Technical Q&A GXTY01

Creating QuickDrawGX Fonts

Q:We make foreign-language fonts for Macintosh computers for 270 languages, and we'd like to also make some QuickDrawGX fonts. How do we create QuickDraw GX fonts?

A: There are a number of sources of information to help you create GX fonts. All of the information and tools are on the QuickDrawGX SDK (the Golden Master and the MacOS SDK).

You should also become familiar with the additions Apple has made to the TrueType specification for QuickDraw GX. In general, the changes for GX are added to the TrueType specification as additional tables that support the features found within the GX Line Layout engine. All of the documentation you need is on the previously mentioned CDs. Look at the following documents in the "Documents" folder:

Inside Macintosh -- QuickDraw GX Docs (folder): QuickDraw GX Font Formats (the complete specification of QD GX fonts)

QuickDraw GX Font Feature Registry

QuickDraw GX Font HI Guidelines

Font Quality Specification

Type 1 GX Font Format

On the Mac OS SDK, there is a folder titled QuickDraw GX that uses the same paths as those mentioned above. All of the QuickDrawGX Font tools used at Apple are also on the CDs in the following path: Goodies : Font Tools.

While all of these tools are useful, two are of particular interest:

1. Font Validator verifies the condition of all the tables in your QuickDraw GX font. If any table is damaged (or otherwise unusable), Font Validator supplies information to help you identify the problem. Always use this tool before shipping any of your QuickDraw GX fonts.
2. TrueEdit creates the major pieces of your QuickDraw GX font. While it does its job well, it isn't complete, and has limited international support. We're working to improve TrueEdit, but for some languages, it does not create all of the tables listed and required within the QuickDraw GX Font Formats specification. It does support the Roman, Japanese, Chinese, and Arabic languages.

The latest version of TrueEdit is available on the Internet at ftp.info.apple.com. As they become available, new versions of TrueEdit will also be included on new MacOS CDs as they are released.