New Font Metrics APIs

[troylyndon]

I just wanted to send along my kudos for the new font metrics APIs.

I had to create my own font metrics tool to perform this functionality for a current app, which we intend to put into more than 50 languages. That said, I found that so many English fonts has issues, too - not to mention the international fonts to support large characters.

Do you have an internal list of fonts that were used in the testing and creation of the new plugin? This could be very helpful, as I found that sometimes fonts didn’t appear to have the proper default values and I needed to create them with my tool.

[rob]

I’ll ask what fonts we tested with, but I’m pretty sure, given the number of fonts out there that it was a relatively small set.

Keep in mind if you’re not getting fonts from a well known foundry like Adobe or BTS, the old adage “you get what you pay for” comes into play. There is no one providing quality assurance for the free fonts in most cases.  

Rob

[troylyndon]

Well then, if no one is providing quality assurance for the free fonts, is it too late to ask the development team for the ability to modify the metric defaults of a given font? If so, it’s likely a simple tool could be created to let developers insure the alignment of any non-Adobe or BTS fonts.

[rob]

I can ask about it, but honestly fixing fonts isn’t something that a framework software would be expected to provide. There are plenty font editors out there that would be way better at fixing fonts than Corona would ever be.

Rob

[troylyndon]

in my case, Microsoft’s Gabriola font has incorrect default settings (baseline, space above, below, etc.). Lining it up with other fonts is not automatic. So, your argument that you get what you pay for isn’t relevant here.

Should developers have to learn how to edit a font using a complex editor in order to change its settings, when Corona can solve this by giving us the ability to manually change settings?

Is it a reasonable requirement for developers to only use certain fonts with Corona to benefit from these new features?

Should developers be required to purchase only Adobe or BTS fonts, again, when Corona can solve this by giving us the ability to manually change settings?

How sure are you that ALL Adobe and ALL BTS fonts will work flawlessly without having tested them all?

IMHO, Corona can solve any possible related issue now and in the future by simply giving us the ability to manually change font settings in a new daily build.

Otherwise, this new feature’s lack of compatibility undermines its usefulness.

[troylyndon]

@Rob, on Mac, can you recommend at least one font editor that makes changing such settings a breeze?

[rob]

I can’t guarantee any font will work. I would suspect Microsoft would put in better effort to make sure their font’s are in good shape. 

As far as font editors, I don’t use them so I don’t have any suggestions other than doing a Google search for “mac font editor”. The first few hits looked reasonable and one of the top 10 hits was a “Top 5” list that could provide you more guidance.

If you feel strongly that we should provide font editing features, please visit our feedback site:

http://feedback.coronalabs.com

and create a feature request and get it voted up. 

Rob

[troylyndon]

@Rob, I don’t think you should add font editing features. I’m suggesting that you give us the ability to “override” the font settings, that’s it. It’s a very simple improvement to the great new implementation. So many fonts don’t have baselines that line up, either.

To be more clear, the problem is even greater for foreign language fonts. So please, ask your team to allow us to override a fonts settings.

[rob]

I’ll ask what fonts we tested with, but I’m pretty sure, given the number of fonts out there that it was a relatively small set.

Keep in mind if you’re not getting fonts from a well known foundry like Adobe or BTS, the old adage “you get what you pay for” comes into play. There is no one providing quality assurance for the free fonts in most cases.  

Rob

[troylyndon]

Well then, if no one is providing quality assurance for the free fonts, is it too late to ask the development team for the ability to modify the metric defaults of a given font? If so, it’s likely a simple tool could be created to let developers insure the alignment of any non-Adobe or BTS fonts.

[rob]

I can ask about it, but honestly fixing fonts isn’t something that a framework software would be expected to provide. There are plenty font editors out there that would be way better at fixing fonts than Corona would ever be.

Rob

[troylyndon]

in my case, Microsoft’s Gabriola font has incorrect default settings (baseline, space above, below, etc.). Lining it up with other fonts is not automatic. So, your argument that you get what you pay for isn’t relevant here.

Should developers have to learn how to edit a font using a complex editor in order to change its settings, when Corona can solve this by giving us the ability to manually change settings?

Is it a reasonable requirement for developers to only use certain fonts with Corona to benefit from these new features?

Should developers be required to purchase only Adobe or BTS fonts, again, when Corona can solve this by giving us the ability to manually change settings?

How sure are you that ALL Adobe and ALL BTS fonts will work flawlessly without having tested them all?

IMHO, Corona can solve any possible related issue now and in the future by simply giving us the ability to manually change font settings in a new daily build.

Otherwise, this new feature’s lack of compatibility undermines its usefulness.

[troylyndon]

@Rob, on Mac, can you recommend at least one font editor that makes changing such settings a breeze?

[rob]

I can’t guarantee any font will work. I would suspect Microsoft would put in better effort to make sure their font’s are in good shape. 

As far as font editors, I don’t use them so I don’t have any suggestions other than doing a Google search for “mac font editor”. The first few hits looked reasonable and one of the top 10 hits was a “Top 5” list that could provide you more guidance.

If you feel strongly that we should provide font editing features, please visit our feedback site:

http://feedback.coronalabs.com

and create a feature request and get it voted up. 

Rob

[troylyndon]

@Rob, I don’t think you should add font editing features. I’m suggesting that you give us the ability to “override” the font settings, that’s it. It’s a very simple improvement to the great new implementation. So many fonts don’t have baselines that line up, either.

To be more clear, the problem is even greater for foreign language fonts. So please, ask your team to allow us to override a fonts settings.