Exporting variable font with multiple axes using Glyphs

hello @mekkablue , would you please send the tut to me, too. I would love to read it.

It’s online already. :slight_smile:

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Oh. Thank you! :slight_smile:

Will the maximum be increased at some point?

Also wondering about the possibility of a colour axis, so for instance you can interpolate from one colour to another.

The current implementation supports 6 axis but has some problems with “off axis masters” when there are more then three axis. We are working on both limitations.

@GeorgSeifert does 6 axis support mean a maximum of 36 masters? I’m working on 3 axis v-font (currently 14 masters) and after exporting to variable font ignores one of the masters and extrapolate in a weird way instead :frowning: and in some cases starts to interpolate between masters since half of an axis. Maybe somebody has any idea what might have happened?

atlas_var_004.glyphs (395.5 KB) atlas_var_004GX.ttf (41.1 KB)

One thing that you need to keep in mind is that you don’t need a master at all the corners of the design space. It is certainly more stable but getting rid of some will reduce the amount of work and the file size.

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Thank u for the advice! I know and will try for sure, but even with this amount of masters, I don’t have the control I looking for. There are some big differences between extremes/corners of the design space and I’m afraid of losing details and some qualities.

Btw. don’t You have and idea or a clue if there a solution to this problem? Or… do You know a way to export v-font form UFO via 3-rd party app or so?

What do you need the .ufos for?
The Problems come from the intermediate masters ‘TurboCond SemiBold’ and ‘TurboExtnd SemiBold’. Only single extra (not at corners) masters are very difficult. It works if you have an extra master in all axis (like the middle master for contras).

Hi! I have a similar issue to @awkwiatski

So I have a quite complex fonts, with only three axis but since they are very very extreme, and I need absolute control of each instance, I need many masters in the middle to “hold” the design. More specifically is 18 masters. They are propperly and regularly distributed in space.

My issue is that for some reason, when I export the font and I try it in Illustrator or others, the sliders do not modify the font until the middle of the slider. Axis mapping do not solve the issue. Is there a way this can be solved in Glyphs? In case it is a problem of incompatibility between my document setup and Glyphs technology can you think of any potential solution??

(BTW, in Variable Font Preview X the font behaves finely, although I know this might not mean any difference. )
Glyphs Version: 2.6.7

Thanks, you are top

That might very well be an issue with Glyphs 2. We improved the handling of many master setups in Glyphs 3. But could you send me that file that I can have a look?

Hi, I actually managed to solve the issue with @GeorgSeifert solution - my masters weren’t positioned evenly through the space. Finally with some minor glitches it worked out :)) So @pbeaujon if your masters are placed right idk what might have happened.

btw @GeorgSeifert I forgot to thank you then… so thank you big time! here’s the effect:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1mOYSnbBArq6RLTnsfO1Z5wUUZXVL9VHJ?usp=sharing

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Glad to hear you solved it. I am guessing that by evenly you mean masters placed only along the axis and without any position in mid space, right?

This sounds like your designspace is not a grid of rectangles with a master in each intersection, even if you don’t need that master for design reasons. Same for special layers of course. Which it should be at least in Glyphs 2.

Georg, is there any documentation of those improvements of handling many masters in Glyphs 3, by the way? I’d be happy to avoid making “grids” of useless masters :smiley:

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We are constantly improving and I am about to rewrite/update the OTVar tutorial.

Additional to grid masters, you can now also have off-grid ‘free masters’. (Imagine the arrangement of dots on the five of dice. :game_die: ) Your origin master must be on-grid though.

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Hey!

we’re having some big issues as well, 4 axes seems quite challenging to manage.

So we are looking for a var font that changes from:
Serif to Sans
Roman to Slanted
Distortion
Hight (from regular hight to a bit lower)

Right now there are 12 masters (this could be the first problem, but we don’t know how to simplify these steps).

Video attached which show that almost nothing is working. Glyphs file attached as well.

If any one can help us would be great!
@mekkablue pleaaase

VIDEO
G FILE

Hi @BastardaType
I’m currently in a similar boat.
The issue is that you’re missing masters.

What you have:

What you should have:

Here is a quick edit to the files:
PenitVar_test.zip (12.2 KB)

Sidenote: non-standard axes should be in all-caps rxadRXAD

Hey, I actually managed to make the font work with 3 axes with no real issues. The key in my case was to place all the 18 masters evenly (on the grid). I haven’t checked the file yet, but I had a similar idea – of a var going from Serif to Sans to Inverted Contrast, and in my case, 18 masters were still not enough in some letters to achive a high quality glyph.

Hey @gor.jious great!

Thank you for your advice and for the file; your right we were missing 4 másters!

ñ_ñ

Gracias!

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Perfect!

yes there are some complex shapes that needs some extra care. Thank you guys for the help and advice, we’ll star working on this file.

Best!