How You Can Easily Use Single Line Fonts in Other Applications That use TTF and OTF Fonts
Quick posting this morning. I have this topic arise in emails occasionally, and the solution is extremely well received, to say the least!
Case in point, I had an email from this morning from someone who was using Adobe Illustrator. He had a project with a large text block to score on a metal piece and had been scouring the internet for a way to do it with true single line text. He had begun a process of breaking down each letter, zooming in, removing all the doubled segments and lines, and then going to the next letter. After one line, he knew he had seriously misquoted the estimate on his job.
I explained to him the method I would use to do this: by utilizing my FontLab Pad format fonts. These are included in my all of my fonts this collection: Single Line Fonts Collection, both personal and commercial!
Here is how it’s done:
Use the .otf (FontLab Pad format) font that will be included in your .zip file. This is a specially formatted font that is not like other .otf fonts on the market. As with our others, this font is single-line. But, it has “closure lines”. These are the only things you would need to worry about deleting if you were doing a similar project.
FIRST METHOD: If you are using a small block of text.
My .otf (FontLab Pad format) font is actually an installable font, as others are. They just have this strange preview. Go ahead and install that version, restart your software, and select it in your drop-down font menu when you type. Flatten or weld the text (this will be termed various ways in programs, but the function changes it ((from a font)) to lines and segments). Create your design, including your text. Ungroup that text, then zoom in and delete extra segments. These will be single closure lines on all the bowls, and a single closure line on all freestanding straight segments such as lowercase i, t, l, and similar. The latter might be harder to spot at first. After you delete those, then you can group it all and send it to your machine.
SECOND METHOD: If you are using a large block of text and your software can import SVG files.
The second way is by using a small app called FontLab Pad. FontLab Pad is a simple, free app that resides on your system and creates TRUE single-line text blocks in a snap. You can then export that text as a single-line form in SVG format. Export that into your software, and you’re set. It’s such a simple process, but has such a powerful impact on your workflow. This method makes TRUE single-line text blocks available to anyone who can access SVG files, and it will save you endless amounts of time! Give it a try, and let me know your success stories as well!
Click here for quick instructions with screenshots, and be sure to reach out if I can answer any questions at info@singlelinefonts.com or via my website chat.
