9 comments

  • lifthrasiir7 hours ago
    I used to make a hybrid bitmap-vector font called Unison [1] a decade ago and I made it in that way so that I don&#x27;t have to learn the fine art of (vector) typography. Or at least that I could skip most of it (for example, kerning is still required for proportional fonts, but that doesn&#x27;t have to be very precise in bitmap fonts). I&#x27;m now working on Unison once again after 11 years of time, this time armed with a dedicated font editor called Uniform. I haven&#x27;t publicly released Uniform in public yet but anyone interested can already download and compile it.<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;lifthrasiir&#x2F;unison" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;lifthrasiir&#x2F;unison</a>
  • Waterluvian1 hour ago
    I don’t think I ever really considered that some fonts could be computationally more demanding than others. I wonder if you could make a font whose characters are so overwhelmingly complex that it can kill performance maliciously? Like certain characters having millions of control points in an otherwise unassuming font.
  • interleave7 hours ago
    Thank you, that was perfect Sumday-morning reading: Easy to read yet dense information-wise.<p>I learned today: The difference between ttf and otf, what strong and weak characters are, what an Em is and where kerning and leading really come from.<p>My favorite parts: Learning where the magic of ligatures and those tiny postion-changes in moments like &quot;To&quot; come from.<p>Upvoted and favorited!
  • Gualdrapo42 minutes ago
    It seems it&#x27;s just me, but the body font is too small.
  • Hard_Space10 hours ago
    Previous discussion - <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=43678144">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=43678144</a>
    • sarreph8 hours ago
      That’s related, but not the same article.
  • rippeltippel9 hours ago
    Misleading title. This is an explainer on how fonts are encoded and rendered, not a tutorial on how to actually make a font.
    • amelius1 hour ago
      Read this instead: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Computers_and_Typesetting" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Computers_and_Typesetting</a>
    • yorwba5 hours ago
      If you want a tutorial, <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;designwithfontforge.com" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;designwithfontforge.com</a> might be up your alley.
    • speerer9 hours ago
      I suspect the URL and the article title are correct, if you buy the whole chapter - and it&#x27;s just that we are seeing a preview which gets the grounding down first.
  • la_oveja3 hours ago
    i love the mono font used in the tables, anyone know what it is?<p>edit: might be <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.departuremono.com&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.departuremono.com&#x2F;</a>
  • davidhaggstrom8 hours ago
    The home page is beautifully illustrated.
  • gaoqian258010 hours ago
    The concept behind this website is truly innovative.