Comparison of font editors
This is a technical feature comparison of font editors.
General
Basic general information about font editors: creator, first release date, latest stable version, latest release date and license.
| Software | Creator | First release date | Latest stable version | Latest release date | License |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BirdFont [1] | Johan Mattsson | August 24, 2012 | Proprietary or open source | ||
| Crossfont | Aaron Elkins | March 14, 2019 | Proprietary | ||
| DTL FontMaster | Dutch Type Library | 3.0 | Proprietary | ||
| DTL FontMaster Light | Dutch Type Library | 2.7[2] | Free | ||
| DTL OTMaster | 6.3[2] | Proprietary | |||
| DTL OTMaster Light | 3.7[2] | Free | |||
| FontArk (Web service) | Proprietary | ||||
| FontCreator | Erwin Denissen | January 25, 1999 | 12.0 | May 7, 2019 | Proprietary |
| FontDraw | Alexander Kirichenko | April 25, 2022 | 1.0 | April 25, 2022 | Proprietary |
| FontForge | George Williams | 20220308 | March 8, 2022 | GPL3 | |
| FontLab | Yuri Yarmola | 1993 | 8.0.1 | June 1, 2022 | Proprietary |
| Fontographer | Jim von Ehr | 5.2 | Proprietary | ||
| Glyphr Studio [3] | Matt LaGrandeur, Mateusz Zawartka, Troy Coutu, & Eric Newport | 0.5.3 | October 2019 | GPL3 | |
| Glyphs | Georg Seifert | 2011 | 2.6.2 | 2019 | Proprietary, file format and parts of the code open source |
| Ikarus | Proprietary | ||||
| RoboFont | Proprietary | ||||
| Type | 3.2 | Proprietary | |||
| Type light | 3.2.038 | Proprietary | |||
| TypeTool | 3.1 | Proprietary | |||
| VOGG | Free |
Operating system support
The table below lists the operating systems on which each font editor can run.
| Software | Windows | OS X | Linux | Android | iOS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birdfont | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
| Crossfont | Yes | ||||
| DTL FontMaster | Yes | ||||
| DTL FontMaster Light | Yes | ||||
| DTL OTMaster | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
| DTL OTMaster Light | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
| FontCreator | Yes | ||||
| FontDraw | Yes | ||||
| FontForge | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
| FontLab | Yes | Yes | |||
| Glyphs | No | Yes | |||
| Robofont | No | Yes | |||
| Type | Yes | Yes | |||
| Type light | Yes | Yes | |||
| TypeTool | Yes | Yes | |||
| VOGG | Yes |
General features
Below is an overview of general features typical for font editors.
| Software | Maximum number of glyphs supported | Colored glyphs | Windows Type 1 (.pfb) editor | Mac Type 1 (LWFN) editor | OpenType TT / TrueType (.ttf) editor | Mac TrueType (sfnt/dfont) editor | TrueType Collection (.ttc) editor | OpenType PS (.otf) editor | Macro / Script |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FontCreator | unlimited in source file[4] | COLR, CPAL, SVG [5] | import and export | import | import and export | OpenType PS (.otf) editor Macro / Script Transformations | |||
| FontForge | No[6] | import and export[7] | import and export[8] | import and export[9] | import and export[10] | import and export[11] | import and export[12] | Yes[13] | |
| FontLab | unlimited in source file | COLR, CPAL, SBIX, SVG [14] | import & export | import & export | import | import | import & export | Python scripting | |
| Glyphs | unlimited in source file | COLR, CPAL, SBIX, SVG [15] | import | import | import & export | import | import | import & export | Python script and plug-ins, Objective-C plug-ins, free SDK available |
The OpenType cmap table can reference a maximum of 65536 glyphs.[16]
TrueType hinting
Font editors supporting TrueType hinting can do that either automatically or manually. The availability of these functions and the possibility to debug hinting is indicated in the following table.
| Software | Automatic TrueType hinting | Manual TrueType hinting | TrueType hinting debugger |
|---|---|---|---|
| FontCreator 12 | ttfAutohint | ||
| FontDraw 1.0 | ttfAutohint | ||
| FontLab | ttfAutohint & FontLab | GUI | code preview and rendering previews, including Windows ClearType on macOS |
| Glyphs | ttfAutohint | GUI | live preview of 3 renderings |
References
- "Create and Edit Fonts in Linux with BirdFont". 25 January 2016.
- DTL FontTools - Downloads. Retrieved 2016-08-31.
- "Tech in Asia - Connecting Asia's startup ecosystem".
- "FontCreator Comparison Chart". Retrieved 2017-06-26.
- "FontCreator – Features and Benefits". High-Logic B.V. Retrieved 2022-10-13.
Create and edit scalable color fonts (supporting COLR, CPAL, and SVG tables)
- "Color font COLR/CPAL #677". GitHub. 2013-08-24. Retrieved 2022-10-13.
- "Frequently Asked Questions". Retrieved 2022-05-06.
- "Frequently Asked Questions". Retrieved 2022-05-06.
- "Frequently Asked Questions". Retrieved 2022-05-06.
- "Frequently Asked Questions". Retrieved 2022-05-06.
- "Frequently Asked Questions". Retrieved 2022-05-06.
- "Frequently Asked Questions". Retrieved 2022-05-06.
- "FontForge Scripting Tutorial". Retrieved 2016-08-31.
- "Color Font Formats". Fontlab Ltd. Retrieved 2022-10-13.
FontLab will export all four formats
- "Features". Glyphs GmbH. Retrieved 2022-10-13.
Or tap into the possibilities of color font formats: SVG, CPAL/COLR, sbix and classic layer fonts.
- "Cmap - Character to Glyph Index Mapping Table (OpenType 1.9) - Typography". Microsoft. 10 January 2023.
External links
- Create your own font with these 14 best tools. Retrieved 2016-08-31.
- 5 best font editors. Retrieved 2016-08-31.
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