Typophile

Green Emerald Most Important Font Diemensions ?

RachelR

Should I be using the green emerald to fill in the font diemensions?

If I click the logo it gives me a Ascender of 740 and a Desender of -219 but I always thought they should both add up to 1000, so should it be 740/-260. Also if I select the Cap Height figure the small window shows the uppercase H with the red line across the top but should this red line be slightly higher so it touches the top of the uppercase O.

Is it best to set the Cap height and x height in the glyph window by dragging the dotted lines that repersent the Cap and x height.

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Hrant H Papazian

> I always thought they should both add up to 1000

No, you have to factor in the talus (internal leading) as well.
For example in a font I’m working on the ascenders are 704,
the descenders are 256, the upper talus is 30 and the lower
talus is 10. You typically need some talus to avoid collisions
when leading is zero. But too much talus will make your font
less efficient and look discouragingly small on the body.

BTW you don’t have to use 1000, although it’s the
safest so if you have no reason not to use it, use it.

hhp

RachelR

So would you recommend going with fontlabs green emerald or setting the diemensions myself

Hrant H Papazian

I only use the emerald/diamond for the naming stuff, partly
because I know my dimensions before any beziers hit the screen.
But in general I’m a manual kind of guy - your milage may vary.
The thing is, why not do this by hand? It’s a one-time thing, so it’s
not like you’re saving time or anything. Or am I missing something?

hhp

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