ILT Font Engineering 2023 ↗

This 6-hour course will introduce you to Python for font engineering. It will enable you to read and modify existing Python code, and get you started in writing your own code from scratch. Special attention is given to automating tasks in Glyphs.

This course also works as an add-on to the ILT-Glyphs Font Engineering course. The course is taught in English.

Participants are expected to prepare for the second session. You will be given a set of tasks as homework once (doable within an hour). You are encouraged to submit questions before class. Homework and collected questions are discussed in the live session.

This course will introduce you to font engineering over a span of 2 months and 24 hours of teaching. You will understand how an OpenType font works internally, be able to make adjustments to a .glyphs file, manipulate a CFF and TTF post-export, produce variable fonts, as well as track down and fix technical issues.

• Session 1: Oct 24 – Setup, OpenType specification and fonttools/ttx in the Terminal
• Session 2: Nov 7 – name table: family naming, style linking
• Session 3: Nov 14 – OS/2, head and hhea tables: special focus on vertical metrics, fsSelection
• Session 4: Nov 16 – OTVAR production (STAT, fvar, avar and gvar tables)
• Session 5: Nov 21 – OTVAR production (STAT, fvar, avar and gvar tables)
• Session 6: Nov 23 – OTVAR production (STAT, fvar, avar and gvar tables)
• Session 7: Nov 28 – fontbakery: passing the adobefonts tests
• Session 8: Nov 30 – Writing your own tests (fonttools, fontbakery) for OpenType binaries
• Session 9: Dec 12 – Writing Terminal commands for post-production (fonttools)
• Session 10: Dec 14 – Pre-export engineering (.glyphs files)
• Session 11: Dec 19 – Pre-export engineering: outlines (plus outline conversion)
• Session 12: Dec 21 – Pre-export engineering: components & reusing shapes

Participants are required to prepare for each session with recommended reading and pre-recorded videos (doable within an hour). Throughout the course, sample tasks will be given as homework. You’re encouraged to collect and submit questions before the course. Homework tasks, prepared content, and submitted questions are discussed in live sessions.

The course is open to a maximum 25 participants. This ensures ample time for individual student feedback.

The course will use the latest software in order to set up a virtual classroom and a resource centre for the course materials. Participants will need to join the weekly sessions via a Zoom link. A stable internet connection is required, as well as the latest Glyphs software on a Mac. macOS 11 or later and Glyphs 3 are recommended. We will install FontTools/ttx at the beginning of the course.