I imported several compatible masters into one .glyph file. Then I manually hinted first master.
My questions are:
At what moment will the hinting from the first master be transferred to the rest? Does this happen only when exporting to ttf?
Can I edit hinting preview template in browser? Not only %current letter% but something like HO%current letter%1234
I can preview the result of the hinting for the first master in browser on win machine. Can i preview the result of the hinting for the rest masters? I select between layers but nothing change. Also I can see pixels only of Thin master (like on the last picture)
And the main problem:
I exported masters and got this:
Telling from you screenshot, you have 8 masters on a single weight axis. Are you sure you need that many masters?
If the glyph is compatible, you are hinting everything at once.
It will take whatever you write in the Edit view.
You edit the masters in Edit view, you preview and export the instances. You set up instances in File > Font Info > Instances, and you pick an instance in the Preview area, with the popup menu in the bottom left of the window.
I add 8 masters to 1 .glyphs file, then hint compatible glyph, but after exporting all instances to ttf hinting applied only in 1 master where I made hinting.
I specially changed the shape for copyright, but it worked only in Thin (1 master), other didn’t changed
Regarding your S: the top and bottom horizontal strokes are coming out too wide, leaving no room for the middle diagonal. Have you got TTFStems custom parameters for your masters? You can use that to slim down those thick strokes for your Bold and Extrabold. Or if the problem is only occurring at particular sizes, you can use deltas.
Oh. I thought the “main problem” you mentioned in your first note was the really awful result for S. I don’t know of a way to transfer hinting from one master to another, apart from exporting and getting the hints on your various instances. As for testing/previewing, you can always drag any instance into a font testing page, like
then I exported it to variable ttf and hinting worked well in both DemiBold and Bold weights, but when I exported masters to different ttf files hinting saved only in DemiBold master. Also when I generated instances without export hinting stayed in DemiBold and interpolated instance between Bold and DemiBold, but it didn’t affect on Bold instance.
Three instances were generated: DemiBold, interpolation between them and Bold
First, the hints do not make much sense. Did you read the chapter in the handbook about TrueType Hinting?
Secondly, how do you test if the TTFs are hinted? I would not necessarily advice opening them in Glyphs and relying on the reverse engineering of the compiled TT hinting. You would see Font Program entries File > Font Info > Masters > Custom parameters. Rather, I would test for the presence of CVT and fpgm tables with OTMaster and/or FontTableViewer (both available through the Tools section of this website). Plus, actually test the screen rendering in an app that makes use of it, like Word for Windows.
I checked your file and it works fine. You can try buy selecting a instance in the lower left (activate the preview if you dont see it). Then change the pt size to see the hinting in effect.
