Seeking Recommendations for a Bitmap-to-Outline Workflow

Daniel Yacob
Daniel Yacob Posts: 19
in Font Technology
Greetings All,

Some time ago, circa '96-'97, I created a TrueType font from a high-resolution HP printer file (SFP format).  The workflow I followed then was:

  1. hp2pk
  2. pk2bdf
  3. Import the BDF file into Fontographer 3
  4. Run an autotrace feature.

The resulting outlines seemed pretty good for the time.  I'd like to revisit the bdf file and see if tools today could produce better outlines. 

What tools do people use today for the autotracing step?  Would you use the same tracer if starting from a photo or scan of text?

Thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions.

-Daniel
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Answers

  • John Hudson
    John Hudson Posts: 3,577
    I found FontLab’s autotrace function pretty good. It was initially the stand-alone ScanFont tool, now directly incorporated as ‘Separate and Trace’ in FL8.

    You can also open BDF format directly in FL8 now, and FL8 will automatically convert them into pixelated outline fonts, i.e. representing each pixel as a small vector square. Not sure if that is helpful to you.

    FontLab also have a new product call Vexy Lines, which can vectorise complex bitmap images such as photographs. I’ve not tried it, because I don’t have a need for it and wish the FL team wouldn’t spend time working on things other than FL9. :D
  • John Butler
    John Butler Posts: 353
    I installed and tried the Vexy Lines demo; it’s an interesting product, and I definitely could use the ability to turn photographs into proper intaglio-style engravings à-là Doré or currency engravings, but I could not get fantastic results out of it inside the unreasonably little time I spent. I hope it does succeed as a product and bring FontLab a wave of revenue from a new market that can sustain or grow FontLab Proper.
  • Thomas Phinney
    Thomas Phinney Posts: 3,103
    edited 3:03AM
    Vexy Lines does a kind of vectorization, but it is no help at all for what Daniel is looking for, here. I think of it as “vector-based half-toning,” if that gives you a sense of what it is up to. Not the same as the kind of autotrace you need to get normal glyphs in a regular font.

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