FontLab Ltd. & DTL OTMaster
[Posted: Monday 18 October 2010]
Fontlab Ltd. announces the availability of DTL OTMaster 2.3 for Mac OS X and Windows on fontlab.com, the leading online store for font-related software products.
Ted Harrison, President of Fontlab Ltd.: ‘We are thrilled to add DTL OTMaster to our product offering on fontlab.com. This release marks the beginning of our collaboration with Dutch Type Library and URW++. Dutch Type Library is renowned for their excellent high-quality DTL typefaces, while URW++ has pioneered the field of font technology with the development of Ikarus, the world’s first digital outline font editor, in 1975, and has continued to develop high-quality fonts and font-related products ever since. On the other hand, Fontlab Ltd. is the home of FontLab Studio, Fontographer, TypeTool and TransType, which today rank amongst the most popular font-related products worldwide. We believe that our combined expertise will contribute to improving the overall quality of fonts and typography, and we are looking forward to further collaboration with DTL and URW++.’
The Dutch Type Library and URW++ Design & Development are highly pleased that FontLab Ltd. added DTL OTMaster to its product offering and very much welcome this cooperation, which definitely will lead to further innovation in the world of fonts and font tools.
DTL LetterModeller 3.0.1
[Posted: Monday 20 September 2010]
A new version (3.0.1) of DTL LetterModeller is available for free downloading now. LeMo is a first step towards the automation of type design processes, based on the underlying models for grapheme systems. Sliders can be used for parameterizing the letterforms. Modified letters can be saved in the .be and .ik formats and further processed with DTL Bezier- and IkarusMaster (Light) or exported in the EPS and SVG formats.
From the moment on that the invention of movable type was introduced in Renaissance Italy and the subsequent fixation, formalization, sublimation and standardization of letterforms –which found their origin in the chirographic practice–, all formal letterforms developed for the purpose of text setting have always been derivatives in one way or another from the early fixated models, i.e., archetypes, by Nicolas Jenson and Francesco Griffo. Subsequently the ‘rules’ for the derivatives, i.e., the conventions, are set by the harmonics, patterns and dynamics of the archetypes. Deviations (in shape, contrast, contrast flow and contrast sort) from these rules can only be explained and described or even judged, using clear descriptions of the harmonics, patterns, etc.
Script related rules for harmony and rhythm are not universal, but culturally bound and defined matters. Subsequently matters like conventions and even legibility are directly related and restricted to the underlying models and can only be judged against the models themselves. Specialist software developed with this hypothesis in mind, can make the judging and mapping easier.
Part of the new functionality in LeMo 3.0.1. is the support for skeleton, i.e. heart line fonts. The construction of the Humanistic minuscule, of which the primary harmonic model (phm) for the minuscule part (‘lower case’) is a stripped version, i.e. the superfluous elements are removed, is the result of Mediaeval canalization/formalization by the broad nib (determined by friction and preferred contrast-flow) of repetitive movements, which date back to the time of the Romans. The capitals however, find their origin in the heart line construction applied by the Greeks, which were adapted for writing with a flat brush by the Romans without significant changes in their construction. Hence the basis of these capitals can’t be formed by a model comparable with the phm.
The Pen thickness parameter is supported now. Auto spacing based on the rhythmic system is automatically applied on the letters from the primary harmonic model.
Stained glass & lettering
[Posted: Friday 6 August 2010]
As part of the restoration of the Pieterskerk at Leyden, The Netherlands, the stained glass windows, which date back to the former restoration of the 1950’s are replaced by new ones. A relatively large number of these new windows get a stained glass lettering by DTL’s founder Frank E. Blokland. To sponsor the restoration one can buy the placement of ones name (or somebody else’s) in the windows. For this purpose Blokland designed a special version of DTL Haarlemmer, of which the letter-angle is adjusted to the lead lines which hold the small pieces of stained glass together.
On YouTube a short film (Dutch spoken) is placed, which shows the restoration of the church and the design and production of the lettering.
FM Track at Dublin
[Posted: Friday 6 August 2010]
The program for the FM Track at the ATypI conference at dublin (8–12 September 2010) is available here as PDF for downloading.
The focus in this years FM Track will be on the DTL font tools and workshops will be varied with presentations. New (versions of the) DTL applications will be presented, including a sneak preview of GPOSMaster and OTMaster version 2.1. At the end of the day there will be a reception to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Dutch Type Library.
