User Guide

FontLab 4
528
Standard Stems
All link commands can be connected with one of the standard stems. When
a link is connected to a stem it sets the distance between points to the
scaled and rounded width of the stem. Using this technique you can
implement standard-stem-based hinting, keeping important stem widths
the same in every character in which they are used.
Please note that Type 1 standard stems and TrueType stems are different,
although they function similarly. There is no limitation to the number of
TrueType stems and they may be named. We will discuss all the different
options of TrueType stems later on page 549.
You can use the Options panel to select standard stem options:
There are three main options: Automatic connection to the stem, Manual
connection and no connection at all.
In automatic mode FontLab will automatically select the standard stem
that is closest to the linking distance. It will not connect the link with the
stem if the difference between the distance and the stem width is more
than either the stem or the distance.
In manual mode, you select a stem to which you want to connect a link in
the stems combo box and switch on the Select option. However, if the
difference between the distance and the selected stem is too high, FontLab
will not connect the link to the stem.
To keep from connecting a link with a standard stem switch on the
None option.