TypeTool and Japanese Fonts

KaileneDanae7 Jan 2013

Hi guys!

So I'm a graphic design student, and I'm interested in designing Japanese Typefaces. Since I don't have the budget to purchase the Asian Fontlab (and since I foresee type design as a hobby versus a profession) I've been considering purchasing TypeTool so I can do basic type editing. I noticed that it has the option of using 65,000 glyphs, so I think it would probably serve my needs.

My TypeTool question is, is it possible to make fonts in TypeTool that react to the usual input method of Japanese characters? For example, I don't want "k" to represent a single character- I want to type "ka" and have the corresponding characters か, カ, 火, 科, 家, etc etc appear. as options. I've been doing some researching, but I'm unfamiliar with the terms associated with this input method.

Thank you so much!

altsan7 Jan 2013#

The input method is independent of the font. Normally it's part of the OS or desktop environment, or is third-party software which integrates into such. (Windows IME, ATOK, SCIM-IM, Anthy, Wnn, etc. are all examples.)

All you need to worry about is adding the Japanese glyphs to the font at the correct codepoints. That is certainly possible in TypeTool.

BTW you should be able to create at least a minimalist Japanese font in FL5, as common-use characters (Joyo kanji plus kana plus Latin) only take about 2200 slots. There are a number of Japanese fonts out there which do this. It doesn't come close to complete JIS-X-0208 coverage, of course, but it'd be OK for most everyday purposes.

KaileneDanae8 Jan 2013#

Thanks so much! I may splurge at get FL one day, but I need to decide whether or not it's something I want to commit to one day- knowing that I'll be able to attempt the basics in TypeTool is a big help!

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