Gerber OMEGA CP, Reference Manual

Page: 596 / 826

582 Chapter 50:
Designing and Building Your Own Fonts
To position and save the characters
1
Either select the character with the Selection tool and drag it to the baseline or use
Absolute Move to move the character directly to the baseline. See “Positioning
characters” for more information. By positioning each character on the baseline, all of
the characters will be aligned correctly.
♦
If the baseline is not the desired size, use the Edit > Change Baseline feature.
♦
Be sure to also select the inside shapes of characters and any unattached
upper parts (such as the dot of the letter
i ).
♦
Rounded uppercase characters sit about 2% above the heightline and 2%
below the baseline. Rounded lowercase characters sit about 2% below the
baseline. Be sure to take this into account when moving the character on the
baseline.
Tip: If a character needs to be unconstrained to move it 2% below the baseline, click Layout >
Unconstrain. The character can then be moved to the desired location.
2
Click File > Save. The file is saved, and the screen returns to the Composer work area.
3
Repeat the process of opening the file, moving the character, and saving the file for
each character until you have captured all the characters. It is not necessary to locate
the directory again; it remains as
\smplfont
until you access a new directory. The
baseline remains on screen until it is turned off on the Tools > Options > View tab.
To note character size
The absolute size value of the characters must be noted for use in the Font Designer program.
The absolute size value will be entered as the Capital Heightline value in the Font Settings
dialog box. The character used to determine this value is the uppercase
A .
1
Click File > Open. Select
key65.plt
and click OK. The character appears in the Composer
work area.
2
Select the character and the height value appears in the status bar at the bottom of the
screen. Write down this value.
3
Close the file and the Composer program.
To open the files in Font Designer
1
Click Start > Programs > GSP OMEGA > Font Designer.
2
Click File > Set Directory to display the Set Directory dialog box.
3
Choose C:\Jobs\smplfont.
4
Click OK.
To enter the font settings
1
Click File > Font Settings.
2
Enter a Font Title (name the font
GRAPHIX ).