Merge­Glyphs

MergeGlyphs allows you to select and merge changes from one file into the other.

How to use MergeGlyphs

Open fonts for comparison

First, choose File > New to open a new comparison window.

Then add .glyphs files by dragging and dropping them into the left and right panes (where it says Drag file here). Alternatively, click on the Choose… pull-down menus in the window title bar, select Choose… GlyphsMerge will proceed to display all differences between the two files in question.

The value N/A means that the respective setting, entry or information is not present in the font.

Comparing font-wide settings

In the sidebar on the left, select Font. MergeGlyphs will display differences in the list. Select one or more entries in the list and click on the buttons Use Left (Cmd-right) or Use Right (Cmd-left) to merge the information into the other font, respectively.

The listing includes all entries you will usually find in the Font, Features, Instances and Other Settings tabs of the File > Font Info window of Glyphs.

Comparing master-wide settings

In the sidebar on the left, select Master. Switch between masters with the pull-down menus at the top of the window:

The listing includes all entries you will usually find under File > Font Info > Masters in Glyphs, like alignment zones, standard stems, and vertical metrics. It also lists global guides:

Select one or more entries in the list and click on the buttons Use Left (Cmd-right) or Use Right (Cmd-left) to merge the information into the other font, respectively.

Comparing kerning

In the sidebar on the left, select Kerning. MergeGlyphs will display kerning differences in a list, and a visualisation for the currently selected kerning pair. The visualisation contains extra letters (typically a lowercase n) for reference.

Select one or more entries in the list and click on the buttons Use Left (Cmd-right) or Use Right (Cmd-left) to add or overwrite the kern pair(s) in the other font, respectively.

Comparing individual glyphs

First, select a glyph name in the sidebar. (Hint: You can use the Search field at the top to narrow down the glyph names displayed.) MergeGlyphs will display both glyphs and a color-coded overlay between them to visualise all differences between the two glyphs, and right below, a ‘diff list’. The diff list is a detailed list of everything that differs between the two glyphs, including anchors and their position, components and their transformation, paths, nodes, widths, sidebearings, etc.

You can drag the separator line between the glyph view and the diff list to a position that best fits your needs. Select one or more entries in the diff list and click on the buttons Use Left (Cmd-right) or Use Right (Cmd-left) to add or overwrite the information in the glyph of the other font, respectively.

Save changes to font files

At the bottom of the window, you will find two buttons, Save Left and Save Right, for saving the respective font in its current state. Alternatively, choose File > Save for saving both files at once.

Installation and requirements

MergeGlyphs runs on any Mac with macOS 10.9 or later. To install it, simply download and unzip the app, and move it to the Applications folder.

Currently, MergeGlyphs is available as a free public beta.