This is something that I would be interested in seeing too. Because I've been reading this forum, I got the urge to buy typetool so I've been drawing in that (I heard it's like the baby FontLab Studio so the drawing tools should hopefully be similar if I ever upgrade). One thing I appreciate is the 'snapping' to units that you won't get in Illustrator by default, and I think I prefer it for drawing outlines than in Illustrator now (which I was more used to before).

When I read #5, I heard the sound of screeching tires in my head. Any font where 99% of the glyphs "work" with some fixed sidebearing value is probably not a usable font. Especially if your #2 involves auto-tracing, since that only really makes sense for letterforms with very organic/irregular outlines.

hhp

Thanks hrant - perhaps you misunderstood. I didn't say it "works" with RSB and LSB at 50 (it doesn't). I just used 50 as a default. But your concern brings up a good question: Should I be setting the font's main spacing through side bearings or kerning pairs? I think the answer is to set spacing with side bearings wherever possible, and use kerning pairs only for specific issues (like AV). Is that right?

Also - no, I'm not auto-tracing the font. I've actually spent an inordinate amount of time tweaking, correcting, and perfecting the shapes in Glyphs. I used Illustrator at first because I hadn't bought Glyphs yet.

Thanks - dm

Yes, I did misunderstand - sorry.

The relationship between "base spacing" and kerning is more complex than it seems. The old maxim of "space first, then kern" isn't useless, in fact it might be a great way for a beginner to get a handle on spacing, but in the end it's limiting. All these steps in type design that seem discrete are in fact highly interdependent, but since they do have to be performed discretely they end up being highly iterative, with experience helping you save much iteration.

Situations where kerning will be off are pretty much the same situations where users won't notice -and if they notice they won't much mind- if the spacing isn't just right. So there's a benefit to accounting for the eventual kicking-in of kerning when you're doing the spacing. And then there's the hidden truth that even the "black bodies" should be affected by spacing... and hence even kerning! For example one can't make a good lowercase /r in a space-less vacuum.

hhp

oh good. that makes me feel better then because my instinct is to space and kern almost simultaneously. I was afraid I may be doing things out of sequence by doing that, so I kept resetting all the spacing/kerning and starting over.

So is there a 'best practice' for base spacing?
For kerning: is it better to kern using brute-force or kern king?
If I use one method (brute-force), should I not use the other (kern king)? Or is it a case of the more the merrier?

What other 'best practices' should I be following?

Anyone?

See http://typophile.com/node/27804 and related how-to pages of the typo wiki.

Thanks eliason. That was very helpful.

Everyone: if you have a minute or two, could you take a look at my font and provide some feedback?
http://typophile.com/node/91917

Thanks,

dm