Glyphs-Handbook-2013

1 Glyphs
1.1 A TOOL FOR CREATING FONTS
Glyphs is primarily a tool for designing and producing new
fonts. Its main principle is that you can edit glyphs in a word
context. All tools are optimized for a type design workflow as
natural, quick, and easy as possible.
We believe that you should be able to focus on your
design and only be bothered with technicalities if it is really
necessary. There is no need for keeping a design version next
to a production version of your font. All production steps
take place at export time. By default, Glyphs automates a
lot of technical details for you, but you can always override
automation manually.
Glyphs can open existing fonts. However, in the import
process, some information stored in the font may be lost. For
details, see chapter 11, ‘Import and Export’ (p. 82).
1.2 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Glyphs is a Mac-only application. Glyphs 1.3 or higher requires
at least OS X 10.6.6 Snow Leopard. If you have a PowerPC Mac
running OS X 10.5 Leopard, you can still use Glyphs 1.2. You can
download the latest PPC-enabled version from glyphsapp. com/
updates/latestPPC.php
1.3 COMMUNITY
If you have questions or suggestions, you can register and
post in the Glyphs forum at glyphsapp.com/forums. Because
of spam protection requirements, your first posting must be
approved by one of the moderators.
1.4 UPDATES
The application is updated on a regular basis. You can check
which version you have by choosing Glyphs > About Glyphs
and trigger an update with Glyphs > Check for Updates… or by
activating automatic updates in the application preferences.
There, you can also activate Cutting Edge versions, which will
provide you with the latest beta versions. Since these may
contain experimental features and code re-writes, you are
strongly advised to only work on copies of your files if you
choose to activate the Cutting Edge option.
Glyphs Handbook, May 2013 6