User Guide

section and go to Types of Points later in this chapter.
Closed paths
Closed paths can be filled; open paths can’t. PostScript
always closes paths and fills images unless you specifically
command Fontographer to do otherwise. To turn character
fill off, choose Selection Info from the Element menu and
click off Fill in the Character Information dialog. If you want
to have outline and path connections without a fill (this is a
character made up of stroked lines), click on the Stroke
checkbox. Basically, you should know that 99% of the time
you’ll be using closed paths. For more about stroked
characters, refer to Chapter 2, “Creating New Fonts.”
Path direction and fills
A character with an open path remains unfilled by
PostScript, but characters with closed paths are filled.
PostScript automatically closes paths unless you specify
otherwise. Open paths are lines in which the final point
does not reconnect to the initial point in the path and are
basically worthless unless you’re creating a Type 3 font. A
closed path includes an endpoint that reconnects with the
first point in the path.
In the Character Information dialog (which displays when
you choose “Selection Info” from the Element menu), you
can select one of two types of fills—“Normal”
or “Even/odd.” The standard PostScript filling technique is
called a winding number fill, which is the Normal fill. The
Even/odd fill operates differently (refer to the even/odd fill
Fontographer User's Manual
3: Altering Outlines Page #4