(Photo by Hans-Peter Bock [licensed under CC-BY])
OTM in AFDKO
[Posted: Wednesday 9 June 2010]
Information about and a link to DTL OTMaster, the internationally praised application for reviewing, editing and altering tables and contours of fonts with a SNFT file structure, will be part of the coming release of the Adobe Font Developers Kit for OpenType (AFDKO).
Both DTL FontMaster and DTL OTMaster contain a modified version of (the latest build of) the AFDKO, which make batch processing of OpenType Layout features possible.
DTL Prokyon & phones
[Posted: Wednesday 9 June 2010]
The New Zealand based phone company Two Degrees Mobile Limited (better known as 2degrees) has selected DTL Prokyon for their corporate identity. 2degrees is New Zealand’s newest mobile company, but, as can be read on the 2degreesweb site, the company has been active for some time: ‘we’ve been around a little while, and we’ve been busy. Over the last few years we’ve spent over $250 million constructing a brand new mobile network in New Zealand’.
DTL OpenType upgrades
[Posted: Tuesday 8 June 2010]
Since it became available a couple of years ago, the DTL OpenType Upgrade Program is a success. Over the past decade the Dutch Type Library has been working on the conversion of the DTL type library to the OpenType format and the development of specialized highly professional font tools, such as DTL FontMaster and DTL OTMaster for this purpose.
The focus has been especially on the production of Eastern and Central European, Turkish, Cyrillic and Greek character sets, to make all DTL fonts conform the WGL4 character range.
New BAM download page
[Posted: Tuesday 8 June 2010]
DTL Argo has been the corporate identity typeface for the Royal BAM Group since many years. Companies belonging to the group, subsidiaries and design agencies working for BAM have access to a proprietary download page, from which –under strict conditions– selected weights and styles of DTL Argo can be downloaded in different font formats. Recently the download page was updated and moved to a different web address.
To have access to the DTL Argo downloads for BAM, please contact the Dutch Type Library.
DTL at ATypI conference
[Posted: Tuesday 11 May 2010]
From 8 to 12 September 2010 the yearly ATypI conference will take place in Dublin, Ireland under the title ‘The Word’. The main conference will be preceded by two days of (technical) workshops, seminars and meetings (‘Preface’).
On wednesday 8 September the Dutch Type Library and URW++ Design & Development will organize a so called FMTrack, where the focus will be on the DTL font tools and in which workshops will be varied with presentations. New (versions of) the DTL font tools will be presented, including the premiere of GPOSMaster, OTMaster 2.1 and version 3.0 of LetterModeller. At the end of the day there will be a reception to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Dutch Type Library.
In previous years DTL organized FMTracks during the ATypI conferences in Lisbon (2006), Brighton (2007) and St. Petersburg (2008).
Also like in previous years, the Dutch Type Library sponsors the event.
DTL typefaces for the web
[Posted: Monday 10 May 2010]
From this date on, all DTL typefaces can be acquired in four special font formats for the web, namely EOT (Embedded OpenType), WOFF (Web Open Font Format), Cufón and sIFR.
Embedding of these formats on web pages is allowed by the DTL End User License Agreement, in contrast with the ‘standard’ font formats, such as OpenType and TrueType (see also the DTL EULA).
Licensing of the named font formats for the web is possible against fixed prices, irrespective the number of visitors on the web and for an unlimited period.
For details, pricing and options, please contact the DTL sales department.
Shortly more information on this subject can be found on this web site.
Expertclasses Type design
[Posted: Friday 7 May 2010]
From the end of September 2010 on at the Plantin Society in Antwerp, Expertclasses on type design will be given by Frank E. Blokland, DTL founder and Senior Lecturer ‘Letters’ at the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague.
Blokland will unravel the secrets behind the actual typographic representations of the Latin Script. The underlying harmonic, proportional and rhythmic structures of the capital, roman and italic letters and the forthcoming typographic conventions and rules will be analyzed and decomposed.
The lessons are divided into two modules; for the first module no specific entry level is required, for attending the second module, the first one has to be successfully completed.
More info can be found at the PG website.
Coming soon: FM 3.0
[Posted: Wednesday 5 May 2010]
A new version (3.0) of FM is on the brink of release. The main new functionality is the support of the latest build of the Adobe Font Developers Kit for OpenType (AFDKO) version 2.5.
It is a well known fact that the at URW++ rewritten Hatch Open Type (HOT) tool makes batch processing of OpenType Layout features generation fairly simple in the FM modules by enabling the use of features files that don’t have to cover the character sets of the OpenType fonts to generate.
The programming has been done, but the manual has to be updated still. Those FM users who really can’t wait for the official release may contact the FM Team in the meantime.