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Meet the new FOG! Same as the old FOG?
Curt:
-the new "FOG" being the $399 expensive Fontographer 5 for Mac or for Windows
http://www.fontlab.com/font-editor/fontographer/
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I received an email from FontLab:
After more than a decade in limbo, Fontographer, the font editor on which many a budding type designer cut their teeth, has been re-released by Fontlab.
Fontographer was originally introduced in 1990 and quickly became the star of font editors in the brave new world of digital type design. Type luminaries such as Matthew Carter and Sumner Stone used it to create some of the most widely used typefaces today.
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I got curious and went to the site to have a look. I even installed a demo, before I had a look at their prices. This was certainly the right order. Prices are high, I think. Really high! However, on second thought: the new owner is FontLAB: I think you can expect Fontographer to be or soon become one of the best in the field. The FontLAB name should guarantee that, I hope. However, I am not in a position to judge between pros and cons, so you may want to go to their download page, and test the restricted demo version.
Considering their asking price, I am appalled by the way they try to camouflage where to get HELP other than from their user's forum - so here is an important quote from readme: >> If you can't find your answer on the
forums ( http://forum.fontlab.com/ ) then please submit a support ticket form from http://www.fontlab.com/support/problem/ << [Edit:]. On second thought: This is a demo version; the link to support would most likely be present in the purchased version. Sorry![/edit]
Meet the new FOG! Same as the old FOG?
FontLab Takes Over
New Ownership
Today Fontlab is proud to announce the release of a new version of Fontographer for both Macintosh and Windows platforms. The new versions have been updated specifically to meet the needs of 21st century designers and publishers and are fully compatible with current operating systems and the new OpenType font format.
Meet the New FOG!
But that's not all. Of course we added some new stuff along the way:
* Updated encodings,
* Copy-paste compatibility with new Illustrator and Freehand versions,
* CJKV font support to 20,000+ characters,
* New modern user interface,
* Import/Export of FontLab file format,
* Expanded Unicode and encoding tables,
* Streamlined and modernized Unicode font creation,
* New Glyph searching feature,
* Additional font information handling,
* Accepts most bitmap formats for autotrace,
* Innumerable bug fixes.
Same as the Old FOG?
In order to keep the learning curve short Fontographer retains its essential look and feel. The interface has been updated to modern standards, of course, but users will find that they don't have to learn new ways to do the same things.
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Preferences:
Meet the new FOG! Same as the old FOG?Meet the new FOG! Same as the old FOG?
Curt:
One feature I am missing is a link to Vista's hidden folder "Fonts"; I really expected such a shortcut in a font editor! "Open..." will merely open My Documents.
40hz:
- Thx Curt! Great find!
Nice to see this old dragon has returned to its roost.
Fontographer definitely was the best publically available tool for font design back in its day. And it probably still is since it's a highly specialized application which never had much serious competition. If the big commercial type foundries were have anything better, they're keeping it to themselves.
But I'm wondering just how updated it really is. I could understand keeping the interface as close to the original as possible in order to leverage its original userbase. And some of the new features (better unicode support, updated encodings) along with those "innumerable bug fixes" are welcome news.
But did they have to retain Multi-master (or Multiple Master if you prefer) font format? It's one of the few really bad ideas Adobe ever came up with. Seeing it on the menu up above makes me wonder how much has been updated - and how much was just bolted onto the original.
Either way, it's still good to see it back. Maybe if for no other reason than to help people better appreciate just how much design talent, aesthetics and patience are required to produce a nice looking font with fully tweaked kerning pair values. (Trust me, it's a lot harder than it looks.)
Now if somebody would only resurrect Aldus Freehand :-* I'd be one happy camper!
:Thmbsup:
Curt:
-thanks, 40hz :-)
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Edited (see 40hz's next post)
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altsys
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeHand
tomos:
I was wonder about this being a patched up version of a very old programme. But then most of the apps that do well & are continuously updated are just that.
As for interface, if it's good, keep it
An example (maybe of both points) being Illustrator, I jumped from version 8 (1999?) to CS4 & was appalled to often see the same unwieldy interface...
speaking of which:
Now if somebody would only resurrect Aldus Freehand :-* I'd be one happy camper!
-40hz (June 22, 2010, 06:57 AM)
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would the macromedia version not do ?? (see my signature)
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