Technical Setups

Components, Features, and Variable Font settings

Components

1. Set up the needed diacritic mark as a glyph with the name + “comb“
2. Setup anchors on your base glyphs (⌘U)
3. Create composite glyphs (^⌘C)
4. Adjust anchors on base glyphs as needed

Setting up Diacritic Marks

Open Type Features

Ligatures
Discretionary Ligatures
Stylistic Alternates
Contextual Alternates
Swashes
Initials and finials
Titling Alternates
Historical forms
Ornaments
Case-sensitive forms
Small caps
Figures Styles (Tabular, oldstyle)
Fractions
Superscript / Subscripts
Localized Forms

1. Name your alternate with a “.ss01”
2. Go to your Font Information > Features
3. Click on the plus button, and select Stylistic Set 1
4. Select the checkbox “Generate feature automatically”

Features for Chicken Script, a custom typeface for Popeyes

Features for Chicken Script, a custom typeface for Popeyes

Learn the syntax of features at opentypecookbook.com

Variable Fonts

Tutorials and Guides

Glyphs App: Setting up your variable font
An extensive collection of variable fonts by Nick Shermann
A primer on variable fonts by Google

Testing Variable Fonts

VF testing, desktop: Font Goggles
VF inspector, online: Samsa
VF testing & animation: Dinamo Gauntlet

Interpolation

Glyphs App: Keeping Compatible Outlines

Point Compatibility

✓ On-curve points

✓ Off-curve points

✓ Anchors

Plugin: Master Compatibility

Path Direction

✓ Black shapes: counter-clockwise

✓ White shapes: clockwise

Keyboard shortcut: Shift + Command + Option + R

Shape Order

Filter > Shape Order

Demo: creating a modular typeface

Download Demo file