Though Type lacks a few tools found in other font editor software, it still has enough functionality to make it a strong contender among its peers. In fact, the lack of fancy tools makes it a great option for users who are less advanced, or for those who want to create fonts quickly and efficiently.
There are a few features that make Type a great font creator for foreign language-based fonts. First, it is one of the few applications we reviewed that is capable of supporting more than 65,000 glyphs, which is perfect if you’re dealing with a number of accented characters. Secondly, the Composite Wizard tool is great for creating said accented glyphs, as it automatically creates them, based on specifications that you set.
Though the Composite Wizard is a great time-saver, there is no comparable tool for creating blended fonts or doing batch transformations. In fact, these functions are not available at all, which we found to be rather disappointing.
You can import bitmap glyphs into this font generator, and use manual or automatic tracing functions to convert them to outlines. Manual is better if you want to make little tweaks, but the auto mode will get the job done quickly and properly as well.
Standard drawing tools, like pen, pencil, knife and glue, are supplemented by a number of more advanced tools. They include the ability to add corners, curves, on or off curves (used in TrueType fonts), lines, rectangles and ellipses. There is also a stroke tool and a touch-up tool for minor tweaks and fixes. Special font effects are limited to basic bold, italics and small caps, as well as transformation tools like rotate, stretch and skew.
In this font editor, automatic hinting requires a separate download from Adobe, but you can adjust manual hinting. There is a kerning mode, though it’s difficult to add more pairs to the list, since you need to look up the Unicode name of the glyphs you want to add. The glyph metrics window is similarly frustrating; you have to enter the numerical values for everything. We much prefer the what-you-see-is-what-you-get method, which is more user-friendly.
Type falls a bit behind its higher-ranked font editor peers in this category. It can convert between formats, but only the ones that are supported. Type can’t open, edit or save Type 1, bitmap or EPS fonts or files. It fully supports TrueType, OpenType and OpenType PS files, however.
You can’t test your font before exporting and installing it, either, which is a bit of an inconvenience. But you can, of course, manually edit font family and style names, make individual glyph edits, or make edits to a whole font. The latter function is limited to metrics and a few action scripts.
Despite a few drawbacks (namely, the kerning and metrics functions), we found Type to be relatively easy to use. The user interface is set up differently from other font creators in that the main window displays the glyph being edited, while the rest of the font, also called the glyph map, is displayed as a list in a much smaller window. Overall, however, we found that it is still pretty easy to make your own font.
Buttons aren’t labeled, but hovering your mouse over them will reveal the names. You may find that you have to do this more than in other font designers, as the icons for tools are not always instantly recognizable.
Help and support options leave a bit to be desired. There is a contact email address and online email form, as well as video and written tutorials and a user forum. The user manual is only 39 pages, some of which are occupied by definitions, standard kerning pair lists and other appendices. While useful, we thought that the instructions for using the font creator itself could have been more detailed.
On more than one occasion, we had trouble accessing CR8 Software’s website due to a time-out error. We found that using https:// at the front of the web address, instead of the standard http://, usually solved the problem.
Overall, we found Type to be a solid but basic font editor and creator. It does lack some tools, has an unusual interface and slightly subpar help and support options. But it also has a few unique and highly useful tools, like the Composite Wizard, and remains easy enough to navigate. Advanced and intermediate users will have no problems with this application, though beginners may want to research the font design process before purchasing.
