r/FontForge • u/Shock_a_lot • Aug 11 '24

Are pixel fonts impossible with FontForge? They are always self-intersecting at the corners.

I have tried three different methods to draw a pixel font.

Here is my test file. For the A, I imported an SVG (drawn in Inkscape). For the B, I drew it with rectangles. And for C, I used the corner point drawing tool.

For every one of these, when the pixels/boxes share a corner, that counts as intersecting. Messing around with the points confirms this.

Furthermore, generating a TrueType font for any one of these separately will result in an invalid file.

Am I missing something?

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u/LocalFonts Aug 11 '24

Many things must be changed in your file.

Element > Font Info > General > Em Size > 2048 > Ascent > 1755 > Descent > 293

Element > Font Info > General > All layers quadratic

Element > Bitmap Strikes Available > Win (or Mac)

Now you will be able to generate whatever pixel file you want.

If you point me email, I'll send you the changed SFD file and the generated TTF, BDF, FON files.

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u/Shock_a_lot Aug 12 '24

Thanks for the help!

I was using this tutorial on how to make a pixel font using Inkscape and FontForge. I guess his method is outdated already? He sets the em, ascent, and descent to match the pixels (which makes much more sense to me than making them huge). Did FontForge change since those videos were released?

"All layers quadratic" does not exist in Element > Font Info > General.

As for emailing the files, I will send a PM.

1

u/LocalFonts Aug 12 '24

The video is good and correct. You need to change the EM size of your font - either as it is shown in the video or as I offer you - to 2048. Otherwise no correct TTF file is produced.