Free FontLab VI Public Preview for Windows
FontLab VI Public Preview is now available for Windows, alongside an updated Mac build. It is free until the final app ships.
Blog¶
FontLab's plans for OpenType 1.8 variable fonts
At the ATypI conference in Warsaw, Google, Microsoft, Apple, and Adobe jointly unveiled version 1.8 of the OpenType specification — and with it, variable fonts.
New FontLab VI Public Preview for Mac
A new FontLab VI Public Preview for Mac is out, adding context menus, a Gallery panel for named shapes, faster glyph access, and italic-angle drawing.
FontLab VI Public Preview 2 for Mac
FontLab VI Public Preview 2 (build 5844) is out for Mac, following the expiry of the first preview. We are still not calling it a beta.
How to space a font
Spacing is where type design lives or dies. In this 53-minute tutorial, Thomas Phinney walks through sidebearings, optical principles, and the practical workflow inside FontLab Studio 5.
Basics of Python scripting in FontLab Studio 5
Automation unlocks the real power of a professional font editor. In this 70-minute tutorial, Adam Twardoch introduces Python scripting inside FontLab Studio 5.
DTL OTMaster 5.0, vfb2ufo, and FontLab Pad 1.1
December 2014 brought a major update to DTL OTMaster, plus two new free tools. We released a command-line UFO converter and an updated color font typesetter.
Color fonts: the next big thing? A FontLab tutorial
Back in 2014, color fonts were a brand new frontier. This 103-minute tutorial with Adam Twardoch was one of the first deep dives into how to actually make them.
Brush Romans webinar with John Downer and Paul Herrera
On March 11, 2014, FontLab hosted a webinar on Roman capital letterforms and their origins in flat-brush writing. Sign painter and type designer John Downer presented alongside calligrapher Paul Herrera.
Matthew Carter webinar
In February 2014, FontLab hosted a live webinar with Matthew Carter, a key figure in digital type design.
FontLab Studio 5.2.1 for Windows
FontLab Studio 5.2.1 for Windows shipped in December 2013. It builds on the 5.2 foundation with new tools and hundreds of bug fixes.
TransType 4 for Mac and Windows
TransType 4 arrived in December 2013 as a complete rewrite of our font conversion app. It added multi-color OpenType output and web font export to its core toolkit.
All FontLab products run on macOS 10.9 Mavericks
FontLab tested its current product line against macOS 10.9 Mavericks. Everything passed.
OpenType Layout feature classification
OpenType Layout features drive the correct display of complex scripts like Arabic and Indic, and they let users apply advanced typographic formatting. This is a classification of the registered feature tags, written for developers building UI to expose them.
On fractional coordinates
Round a number too early and the error never leaves. That is the whole case for working in fractional coordinates while you design, and rounding to a grid only when you ship.
FontLab Studio 5 and the Fontographer acquisition
2005 was a pivotal year for Fontlab Ltd. The company shipped FontLab Studio 5, which became the dominant professional font editor for the next decade. FontLab also acquired Fontographer from Macromedia, reviving a tool that had been dormant since the mid-1990s.