Alex Petrov (FontLab)
Tech Support, Fontlab Ltd.
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 Russian Federation
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« on: 2008-10-08, 13:59:45 » |
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Hey TransType Pro Users!
Are there any wishes (bug fixes, new features) for the next version release? Please post them here if you have any.
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Ray Larabie
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« Reply #1 on: 2008-10-10, 15:02:35 » |
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The biggest problem with TransType is its poor ability to generate Mac PostScript families. The naming system is a complete mess. Every large family conversion is an epic struggle.
The world of Mac PS font naming is a vicious hellscape. Various font managers deal with fonts if different ways so names have to be 100% perfect or the family won't work properly.
If I translate a large family from Win TT or OTF to Mac PS, I have to manually enter almost every naming field for each style. The default names do not produce a working font family on a Mac otherwise. The default fill in tools only serve to produce a Mac PS family that doesn't work on a Mac. They may be useful for some formats but not Mac PS. It all adds up to about half an hour of renaming every time I convert a large Win TT or OTF family to Mac PS. If the names in the original font are named properly "Twardoch style", it shouldn't require so much manual tinkering just to do a straight conversion.
When converting from OpenType fonts (either type) I'd like an option to collapse class based kerning.
Converting from VFB to any format should be more reliable. It crashes so much that I gave up trying.
I've never been able to convert from OTF to Mac PS reliably. The resulting fonts appear blank when tested on a Mac.
Converting from OTF to WinTT shows an improper version name. For example. If the original OTF font shows "OTF 1.000;PS 001.001;Core 1.0.29" then an OTF converted to WinTT should show "Version 1.000" and vice versa.
I'd like the default settings to actually work. If I use TransType Pro out of the box, I can successfully convert almost no formats. I took me a few hours of tinkering to set it up properly and about a week of trial and error to generate Mac PS families. I'd be very surprised if a novice user can convert a Win TTF family to Mac PS.
Autosplit families. When I convert a large family from Win PS, OTF or VFB, I have to manually split into reg/bold/bold/italic. If I make a mistake, I have to start all over again. If I manage to get it right, I have to manually enter a lot of fields depending on the target format.
Documentation: recommended settings and procedures that actually work for various format conversions.
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Hedrington
Full Member
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 United States
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« Reply #2 on: 2009-02-13, 15:24:22 » |
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Using the "Properties" window with more than one font in a family shouldn't change the font file names to the family name plus a number.
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Alex Petrov (FontLab)
Tech Support, Fontlab Ltd.
Global Moderator
Hero Member
Karma: +6/-0
Russian Federation
Posts: 439
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« Reply #3 on: 2009-02-16, 07:47:40 » |
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Thanks, guys! Any more bugs?
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Ray Larabie
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« Reply #4 on: 2009-02-18, 23:11:51 » |
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OTF autoscaling: the Win TTF font format is not a fussy format when it comes to vertical metrics. The vertical metrics can be completely crazy and the font will probably function normally in most applications. Certainly a lot of older versions of my fonts had wacky vertical metrics and they seemed function well enough (for free fonts). OTF is a very fussy font format. One false move and you've got a non functioning font. Vertical metrics are very strict compared to Win TTF. I'd like to see a "force vertical metrics to OTF specs" conversion option. This would scale everything to 1200 em square max. Not just blind autoscaling but something smarter. For example: If someone was converting an all caps Win TTF font that an emsquare of 1650 (oops), no accents or descenders, autoscaling to 1200 would be silly. You're probably want to aim for a minumum ascender/descender ratio and try to nail WinAscent and WinDescent so they total 1000. Autoscaling should ignore common problem glyphs that night throw off the autoscaling in less-than-professional fonts: notdef, bar, broken bar . . . it's better to clip those to improve vertical metrics. Perhaps clipped glyphs could produce warnings.
Version numbers should be automatically generated in a format which Fontbook finds acceptable.
But really, fix the naming system first. I want an autotwardoch button that names everything properly. That's top priority. Test by converting families and testing them on Macs with various font managers to make sure it's flawless.
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« Last Edit: 2010-01-30, 22:38:09 by Ray Larabie »
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Audacitor
Full Member
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United States
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« Reply #5 on: 2009-07-19, 05:32:37 » |
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Overhaul the UI. I'm using it in OS X, and it looks and feels like something only vaguely resembling an OS X application. Let's see some native controls, and major improvements to the usability. How about auto-complete in those text boxes, instead of drop down menus next to them?
Right now, the app is functional. Now make it much easier and faster to use.
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mekkablue
Beta: FontLab Studio Mac
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 Austria
Posts: 40
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« Reply #6 on: 2009-09-21, 09:21:02 » |
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TT should be able to handle PS/T1 expert fonts and be able to integrate default and expert font into one CFF/OTF, including the smcp feature.
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CryHavoc
Full Member
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United States
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« Reply #7 on: 2009-11-12, 11:46:19 » |
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I have a copy of Transtype Pro 3.0 for Windows, but there seems to be an eensy little problem: It will not install on Windows XP x64 at all. Hopefully thewre may eventually be some sort of resolution to this issue
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drayon
Sr. Member
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 Thailand
Posts: 17
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« Reply #8 on: 2010-01-14, 08:02:07 » |
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1. Re-written in Cocoa
2. Split and Join of TTC
3. Long filename support
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