glyph groups and kerning classes trouble

[mkjnovak]

I am hoping someone can help me out, please.

I am trying to do a couple of things.
I want to create glyph groups, and then apply kerning classes to them in an opentype font.
I have created t tt tplus and ttplus; I would like them all to kern simultaneously, whether left or right in the pair.
Likewise, I would like f and ff to kern identically, whether left or right.

I think I need further explanation of what needs to be done before saving, and what sticks permanently with the font when.
For instance: I have no idea whether I am using a kern table, opentype kerning, or even both.
I initially set insert kerning, then checked opentype and kerning.
When I close and re-open, the pairs are still there.
The checkmarks for preserve and insert are cleared though.
I did check class kerning.  I tried copy/pasting the group feax files into the kerning feax file, and tried inserting @groupname into the text with no luck.

No matter what I try I cannot make the t's and f's behave as groups for kerning
- or if it is working, am I missing a trick to see it somehow?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

[Allan Murray]

Example: t tt tplus and ttplus

1. Setup your kerning in the kerning window just using 't' (ignore tt tplus and ttplus here).
2. In Groups setup a group that contains t, tt, tplus and ttplus (with 't' as the first member). Tick the 'kerning: class' box for this group.
3. In font/opentype features, select 'insert selected features', and select the 'class kerning' feature.
4. In font/font options make sure 'OpenType' is checked (you can also output a standard kerning table - 'kerning' check box, but this will not contain class kerning, so recommend to just output OpenType).
The class kerning will be saved as an OpenType feature when you output a .otf or .ttf font, but you will not see this upon reopening, as Type 3.2 does not allow editing of OpenType features.
So make sure you also save a copy of your working font as .gfs (font/save .gfs/working copy of entire font) so you can make edits later (the OpenType checkmarks will remain when you reopen a .gfs).

[mkjnovak]

Thanks for the reply.

So, to be clear, Type Light will not show any advanced opentype features?
I need to pretty much install it each time or find another way to verify it is working as I go, correct?
For instance: after getting the t's kerning correctly I plan to use substitution rules to treat the tt's as ligatures and to replace t with tplus depending on the character that follows.
Sorry, but bummer
Can I humbly make any of this a feature request?
Honestly, I didn't know about any of this until I started using your program.
I still think it's great.

[Allan Murray]

First, I am assuming you are referring to Type 3.2 full version, not Type Light, as Type Light does not have OpenType features or glyph groups that you mentioned in the first post.

The correct way is to save the font as you are working on it as a .gfs file as mentioned, and then just output .ttf or .otf when you want to test or for the final font.
The .gfs file saves everything, even font groups etc that cannot be stored in the final font, so there is no need to redo the work each time.

There is an (old) free program DTL OTMaster Light 3.7.0, which is very useful for viewing and checking OpenType features in a .ttf or .otf font (www.softoware.org/font-tools/get-dtl-otmaster-light-for-%20windows.html)
The GPOS/GSUB Table viewer in the Tools menu will allow you to see visually any OpenType Kerning, including Class Kerning.

[mkjnovak]

Correct, 3.2.050 full
Thanks for the tip and the link.