FontForge for Mac
X11-based, Open-Source font editor.
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FontForge overview
FontForge allows you to create and edit fonts in many formats: OpenType, TrueType, AAT, PostScript, Multiple Master, CID-Keyed, SVG, and various bitmap formats. It isn't a regular Mac application. It has been in development since 2001 as a UNIX application, so don’t expect it to look and behave like a normal Mac application. It runs on Macs thanks to a UNIX-compatibility layer called X11.
What’s new in version 20230101
- Display the block name for reserved code points
- Don't respond to wheel scrolls for buttons/tabsets
- gfilechooser.c: fix behaviour when changing file type
- Better control-drag handling for line-adjacent points
- Fix resolution of program root
- Fix missed nonextcp edit
- Support ToUnicode extraction from PDFs for Type3 fonts
- Add resource file and Windows application manifest
- Fix name extraction for Type3 fonts from pdfs
- cmake: Install fonttools and pycontrib
- Fix InfoPlist.strings file name
- Fix normalisation of absolute paths
- Handle non-array cm transforms while reading graphics stream from PDFs
- Fix rect extraction from graphics stream for type3 fonts
- Change which lookup types are suggested for jamo features
- Better line handling in simplify
- Use 'cmap' for Adobe-Identity-0 CID fonts
- Fix ChangeGlyph calcluations relative to new nonext/prevcp conventions
- Docs composite glyph
- FVSplineFontPieceMeal: Check that the clut is present before applying conversion
- Expand the lists of languages and scripts
- Add flags to Python font.transform()
- Support setting SplineChar width from importOutlines
- Undefine "extended" macro temporarily on GNU Hurd
- Define PATH_MAX and MAXPATHLEN for GNU/Hurd compatibility
- Fix Ascent & Descent Importing from SVG Font
- Prevent floating point shenanigans in loop termination
- GroupFindLPos() in fontforgeexe/groupsdlg.c null pointer fix
- Fix drawing outside of expose calls
- Fixed one more typo
- Upgrade GitHub Actions
- Prevents memory underflow in GFileMimeType() in gutils/fsys.c
- Add a preference for saving editor state
- splineutil.c: prevent hang on nan input
- Shell-quote command sent to compressor in BDF
- Fix pfadecrypt bugs
- Include SFDUTF7 functions in libfontforge.so
- splinefit.c: Improvements to merge/simplify
- RFE: [FEAT] When reference to non-existent glyphs are present in an OpenTy…
- docs: Python scripting - update font.mergeFeature with details of boo…
- Fix logic for CharString double-movetos after PR 4685
- Upgrade to Unicode 15.0.0 and fix and expand the script lists
- Fix broken link on scripting page
- Fix typo in man page
- Fix painting behaviour of the ruler linger window and layer change dialog
- fontinfo.c: fix crash from uninitialised other_pos
- tottfgpos: Fix needless warning about 16-bit field
- ufo.c: emit guidelines key
- fvmetrics.c: partial revert of 1033bc6
- Update tranlsations from Crowdin
- Fix woff2 decoding
- Record unicode cmap encodings when one glyph is in multiple slots
FontForge for Mac
Free
In English
Version 20230101
Write a detailed review about FontForge
(7 Reviews of FontForge)
Comments
User Ratings
Sep 21 2018
Version: 20161003
v20170730 is the current version of FontForge. You can download it directly here:
https://github.com/fontforge/fontforge/releases/download/20170731/FontForge-20170730-Mac.dmg
Jan 8 2015
Version: 20130718
Save some nickels and get a real font program. This is none. The GUI is simply terrible. I don't mean the menus etc. THIS crudeness is expected of Unix software. But the implementation of the Mac file system is terrible. To open and save fonts it takes ages to crawl thru the FF file browser. So bad. FF also crashes regularly (I use the newest version, not the MacUpdate old timer). FF gives lots of strange errors if you only want to fix a glyph in a font and refuses to save the file. And FF is so sloooooow. FontForge is really only for the desperate without a dime and with loooots of free time. I use Fontographer, FontLab and Glyphs since there is not a single one good font maker out there. All have shortcomings, all crash. Why is making a font generator rocket science? It's only vector graphics! Still I seek for the best font making program to rule them all. No crashes, easy to use for quick jobs, but very powerful for the expert. And faaaaast!
Jan 8 2015
Version: 20130718
Save some nickels and get a real font program. This is none. The GUI is simply terrible. I don't mean the menus etc. THIS crudeness is expected of Unix software. But the implementation of the Mac file system is terrible. To open and save fonts it takes ages to crawl thru the FF file browser. So bad. FF also crashes regularly (I use the newest version, not the MacUpdate old timer). FF gives lots of strange errors if you only want to fix a glyph in a font and refuses to save the file. And FF is so sloooooow. FontForge is really only for the desperate without a dime and with loooots of free time. I use Fontographer, FontLab and Glyphs since there is not a single one good font maker out there. All have shortcomings, all crash. Why is making a font generator rocket science? It's only vector graphics! Still I seek for the best font making program to rule them all. No crashes, easy to use for quick jobs, but very powerful for the expert. And faaaaast!
Aug 18 2014
Version: 20130718
FontForge is an ongoing project that is frequently being updated. At the moment (on 2014-08-18) the current beta is 201408/18_0425, meaning that this beta came out today. Obviously, this is well beyond the version listed here at MU.
If you'd like the most current beta, use the developer's downloads page. The most recent version is at the bottom of the list:
http://fuuko.libferris.com/osx/packages/
Be sure to read the developer's page for important instructions about installing and using FontForge. For example: Because this is an X11 UNIX application, it must be kept in the root Applications folder. It won't work from elsewhere.
Jun 24 2014
Version: 20130718
The latest version from 2014-04-11 is available via the developers site link above. MacUpdate seems to have missed that.
