Solution for Block Text in "Sample Strings"

I would like to be able to load big blocks of text in the text sampler so that I can view my font with many different samples very quickly.

Part of what helps me see my font’s performance is how it is formatted using things like line breaks etc.

When a block of text gets uploaded into the Sample Strings feature it will break up the text where new lines are in the formatting of the text.

If you consider this post as an example it would give you 5 options to click through using Edit > Select Sample Text. I would like, as per this example, to be able to load the text contained in this post as one option in the Sample Text window.

If this is in the wrong place please let me know. If there is a way to fix this without requesting a new feature I would also like to know. Thank you to anyone who reads this! :slight_smile:

A line break can be added by typing \n.

1 Like

That’s wonderful! Thank you! But I have to ask now… How do you add in \n so that you can kern that pair? Is this box just assumed to use standard scripting syntax? My personal wish is to have this as part of the sidebar that normally houses things like the layers and Dimensions. :slight_smile: Maybe it could even be its own button next to the current one in the top right and also house the kerning window?

What do you mean?

Which one? The one to insert the strings into the edit view? It would waist a lot of space and you would need to use the mouse to activate it. Invoking the dialog with the shortcut hit the arrow done key to get to the next entry and hit enter is much quicker.

I like to see all possible pairs of letters when I work which includes the ‘backslash’ and ‘n’ pair. If I have that in a string of text in the sample text feature it only gives me new lines. :sweat_smile:

Sidebar already takes up about the same space with tools like transformations, layers, and dimensions. Instead of those I would want things like kerning, sample text strings, and features. I feel like that wouldn’t take up any more space than what it uses there already. :slight_smile:

I also don’t really find it all that quick to use the keyboard shortcuts to access that feature unfortunately… Because, after I open it up and make an edit to a glyph or kerning pair it brings that window out of focus so I have to click back in anyway. If I compensate for having to click back into that window by just adding all the texts I want to see at once it slows down the program too much. I am just looking for a better workflow with doing my kerning in Glyphs.

Can you set up an edit view such a way as if the sample string was inserted?


You can close the ticket or post if you want Georg. I found out how to do it. I also setup what I meant when I said that it shouldn’t take up too much space to have those loose windows be locked to the side. I apreciate your help. :slight_smile: