Is it possible to have incompatible masters in Variable Fonts? I would like to just switch the glyph at a certain value, without any interpolation involved. Basically I want a total straight line in one master and a more complex shape in the other. Adding a lot of extra nodes to the straight line seems a bit weird, and it will also bring super strange intermediate steps which I would like to avoid.
Is this possible?
Yes. Add bracket layers.
e.g.:
Note the different direction of the opening bracket in the second Bold layer. The the ‘Light’ + ‘]100]’ and ‘[100]’ + ‘Bold’ have to be compatible.
I think I might explained wrong, because that did not work. The masters are compatible, but the ”virtual” master is not.
Basically I have it like this:
Light Master = Straight stem
{50, 0, 0, 100} (Where 100 is a curved stem)
Bold Master = Straight stem
{200, 0, 0, 100} (Where 100 is a curved stem)
Unfortunately, the bracket layers only work for the first master.
OK, so this is basically impossible when working with virtual masters?
I guess one could insert the straight stem on 99 to avoid interpolation weirdness, but the straight stem would still keep unessesary nodes, like this for instance.
I am afraid this would have negative effects, but maybe not?
That is principally okay in variable fonts. So this is your second option if the bracket trick does not work.
OK, thanks!
