User Guide

character names and Unicodes.
If you need more information about encoding vectors, see
the end of this chapter.
When should you use Hints?
Hints are information placed into a character’s outline
definition that adjusts it in a way that improves the
character’s perceived shape when it is drawn on the screen
or on the printer. For the thorny technical details of hinting,
turn to Chapter 10. Hints almost always enhance the look
of your font. Fontographer generates hints on by default.
You would do well to leave hinting on unless you have
found some problem with the printing of your font which
seems to indicate inaccurate hints. So here is a toast to
hinting in your fonts: use it in good health!
A word about Flex
Flex is helpful only for Type 1 PostScript serif fonts which
meet very exacting design criteria. If your font doesn’t
match this exact model, then don’t use Flex! Here’s what it
does...
The purpose of Flex is to eliminate slight indentations in the
font’s outline at small sizes if possible, while still keeping
those same indentations at larger sizes. When the Flex box
is checked, Fontographer applies subtle effects to cupped
serifs and tapered stems. Garamond is a good example of a
font that would need Flex to properly render its serifs.
A segment will only respond to Flex if it meets certain
requirements:
The segment must be composed of exactly two Bezier
curve segments, typically created by placing a corner
point, a curve point, and a corner point.
The outer points must be perfectly vertical or horizontal
(meaning that they have the same X or Y coordinate).
The difference between the end points’ X/Y coordinates
and the middle point (known as Flex height) must be 6
units or less in the Flex direction.
Fontographer User's Manual
7: Generating and Exporting Fonts Page #13