Contact Yuri, let him know that you'll pay $50 now for FontLab and the rest when you graduate (or when you sell some work created using FL). See what he says. My guess he'll go for it.

Si

I agree that the 50% student discount for FontLab 4.6 makes the price bearable. I actually used the discount myself when I first bought FontLab in 1997. FontLab 4.6 can do a lot more than TypeTool. Your best shot should be to really get the demo versions of both applications and try them out.

Since many other students scrapped together the money for the student price so far, it wouldn't be particularly fair to offer some special conditions to just single students, so I guess we will stick to our regular terms, which I think are quite attractive anyway.

Regards,
Adam Twardoch
Fontlab Ltd.

That's a shame - I always admired FontLab's flexibility in dealing with special cases. I suppose this is the post-Enron FontLab - a level playing field for all.

The idea of trying out the demo versions is a good one though.

Cheers, Si

Got the demos, now I just need to spend time with each and decide. I never expected any special consideration since no other software manufacturer does that. Besides, 50% off is very generous, even compared to academic programs from other companies.

Thanks for the tip about the demos,
Scott

>since no other software manufacturer does that.

I think you'd be surprised - esp with smaller vendors.

Adam, I remember hearing that customers who previously purchased TypeTool could have that amount subtracted from the cost of FontLab if they upgraded later. Is that true?

Scott, if it is true, then buying TypeTool might be your best bet, as you could always uprgrade to FontLab later without having to spend anything extra.

Fontlab Ltd. has upgrade pricing from TypeTool and Fontographer to FontLab 4.6:
http://www.pyrus.com/Font_Editors/FontLab-4.6/Purchase-FontLab-4.6/

(The FontLab.com website currently is undergoing renovation.)

We will surely continue offering attractive upgrade pricing for the upcoming FontLab Studio 5.

Regards,
Adam Twardoch
Fontlab Ltd.

(The FontLab.com website currently is undergoing renovation.)

Love the cheesy stock photo

Adam, any idea what the upgrade price to 5.0 will be when it is released? Or when that will be? I finally managed to scrape up the money to buy FontLab and I don't want to feel like I should have waited longer to buy FontLab. 'Cause I couldn't. :-)

> since no other software manufacturer does that.

Especially for educational purposes we developed the free Light version of DTL FontMaster. In comparison with the full version there are a few limitations, like the size of the font databases which are restricted to 256 glyphs. And it does not allow you to generate TrueType or OpenType fonts.

Obviously DTL FontMaster is not really a program for the rest of us; it has a somewhat steep learning curve. Personally, I don't think that any other program matches the capabilities of FM when it comes to font database handling (for instance the exchange of data between databases) and batch processing, especially with the OpenType production in mind. Not everybody needs to handle large amounts of data though.

Practically no end user will be interested in the tool that was used for the production of the purchased font; the font should be well made and reliable. For the font manufacturer the production has to be controllable and economical. For most font manufacturers other programs than DTL FontMaster seem to be sufficient. What scares me though, is that sometimes in the educational world but also at font related technical events there seems to be a sort of mono culture nowadays. I admit that we do the same at the DTL FontMaster Conferences, but the naming of the event is in this case clear.

I think the educational world is concerned to prepare students for work in the 'real world', so there is a tendency to promote the use of whatever tool is perceived to be 'the professional choice'. This is one reason why Fontographer was taught for so long, because even when it became obvious that FontLab was better, more regularly updated, etc., the perception was still that Fontographer dominated the market. Now FontLab dominates the market, so it gets most attention in educational settings. As you suggest, Frank, DTL FontMaster is something of a niche tool that meets very specific needs of some font developers. So it is regretable that DTL FontMaster does not get more attention in the educational world, but this is also understandable given typical pedagogical goals.

I am lecturing writing (calligraphy), type designing and font producing for almost 18 years at the Royal Academy at The Hague and purely the theoretical aspects for ten years at the Plantin Society in Antwerp now. My pedagogical goal has always been to widen the horizon of my students without pushing my personal preferences. By giving practical and theoretical information but above all stimulating the gathering of information by the students themselves, I always hoped and still hope to provide a solid basis for their further personal development. Although my lessons on font production in the post graduate program Type & Media at The Hague are mainly focused on DTL FontMaster, I always list and discuss other programs. My position as lecturer is not to promote FM but to inform the students about the technical possibilities for font development and to show how we at DTL deal with it. At the end they have to make up their mind themselves.

Let me make clear that the development of FM is the result of the internal production needs at DTL and URW++. I am happy to state that although we sell the product, the further development is not depending on sales numbers at all. It is just a wonderful program ('niche tool' are not my words) for professional font production and Dr. Juergen Willrodt, Peter Rosenfeld, myself and the rest of the FM Team is proud and very happy to work with it and to work on it and we will further develop and enhance the program the coming decades for sure. Considering the price for the full product, it must be clear that we never aimed at a big market. The free Light version is just a service to students. Looking at our list of customers and -of course- our own production, DTL FontMaster is absolutely 'the professional choice' also. And please correct me if I am wrong, but I have the strong feeling that since we introduced DTL FontMaster at the ATypI conference in Copenhagen in 2001, we have in some way inspired the FontLab (add on) developers also.

The fact that history seems to repeat itself in the educational world now FontLab has taken the position of Fontographer should in my opinion actually be a reason to learn a lesson and alter the situation. The fact that something is mainstream does not mean that it is automatically better, as Apple convincingly proves with its products. I underline here my worries about the current situation in the educational world and tech forums (the FM Team is in for any invitations). But maybe I am wrong and is for instance the active promotion for the current dominant product on this forum really built on altruism.

Nice post. I especially like your angle on education: personal development, not necessarily preparing people for the ox plow.

hhp

So how does a student go about getting his/her hands on a demo version of Fontlab?

Demo versions may be downloaded directly from the FontLab website: www.fontlab.com
__
www.typeoff.de

>but also at font related technical events there seems to be a sort of mono culture nowadays.

I always choose the software that the majority are using, in this case FontLab, because, given my ongoing struggle with software, it's too daunting to make any other choice.

I have nothing against FontLab, and I will be using it in the workshop I'm giving at TypeCon, as it is a popular font production tool that I'm passably familiar with, but it's not a "Fontlab Workshop", or an "OpenType" workshop, it's a design workshop.