not the least Designer.

[BobHill]

John,

Corel's Font Master only gives me the squares to indicate that it doesn't recognize your "MyFont.ttf" file. Same with Font Navigator.

Charles,

Your's I find interesting, in that you must have embedded "Cummings' Cash Bar" into an existing font, as the only time I get the "Cummings' Cash Bar" is when it's a solo cap "C" ... otherwise I get a pretty standard sans serif (like helvetica) look, both in lower and upper case.

Bob

[Charles M]

John,

Here's what I get from your font in Designer:

[Greybeard]

!!!!!!!!
About to have dinner, so I'll pour out a stiff "grey cell stimulant" and see if I can work out what is going on.
Back later.
John

[Greybeard]

Did a quick check in Designer and got the same as you.
Then explored the font using font Navigator. Attached a print screen image which shows what I would expect.
I can only assume that Designer is doing a substitution, but I haven't thought this through yet.

John

Edit _ it uses MS Shell dlg as a sub, the default font.

[Greybeard]

John,

Corel's Font Master only gives me the squares to indicate that it doesn't recognize your "MyFont.ttf" file. Same with Font Navigator.

Bob

Squares? I wonder if this is my default letter, which was a rectangle, so all characters will appear as a rectangle except the "s" lower case.
Could you check and let me know ?

John

[Greybeard]

Bob,

Here's a ps font that I made. Unzip it and go to Control Panel > Fonts and install it. The only character is the capital C but if you insert it into Designer you will see the image that I created. This was done in Corel X3 by selecting all, combining, then exporting as PFB - Adobe Type 1 Font.

Charles - I also tried installing the unzipped font you created but while it appears by name in the text window in Designer, there is no indication next to the name of any characters in that small "rectangle", nor can I get any reaction from the window.
Having installed the font, is it necessary to re-boot before trying to use it ?
Any other thoughts on why I am getting a different reaction to Bob ?
Could it be the version of Designer we're using ?
I'm currently using .115 .

John

[Charles M]

John,

If you type a "C" as the character to use you should see the design although it will be really small. Rebooting is not necessary with XP or Vista.

[Greybeard]

When I hit the c key the attached screen shot shows what happens - the text window changes to give this.

john

[Charles M]

You need to select Cummings2 in the list then type a "C" where it says "Enter Text Here".

[Greybeard]

That's what I thought I did. I select the cummings font, but nothing shows in the lower pane where it normaly says "(Enter text here)".
So I hit the c key anyway and the previous attachment shows what it switched to.

John

Edit -I've just repeated the process twice. The first time the same thing happened, but the second time it worked.
It occurs to me that in all cases I have been on line while trying this out, and though I have broadband, the speed may not have been quick enough the first time round.

Edit 2 I've attached the final screen shot of it working for anyone reading the thread.

[Charles M]

John,

It's still not working correctly for you. Here's what the caps C should look like:

[BobHill]

Your image is what I got, Charles. And as for the rest of the font characters, if it's not actually a san serif font, then I suspect it's shown that way to me because of Panose, although with your Commins' 2 installed, it should look exactly as you have it.

Bob

[Greybeard]

Ho hum :(

As I have only ver 8 and 11 of CorelDraw, and Adobe Illustrator 8, I will have to find a slightly different route.
Perhaps I'll try using a re-named copy of an existing font, and substituting a changed letter shape in that.
Any thoughts ?


John

[BobHill]

John,

That's how I started, back in the day, making my own fonts. I used a Black Ariel, which is about as block as you can get, then using Corel's TTF perameters vectored the outline to suit what I had in mind. I never did finish a whole font series, but did get enough characters composed to make it into something I understood at the time and it worked. If you still have the ability to make a TTF font in version 11 (I still have that and version 5 installed on my system along with X3), then I may just give it another try. I'm not sure I kept the version 11 manual, however. I got rid of most all my Corel manuals (except for the clipart manuals) because I've run out of office space (along with my workshop space ... I'm too much of a collector).

Bob

[Charles M]

John,

Just a thought, maybe the problem is the font manager you are using. Did you install the font directly with Windows or did you use a 3rd party software?

[BobHill]

I used Font Navigator, Charles, and that worked just fine.

Bob

[Greybeard]

John,

Just a thought, maybe the problem is the font manager you are using. Did you install the font directly with Windows or did you use a 3rd party software?

I dragged the ttf file from where I'd saved it, using windows explorer, across to the windows/font folder.

Bob, I've had a look for any mention of a font making method in version 11, but no luck.
I'm open to suggestions based on what I've got rather than buy in more software.

John