User Guide

FontLab 4
382
W o r k i n g wi t h Co m p o s i t e Gl yp hs
Composite glyphs are glyphs made up of two or more components, like a
letter plus an accent. One or more of the components are referenced. I.e.
their contours are not actually present in the composite glyph, but are
“copied” from and linked to some other character. Thus whenever the
original component contour is changed all the composite glyphs that copy
the component also change. The contour of composite components appears
in dashed lines in the glyph window.
Composites have the advantage of allowing the user to create only one
instance of a component that is frequently found in a font and reusing it
without having to redraw it each time. Further if the design of the
component changes it need only be altered once – in the original
component. And finally, a composite takes up less room in the font than
an outline, allowing for smaller font files.
There are three operations related to composite glyphs: adding a
component to glyphs, decomposing a component and positioning a
component.