User Guide

FontLab 4
396
W h a t ar e Fo nt M e t r i c s?
A program that aligns and spaces text calculates the total width of all the
characters in a paragraph. It then adjusts the widths of the space
characters that separate the words and tries to put as many characters as
possible into one line. The information about the words that are used to
make a paragraph, and the information about the width of the individual
characters is the only information necessary. This is what is known as font
metrics.
To position the individual characters, the page layout program must
have information about each character's sidebearings:
Righ t bearingLeft bearing
Character width
Using this information the page layout program positions all the
characters. Kerning information is also necessary in order to get the best
results.