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.

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]

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:

[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!

[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!

would the macromedia version not do ?? (see my signature)

[40hz]

-thanks, 40hz :-)

Now if somebody would only resurrect Aldus Freehand  

was that freeware?
or are you telling that you don't like either FreeHand MX or CS Illustrator ?

Edited: No, it's not really the same thing, I realize, now
re-edited#2: I realized nothing, did I. But at least I have now found http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldus

AFAIK, it's currently a semi-orphaned product still being sold by Adobe. They junked it up big time when they acquired it. (Adobe is a feature junky if there ever was one) But it's still a dead product. They aren't doing any updates to it. Nor have they for some years now.  And you can forget about Win7 or 64-bit.

If you call to order it they try very hard to convince you to get Illustrator instead. Can't blame them. Freehand and Illustrator serve the same function so it really doesn't make much sense for them to offer both.

Per Adobe's website:

Adobe and the Future of FreeHand

No updates to FreeHand have been made for over four years, and Adobe has no plans to initiate development to add new features or to support Intel-based Macs and Windows Vista.

To support customer workflows, we will continue to sell FreeHand and offer technical and customer support in accordance with our policies.

While we recognize FreeHand has a loyal customer base, we encourage users to migrate to the new Adobe Illustrator CS4 software which supports both PowerPC and Intel-based Macs and Microsoft Windows XP and Windows Vista.

Illustrator CS4 offers powerful new features, including functionality designed to appeal to FreeHand users, such as multiple artboards, the Blob Brush tool and transparency in gradients.

FreeHand customers can switch to Illustrator CS4 for US$199 (volume licensing also available), and access complimentary resources to ease the transition. For additional information, please visit www.adobe.com/illustrator

Illustrator is a great app and no doubt about it. But from my perspective, Freehand felt like a sporty Alpha Romeo while Illustrator was more like a Land Rover. Freehand got you where you wanted to go with style and speed. Illustrator can take you anywhere and do just about anything. But it's big, and heavy, and overkill for a lot of things - unless you want to use it in conjunction with the rest of Adobe's suite of products and their concept of workflow. Because that's where Illustrator does shine.

I like applications to be light. Basically only do a few things really well and forget the rest.
For the most part I don't like apps which look like they're on steroids. Purely a personal thing.

[40hz]

(see my signature)

@tomos - Awesome! Thanks for letting me know about these people. I'm in! 

[tomos]

this should nearly be split to a new thread (?) [edit] on second thoughts probably not [/edit] -
I'd like to see a good discussion about Illustrator vs FreeHand vs ?? but I dont want to take over here...
I bought CS4, havent really used the damn thing yet (long story) & now CS5 is out with some (more) ideas taken from FreeHand (which is a good thing).  
Upgrade ONLY $199

Fontographer is aimed at pros, hence the high-ish price tag  - relatively cheap though compared to photoshop @ $700
If you're doing something every day all day it's worth chipping out for the programme that does it best and easiest - if you're lucky enough to find one that is both... I've never used this or any font creation programmes for that matter, I'll leave that to the pros


[edit] of course the question for anyone thinking of buying or upgrading, is, as your title Curt: "the new FOG! Same as the old FOG?" [/edit]

[Curt]

A special offer for FontLab users!

We're down to the final 5 days of our outstanding offer of the new Fontographer 5 to FontLab Studio 5 users for only US$99. Yes, that's a huge 75% off the regular price.

If you are using FLS5 now and want a backup font editor or prefer the classic Fontographer interface for glyph drawing then this is your last chance to get it dirt cheap. Just click over to the Fontographer order page and look for the "License add-on for registered FontLab Studio 5 users" options and hit the BUY button. Both Macintosh and Windows versions available.

Offer Expires at midnight PDT on 31 July 2010

And remember that our 60-day money-back guarantee always applies. So if you try the new Fontographer and you decide before the end of September that you don't like it you can still get a refund! So take advantage of this steal of a deal right now by clicking over to the Fontographer page!

http://www.fontlab.com/font-editor/fontographer/

[Curt]

-and now  one year later:

Fontlab and Dutch Type Library have joined forces to offer version 2.4 of DTL OTMaster and version 5.1 of Fontographer together in a bundle at an unprecedented discount of 41%! Ordinarily we don't do discounts so you probably won't ever see anything like this again. But it's only for the month of July, so get your orders in NOW.

http://www.fontlab.com/fontlab-font-utilities/dtl-otmaster/purchase-dtl-otmaster.html

What Does OTMaster Do?

With OTMaster you won't go cross-eyed trying to make sense of binary tables. OTM gives you an organized visual GUI with everything neatly arranged so that you can see exactly what's going on inside your font.

You don't have to worry about the data being filtered or interpreted by another program. What you see in OTMaster is precisely what is in the final font - true WYSIWYG.


[attachimg=#]  glyph-editor&viewer included


How About That FOG 5.1 ?

Now with EPAR!
This new version of Fontographer, our font editor extraordinaire, is the first to include the ability to create an EPAR OpenType table. EPAR (Embedding, Permissions And Recommendations) is a way to put license information right into your fonts in a format that users can easily see and understand.


As soon as a user opens an "EPAR"ed font in Fontographer a transient popup informs them who licensed the font and what is allowed and disallowed in the license. For instance, if you want to permit video embedding, or prevent backwards conversion, the user knows it right up front.

Of course the new Fontographer has an improved interface and hundreds of bug fixes under the hood too. If your work involves fonts this is a bundle you can't afford not to have - 41% off the list prices!!!!!!!


This is the only time we've ever offered a bundle deal like this. Take the opportunity now to expand your digital type design toolkit. Only US$449 for the latest versions of BOTH Fontographer and OTMaster.

List price US$769.00. Discount price until 1 Aug 11 - US$449
http://www.fontlab.com/fontlab-font-utilities/dtl-otmaster/purchase-dtl-otmaster.html

[Curt]

>>This month we're celebrating DOUBLE birthdays. Twenty years ago the FontDesigner-box The very first "FontLab" very first version of FontLab (back then it was "Font Designer") was introduced at the October Comdex in Las Vegas. But twenty-five years ago a company called Altsys released this brand new thing called a font editor. And its name was Fontographer.<<

Fontographer Turns 25!
and you get 25% off

Just place an order for any Fontographer  version, upgrade or bundle through our website by midnight, October 31, and your discount will be automatically applied.


Save 20% on all (other) FontLab Studio versions, upgrades and bundles. Just use this coupon code when you place your order: 8XS-M31-7GA


Offer Expires: midnight, Pacific time, 31 October 2011
http://www.fontlab.com/

[Curt]

I really wasn't aware that a normal license to FontLab is a lifetime key (of course we need to see in Real Life how they interpret "lifetime"), until I got this mail today:

New Year, New Student Pricing! (lower, of course)

We've had academic discounts for years, but students have been asking us for something better. Why should they have to buy the full lifetime license version (even at a discount) when they may use the product for only a year or two? Well we heard you. This year we're rolling out special one-year licenses for students at super discounts!

Up to 77% off!!

These new student prices are for full-featured versions of our font editors: TypeTool, Fontographer, and FontLab Studio. The exact same feature set as the lifetime license versions. The licenses are good for one year and can be renewed as long as you remain a student.

Here's the bottom line:

TypeTool
Student License Price: $23
List Price: $99

Fontographer
Student License Price: $79
List Price: $399

FontLab Studio
Student License Price: $119
List Price: $649

Happy New Year!
Ted Harrison
Fontlab Ltd.

http://www.fontlab.com/academic-purchases/