TrueType or PostScript flavored fonts?

The PostScript hinting tutorial by David Lemon is good. It only misses the information about how to set the stem weight values. But a while ago Ken Lunde and David Lemon have provided useful information in the thread PostScript hinting -- number and weight of standard stems.

By the way, Adobe works on a new tutorial. I hope that it will be released with the next version of the AFDKO (Adobe Font Development Kit for OpenType). Or is it already available? That would be very cool.

The AFDKO contains an excellent autohinting program. But the alignment zones and the stem weight values have to be chosen manually.

If you want to hint a TrueType font, I can’t help. I only know one tutorial. There is a link on the myfonts website. But as far as I remember it is not about Delta hinting.

You also should have a look into the FontLab manual.

I remember, long ago, when I read the old TrueType spec from Microsoft, that I felt I understood hinting from it.

Thank you so much for your replies,

In fact i want to hint a truetype and ps one, and i'm so stressed , i did read the fontlab manual it did not give a help, either i'm dumb or it is truly difficult.
i need some step by step tuto, or if you do not mind i can share with you the fonts.

I have to finish that in teh near future, i can pay some charge if convinient.

Waiting for favorable answer

Regards

@ adilturbo

David Lemon’s tutorial is a step by step tutorial, but for PostScript flavored fonts only.

1. Set the alignment zones with the help of the tutorial.
2. Set the standard stem values with the help of the auto function of FontLab. It is in the font info panel. (You have to use the autohinting function of FontLab first [F7].) Later you can manually tune the standard stem values.
3. Remove all hints.
4. Hint the fonts with the AFDKO autohinting macro. (There is a bug in the macro, which I have corrected. You can download it at the FontLab forum.)

There are a few FontLab options, that you should deactivate:
"Use subroutines to compress outlines in the CFF table" and "Autohint unhinted glyphs".

PostScript hinting is much easier than drawing the outlines. So, if you have designed the typeface, you are for sure able to hint it.

I never have hinted a TrueType font. I don’t know, how difficult basic TrueType hinting is, but Delta hinting seems to be a science. I have heard, that only a few people have the knowledge and the abilities to set Delta hints.

>I have heard, that only a few people have the knowledge and the abilities to set Delta hints.

I am fairly certain this is among the simplest TT hints, taking size in ppm, point number to move, distance in fractions of pixels as arguments, and applying them according to the settings of the graphics state.

Let me know when you understand the functions of the preprogram, font program, control value table and graphics state, and I will fill you in on the other glyph hints...

Cheers!

I have heard, that only a few people have the knowledge and the abilities to set Delta hints.

back again,

thank you so much, your tutorials and tool were life saver.

I have an other question. how can i generate (convert) a mac postscript type1 font?

now i have the ttf font with metrics and hinting.

many thanks