Cost of Software, Use of Software

Don Bratton
Don Bratton Posts: 1
in Type Design Software
Hi,
30 years ago, I purchased Macromedia Fontagrapher because the font "Buckley" was not available digitally at that time in history. I was a freelancer who needed work, and a client who needed Buckley. Fontagrapher allowed me to quickly satisfy my client's needs.

30 years have quickly passed by me and now I would like to try developing a font or two of my own design. I see a lot of new software is continuing to become available to type designers, and I am so grateful for that. I would like to support these developers by purchasing their software. I see:
RoboFont is offered at $520 US
Glyphs is $305 US
Superpolator is $405 US
Metrics Machine is $500 US
Prepolator is $250 US
Fontagrapher 5.2 is available for $400 US and
Fontlab Studio 5.1 is offered at $650 US.

Yowzer! That is a LOT of coins. When I launch my first font, I want it to fully meet the standards of other professional fonts...
BUT... I cannot justify buying $1,000's of dollars of software to get my first font to that plateau.

1. What's a newbie to do?

2. Does anyone use Fontagrapher anymore?

Thanks in advance for your comments

Comments

  • Jackson Showalter-Cavanaugh
    Jackson Showalter-Cavanaugh Posts: 539
    Superpolator, Metrics Machine, and Prepolator are tools for very specific production tasks. They are absolutely worth the money if you're doing those things regularly (each one paid for itself the first time I used it). But you don't need them to start.

    I believe all of the rest of your apps have demo versions. Download them one at a time and actually spend some time with each one. They all work to the same goal (a font) but approach getting there in different ways.

    It's important to remember that the software isn't going to make your font good.

  • Craig Eliason
    Craig Eliason Posts: 1,440
    I cannot justify buying $1,000's of dollars of software to get my first font to that plateau.
    These add up to 1,000's, but you don't need them all! You can likely achieve your goal with just Glyphs.
  • James Puckett
    James Puckett Posts: 1,998
    edited April 2014
    > 2. Does anyone use Fontagrapher anymore?

    No.

    > These add up to 1,000's, but you don't need them all! You can likely achieve your goal with just Glyphs.

    For simple, single-weight designs one can get by with Glyphs Mini which is only €40 on the app store. If you aren’t adding OpenType features or using interpolation then Glyphs Mini is all you’ll need.
  • Stephen Coles
    Stephen Coles Posts: 1,008
    edited April 2014
    > 2. Does anyone use Fontagrapher anymore?
    No.
    Fontagrapher, no. Fontographer, yes. But, yeah, the number of Fontographer devotees has dwindled to a a handful of digital pioneers (like Matthew Carter, Zuzana Licko, and Jim Parkinson) who have had success with it and are reluctant to integrate new tools.

    Take Jackson’s advice. Some earnest demoing will determine which of the main platforms (FontLab, Glyphs, RoboFont) is right for you. And, like James says, you may only need a “lite” product like Glyphs Mini or TypeTool.
  • Dave Crossland
    Dave Crossland Posts: 1,431
    FontForge! fontforge.github.io/en-US/downloads/mac/
  • Jackson Showalter-Cavanaugh
    Jackson Showalter-Cavanaugh Posts: 539
    on cue
  • Dave Crossland
    Dave Crossland Posts: 1,431
    Jackson, I'll have my people speak to your people :)
  • Michael Clark
    Michael Clark Posts: 138
    Don, I have used Fontographer since 1997 and continue to do so, I love it. I am primarily using it now for in-house fonts. Always felt comfortable with it.

    But like they said, try out the demos and pick.
  • Chris Lozos
    Chris Lozos Posts: 1,458
    I think Michael Clark likes their implementation of the spattered ruling pen tool best ;-P
  • Michael Clark
    Michael Clark Posts: 138
    It's that evident Chris? I use the "messy" setting at maximum.

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