UPDATED on June 12, 2013!Introducing TransType 4 beta 4909 for Mac OS X
Convert fonts with easeTransType had its start in the days of the ‘font wars’ — when the manufacturers of operating systems were battling it out over font formats. Anyone who worked with fonts needed TransType’s quick and easy conversions between the different formats and platforms. Meanwhile, OpenType has established itself as the font format of choice on desktop computers.
But we have new font formats which are used on the web (WOFF, EOT, SVG), and by font developers (UFO, VFB), so the need for conversion tools is just as strong. It still does matter whether the OpenType font exists in the PostScript or in the TrueType flavor (OTF or TTF). Also, a number of legacy PostScript Type 1 fonts still exists, which makes it difficult to move documents between Mac OS X and Windows. TransType 4 supports all these formats (new and old), and makes font conversion between them easier than ever before.
Reduce problems with font family organizationOne of the greatest hassles of converting fonts between platforms has always been the incompatible font family structures and naming systems on different operating systems. As a result of this, fonts have about a dozen of different naming fields and settings which control how they appear in the applications’ font menus. Making sure that these fields follow the various specs and guidelines set up by OS and app vendors, and that they’re consistent within a font family, has always been a nightmare for font vendors, and especially for font hobbyists and beginner type designers.
TransType 4 is the first application on the market that virtually eliminates this problem by introducing a revolutionary, intuitive visual approach to font family management. All you need to do is tell TransType to optimize the styling, and all fonts will be neatly arranged within the family. To make corrections, drag-and-drop a few font thumbnails, or click-and-edit one or two text fields — and your fonts are guaranteed to work cross-platform.
The time required to turn any type design project (in VFB or UFO format) or any existing desktop fonts into a font family that works across all operating systems and all web browsers — with TransType 4, it’s literally reduced from hours to minutes.
Be more creative with fontsBut fonts are not just about work and hassle — they’re primarily about fun and creativity. So TransType 4 includes a number of sophisticated filters, which can be used to change the font’s appearance. Some are purely functional. The Blend filter allows the user to take any two fonts, and create a new font that looks like a bit of both — perfect for making a Medium weight in a family where the Regular is too thin, and the Bold is too dark. The Tracking filter simply adds or removes space between characters and ‘hardwires’ the changes into a new font. Other filters are much more experimental — Blur or Distort will add a grunge look to the most ‘corporate’ sanserif, while Round will add warmth to the coolest ‘techno’ letterform by softening its hard corners. The Filters are not a replacement for a professional type designer’s work, but they’re fun to use.
What TransType 4 does for youFor font foundries or type designers who enjoy the creative process of designing a typeface, and want to produce OpenType fonts or webfonts, but do not want to be bothered with font format technicalities — TransType 4 is a perfect companion for their font editor, whether they’re using FontLab Studio, Fontographer, TypeTool, or one of the editors that support the UFO format (such as RoboFont, Glyphs or FontForge).
For professional graphic designers and art directors — TransType 4 can help them experiment with their typeface collection, but customizing a font’s weight, adjusting the slant angle or permanently modifying the font’s tracking.
For regular font users — if they’re troubled with platform and application incompatibilities, TransType 4 can fix these problems; and if they’re just bored with the fonts they have, they can try making some new with more pizazz.
Important note about intellectual propertyPlease note that many font foundries do not allow modification of their original font files, or distribution of such modified fonts, so users should consult the font’s End-User License Agreement before using it in TransType.
Download TransType 4 beta 4909 for Mac OS XNote: this product is of pre-release quality. Please use it for testing the application, and report back to us! All users can install this beta version. It does not require a serial number or a pre-existing TransType installation. However, this build will expire on June 15, 2013.AVAILABLE DOWNLOADS:Bugs fixed build 4909 since build 4900- Improved the handling of "first four glyphs" (.notdef, NULL, CR, space)
- Improved the conversion of class-based GPOS kerning to flat kern-table kerning.
