What would it take to make an AAT compatible version of SBL Hebrew?

[Jon Stovell]

I know that SBL Hebrew is an OpenType font, and that Apple is steadily improving operating system level support for complex scripts in OpenType, but I wonder whether the entire situation on Macs might be improved by having a version of SBL Hebrew that made use of Advanced Apple Typography.

No doubt creating such a version of the font would be a significant undertaking, so this is not an ignorant request to "just do it."

However, I am curious to know how and if such a thing might be done. Would it amount to starting over from scratch and creating an entirely new font (aside from the glyphs themselves), or is it possible to convert the existing OT to AAT? Is the amount of work involved utterly prohibitive, or merely difficult enough to have lead the developers to put such a project on the back burner for the time being?

[tiro_hudson]

SBL Hebrew makes extensive use of OTL GPOS mark positioning, and there isn't a direct parallel in AAT. So although it is probably possible to make an AAT font that will produce the same output, that font would need to work very differently and would probably involve a much larger glyph set. I think the amount of work involved would be pretty prohibitive and, at this stage, it would be difficult to find interested investors. As you say, Apple's OpenType Layout support is improving, and Middle Eastern scripts are one of the things now being worked on.

[Jon Stovell]

I see. Thanks for the info.

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