Font Engineering
With Rainer Erich Scheichelbauer: Fall 2023
This course will introduce you to font engineering over a span of 2 months and 24 hours of teaching. You will understand how an OpenType font works internally, be able to make adjustments to a .glyphs file, manipulate a CFF and TTF post-export, produce variable fonts, as well as track down and fix technical issues. Some experience in Glyphs and basic Python skills are expected (a parallel Python workshop can be booked separately). The course is taught in English.
*If you are a business outside of Europe, email us with your business address and website so we can remove VAT from your bill.
Course structure
(classes take place at 6–8pm UK time)
- Session 1: Oct 24: Setup, OpenType specification and fonttools/ttx in the Terminal
- Session 2: Nov 7: name table: family naming, style linking
- Session 3: Nov 14: OS/2, head and hhea tables: special focus on vertical metrics, fsSelection
- Session 4: Nov 16: OTVAR production (STAT, fvar, avar and gvar tables)
- Session 5: Nov 21: OTVAR production (STAT, fvar, avar and gvar tables)
- Session 6: Nov 23: OTVAR production (STAT, fvar, avar and gvar tables)
- Session 7: Nov 28: fontbakery: passing the adobefonts tests
- Session 8: Nov 30: Writing your own tests (fonttools, fontbakery) for OpenType binaries
- Session 9: Dec 12: Writing Terminal commands for post-production (fonttools)
- Session 10: Dec 14: Pre-export engineering (.glyphs files)
- Session 11: Dec 19: Pre-export engineering: outlines (plus outline conversion)
- Session 12: Dec 21: Pre-export engineering: components & reusing shapes
Course materials and projects
Participants are required to prepare for each session with recommended reading and pre-recorded videos (doable within an hour). Throughout the course, sample tasks will be given as homework. You’re encouraged to collect and submit questions before the course. Homework tasks, prepared content, and submitted questions are discussed in live sessions.
Capacity
The course is open to a maximum 25 participants. This ensures ample time for individual student feedback.
How will it work?
The course will use the latest software in order to set up a virtual classroom and a resource centre for the course materials. Participants will need to join the weekly sessions via a Zoom link. A stable internet connection is required, as well as the latest Glyphs software on a Mac. macOS 11 or later and Glyphs 3 are recommended. We will install FontTools/ttx at the beginning of the course.
Fees and registration
The course fee is £990 + 20% VAT (if applicable) and is non-refundable. Participants are exempt of VAT if registering as an EU business. If you have any questions, please email [email protected]
*If you are a business outside of Europe, email us with your business address and website so we can remove VAT from your bill.
