Font collections

[odod]

I think that emulating a publisher's style that rely on just music fonts doesn't make so great effect. Everything from music spacing, lines' thickness, beam setings, stem lengths, slur shapes, hairpin settings.. etc etc must be emulated to be close to a particular style.

true, but i am just only trying to simulate their fonts only .. its not even close i guess

[tisimst]

Don't get too discouraged. A good font can go a long way. To make a score look like a particular publisher (like Henle) you'll need to adjust more than just the font because you can be certain they don't use the default settings. That's all he meant. You can pick your own settings for your own different, but cohesive, look to match the font style.

[odod]

Thank you sir for the kind words

but i already asked Henle people .. they replied my emails .. they told me they use Amadeus .. and some hired engravers had their customized fonts to matched the style .. i think nowadays their font matched by some program called Primus if i am not wrong

[John Ruggero]

Wess: However, the best way to create any particular font for me remains Illustrator and Font Lab Studio.
Both software work together very well. Copy-past form app to app is amazing. No need to export any kind of files.
However this does not applies to Corel and any kind of font apps.
IMO, Corel Draw allows such an easier editing method that has never been seen within any of its contemporary competitors.
Unfortunately, the only MAC version I know is very old — for PowerMac and needs Roseta – that means OS X 10.6.8 at last or Snow Leo Server, as I use one as a virtual machine.

After reading more about CorelDRAW, I wish that I could run it on my Mac. It sounds like an excellent alternative to Illustrator. I am now experimenting with a treble clef glyph in Inkscape>FontForge which is appropriate given my lack of experience. I am doing all of the drawing in Inkscape and only using FontForge to convert the glyph to TTF, because I find the FontForge drawing tools impossible to use. Is that the usual workflow?

[OCTO]

I think you can try to use SVG as exchange file, or EPS. TTF is a font file, isn't it?

Let us know how it is progressing!!

[Knut]

I am doing all of the drawing in Inkscape and only using FontForge to convert the glyph to TTF, because I find the FontForge drawing tools impossible to use. Is that the usual workflow?

Yes, That's usually how it's done.Since you (probably) can't copy/paste directly between the apps you're using, like OCTO said, export/import as EPS or SVG. Beware that the scale and placement of your imported outline will depend on the settings in both applications. (There might be a tutorial on the web somewhere on how to set this up.) If your proportions are exactly right, and since we're only talking about a single glyph (so far), the easiest thing to do is just to readjust in FontForge.

Good luck!

[Knut]

TTF is a font file, isn't it?

Yes, it stands for TrueType Font.

[John Ruggero]

Thanks for the tips, OCTO and Knut. I am moving to FontForge via SVG. Once into Finale, I find that my clef has to be 73 points to equal a 24 pt Maestro clef! I must be getting the scale wrong in Inkscape. In any case, it is not ready for prime time yet, but I will reveal it as soon as I feel good about it.

[wess-music]

Here I will try to help first in direction of understanding how the scaling works and thus any attempt will never struggle with the need to compensate the size utilising different point sizes.

First of all – in most cases the font apps "propose" by default 1000 units per bounding box for all glyphs as a font template.
Translated in practical sense – when you create a glyph in Illustrator or using any alternative software – for instance symbol "staff" (found in slot "=" /equal/) – this "staff" must appear so big or small as it is 1000 points. Finale, Sibelius and many others utilise 24 scalable size for the default font.
Tracing micro photographs (as I prefer) or drawing is the only first step. Till the result as a vector "picture" is finished, the above conditions are non important. But: when this element (whatever vector format it might be – EPS, SVG) is ready it have to be scaled appropriately in order to fit the overall size of the font.

How? Imagine you have already created G-clef as a perfect vector and it is ready to be imported within Font app. you have on your disposal.
But what is the guaranty that it will fit perfectly or will be too "big" or "small" when you at the end of this adventure generate the font, switch it in Sibelius, Finale etc. and it turns out that it must be 73 p. instead of 24p. as usually.

To avoid any hesitations:
First (though this is actually the second major point in this guideline post):

import (just type) a staff glyph "=" taken from Maestro, Opus and so on in your graphic application (Illustrator, inkskape...) and apply size of 1000 p. Huge, indeed, but this is not matter of choice – it is a "must"!!!
Set the measurement in points and not in cm, mm, or inches. The font software does not care about any other measurements since the size of any test font is in points.

"Lock" the staff template (1000 p.) on some other layer (I usually work on second layer and all "data support" such as pictures, templates and so on remain locked on different layer(s).
Most of these software are organised in a way to keep individual drawings as a layers. At least there is one layer!
Then select your own G-clef, apply appropriate manual scaling of it to fit the size of the staff (template, BTW – locked does not mean hidden) on the locked layer.
Any time we tune our instruments we need "A" form first octave 440 Hz. The same is here. 1000 units for staff (template) and all other custom daring will be perfectly adjusted.

The next step – Nº3 – set 0.0. x/y coordinates to the bottom line of the "staff" templates (most probably already locked on layer 1).
Export you G-clef as vector (EPS or SVG) and import in your Font application.

IMPORTANT: export ONLY the G-clef (as I used it to describe all actions in this post, however it applies to any kind of symbols).
Illustrator to Font Lab Studio works as "copy-paste" but I am not sure for other software.

Do not export all elements – such as template and so on.
Also: All paths must be closed. No single lines can be exported as a font, because they will either not appear or will be closed. Such oddities are to be avoided.
All elements must be grouped or even better organised as a compound path.

Align the bottom of the G-cled for 0/0 position and move it (most of the cases) downward in your font program so that the clef position is equivalent of second staff line (say "g" from first octave).
(look at the sample)

There is no need to say, that different softwares behave differently... However, the above described "movement" is only to bring you an impression and direction how to work easily.

[John Ruggero]

Dear Wess,

Thank you for the mini-tutorial! That will help a lot.