- Fixed: A bug in Type 1 to OTF conversion reported by George Thomas, which resulted in incorrect mapping of glyphs
- Fixed: Mac "name" table IDs (Family, Subfamily, Preferred Family, Preferred Subfamily) were not written at all into OTF or TTF. In this build, we have made TransType consistent with our August 2012 recommendations for family naming: Mac Preferred Family and Subfamily are not written, and Mac Family and Subfamily are written as identical to Windows Family and Subfamily. This improves font compatibility between Microsoft Office for Mac and Windows.
New features in TransType 4 beta 4909- EXPERIMENTAL generation of Photofont-compatible OpenType fonts: if you convert a BitFonter-created Photofont (.phf) file into OpenType TT (.ttf), TransType will generate two font files: one TTF with autotraced monochrome outline glyphs in the "glyf" table and one TTF with the Photofont color bitmap glyphs in the Apple "sbix" table. The "sbix" font will work natively in modern Mac OS X 10.7+ and iOS 6+ applications that use the Apple CoreText text engine (so they will work in TextEdit or Safari, but not in iWork 09 apps which use the older ATSUI text engine which does not support "sbix").
- Introduced a 10,000 glyph limit for fonts that can be converted into the OpenType PS (.otf) format. TransType 4 currently only supports writing of name-keyed OTF fonts, and fonts with more glyphs do not fit within the technological limits of name-keyed OTF fonts.
- Fixed: Improved OTF-to-OTF conversion, alignment zones are no longer changed.
- Introduced stricter length limits for various naming fields (31 characters max) for improved compatibility with Microsoft Office for Mac
- Introduced a new, Adobe-compatible format of the Unique font identifier: font version;font vendor code;PostScript name;font creation year;TR4-app version
- The selection of profiles has been reduced. The distinction between “Preserve” and “Optimize” profiles no longer exists. Instead, each export profile tries to be smart — modify as little as possible of the source font, but perform some optimizations if needed.
- On first launch, the Note about intellectual property will appear. (If it doesn’t, close TransType 4 and then launch it with the Alt key pressed.)
- The OpenType PS (.otf) output should be fully functional now, with Adobe autohinting. Please test the .otf output extensively! Note: CID-keyed fonts are not supported for writing.
- In Font Info, the Icon View and the List View, it’s possible to modify the font’s declared Design Parameters (Weight, Width and Slope). Changing the parameters will update the internal font fields (e.g. OS/2.usWeightClass), and will regenerate the Typographic Style Name.
- EXPERIMENAL subsetting of OpenType Layout features is now implemented. It works if the input font is in the VFB, UFO or PFB format. If you have FEA code inside your VFB, in the features.plist file of your UFO or as a .fea file with the same name and location as your .pfb file, then the FEA code will be automatically subsetted to the current font’s character set. This means that you can have one FEA code for both a "Pro" and a "Std" version of the same font, and TransType 4 will build the correct "Std" font using the FEA file made for the "Pro" version. TransType 4 does not yet do actual glyph subsetting, so if you work in a font editor, remove the glyphs in the font editor, but leave the FEA OpenType code unchanged. Save the VFB or UFO file, bring it to TransType 4 and convert to OTF or TTF. Font developers: please test this feature!
- The generation of OTF and TTF has been strengthened A LOT in terms of various SFNT tables and "minor" fields therein.
- Preferences have been simplified, some stuff removed.
- Some effects such as Blend have been improved.
- Many bugfixes and internal improvements.
Known limitations in TransType 4 beta 4909- This beta build, TransType 4 beta 4909, will expire on June 15, 2013
- GPOS-to-kern table conversion may not be working fully correctly. Please test!
- The application is not digitally signed so on Mac OS X 10.8, running it will issue a warning "App can't be opened because it is from an unidentified developer". See this website for suggestions how to eliminate this problem.
- TransType 4 beta 4909 is only available for Mac OS X. It runs on Mac OS X 10.6, 10.7 and 10.8. A Windows version will be available some weeks after the Mac version release.
Send us feedback!Please post feedback about TransType 4 on this forum: impressions, opinions, problem reports or requests for future improvements!
Note: When reporting problems here, please state the build number and OS in square brackets in the Subject line or at the beginning of your post, such as "[4909 Mac] EOT support is wonderful".
Many thanks, and bets regards!
Adam Twardoch
Fontlab Ltd.
