Feature file with plist

Glyphs
1

for learning purpose, I am using noto-sans Kannada source.

https://github.com/googlei18n/noto-source/tree/master/src/NotoSansKannada

It uses plist for feature file. It is not included in the glyphs file.

When I use fontmake -g NotoSansKannada-MM.glyphs, it doesn’t know to include the feature file.

Should we include NotoSansKannada-MM.plist in the glyphs file?

2

The GPOS, GSUB and GDEF info is contained in txt files. The plist files only contain the info which glyphs file needs which txt files.

The features are not in any format I know, seems like they have had their own workflow for making the fonts. Perhaps they documented their process somewhere?

3

I didn’t look at the source but I know that some of the Noto fonts use a proprietary format from Monotype. That might be the case here.

4

thanks, I will ask them

5

Yes, some sources are Monotype OpenType (https://github.com/Monotype/OpenType_Table_Source). With fontmake you need to specify the plist that points to those files. The actual commands run by Google are in the noto-source repo, but the basic command would be

fontmake -g NotoSansKannada-MM.glyphs --mti-source NotoSansKannada-MM.plist --no-production-names

3 Likes
6

Thanks, it works like a charm.

7

Hello,

I came across this awesome project by Noto.

It has the same structure as NotoSansKannada-MM.

The .glyphs contains only the shapes, while GPOS and GSUB tables are external .txt files.

I’m interested in studying the Contextual alternates in GSUB tables.

What does the fontmake command do?
Can I generate a .glyphs file with feature code from that?

Thanks and regards.

8

Those .ttx files are the sources for a special tool from Monotype.

9

Please can you provide more details about the tool?

Is it possible to import those txt files in glyphs?

Thanks.

10

.ttx files are an XML representation of compiled font tables. So you can convert them to a font file with FontTools and open that in Glyphs.

11

he meant .txt files, not .ttx.

12

Thanks @mekkablue and @GeorgSeifert for the help.

I’m a complete novice with FontTools and completely clueless about it’s usage.

I managed to install FontTools.

Please, can you suggest how do I convert the .txt files to a font file.

Thanks.

13

As I said, those files are proprietary files from Monotype and you need their tools to convert it.

14

Sorry, I am the wrong person to ask. I know as much about it as you do.