Outline tools tutorial
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Trying for the first time to integrate Robofont (trial) into a workflow today -- wanting to edit an outline in one weight to correct a problem diagnosed in Prepolator -- I was stymied by the fact that I couldn't figure out how to convert a straight line segment into a curve. Maybe there's some typical way to do this in Mac drawing tools, but coming from Windows FontLab, I'm at a loss how to edit outlines in Robofont. In FontLab, deleting a smooth tangent point preserves the curve as closely as possible; in Robofont, the curve is collapsed: there seems no way to delete a tangent point without also deleting the control handle. This is totally alien to me after 16 years of FontLab, as is the apparent inability to shape a curve section by grabbing the middle of it and just moving it around. Maybe there are ways to do this in Robofont that I wasn't able to find?
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There is already some documentation of the editing tool available. see http://doc.robofont.com/documentation/tools/editing-tool/
- straight line to curve:
- alt+drag the straight line
- alt+drag one of the oncurve points
- deleting bcps:
- delete a bcp will remove both bcps
- alt delete a bcp will algign the bcp on top of the oncurve point
RoboFont tries to bundle similar actions to one and the same shortcut.
Bcp handle modifications are mostly all bundle with the "command" key.- modifying curves by grabbing the curve:
- only dragging: moving all points
- command + drag: adjusting the bcp handles
- shift + drag: drag the points on 0° 45° or 90°
- alt + drag: un-smooth the oncurve points and move the bcps only
- shift + alt + drag: lock the bcp on 0° 45° 90°
