Re: [Freefont-bugs] Add extra characters to FreeSerif

[Steve White]

Hi, Graeme!

On Fri, Feb 25, 2011 at 8:06 PM, Graeme Kidd <address@hidden> wrote:
>
> This is my first time using FreeSerif and Fontforge and I noticed the 
> following two glyphs are not available:
> Glyph "Z" (0x2124)
> Glyph "R" (0x211d)
>
Are we understanding one another?

These characters (0x2124 and 0x211d, the "blackboard bold" letters Z
and R) have been in the roman styles of FreeSerif, FreeSans, and
FreeMono for some time.

Do you have a recent version of the package? Find them at
    http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/freefont/
The last release is marked 20100919 -- this is what we're working from.

Or... do you mean in the *bold* and *bold italic* styles?
 I see these characters are missing in those styles.

> I have managed to build and install FontForge but I am unsure of the process 
> of asking for extra characters to be included.
>
This will do.  You could also make a request on the bugs page
   https://savannah.gnu.org/bugs/?group=freefont
If you make it using a savannah account, you'll be mailed of updates
to the report.

> If I were to draw the glyphs then I could follow the following guide:
> http://fontforge.sourceforge.net/editexample.html#CharCreate
>
> Should I take a screen shot of how Arial Unicode MS renders the two glyphs 
> and use that as my background layer?
>
Please *do not* copy anything from non-free copyrighted material.
It cannot be accepted.

Besides, who said some other person knows the best way to draw a character?

> If I do manage to draw them correctly will they then be included in the 
> distribution?
>
Your submissions (provided they are your personal work) will be gladly
considered.

We're pretty picky though.

In this case, I would suggest starting with existing glyphs in the
face (R and Z), and look
at how the blackboard bold is implemented in the roman face, and try
to make your
glyphs so they fit in with the others.  Consistency is very important here.

When you're done, please send me a "diff -u" of your SFD file vs the original.

I'd be happy to see what you come up with!