Editing OpenType (section)

===Color fonts===
{{redirect-distinguish|Color font|Text color}}

Unicode version 6.0 introduced [[emoji]] encoded as characters into Unicode in October 2010.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode6.0.0/ |title=Unicode 6.0.0 |website=www.unicode.org |date=2010-10-11 |access-date=April 22, 2017}}</ref> Several companies quickly acted to add support for Unicode emoji in their products. Since Unicode emoji are handled as text, and since color is an essential aspect of the emoji experience, this led to a need to create mechanisms for displaying multicolor glyphs.

Apple, Google and Microsoft independently developed different color-font solutions for use in [[OS X]], [[iOS]], [[Android (operating system)|Android]] and [[Windows]]. 

* OpenType and OFF already had support for monochrome bitmap glyph, so Google proposed that OFF be extended to allow for color bitmaps. Apple adopted this approach but declined to participate in extending the ISO standard. As a result, Apple added the <code>sbix</code> table to their TrueType format in OS X 10.7,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://developer.apple.com/fonts/TrueType-Reference-Manual/RM06/Chap6sbix.html |title=The 'sbix' table |website=developer.apple.com |access-date=April 22, 2017}}</ref> while Google proposed addition of the <code>CBDT</code> and <code>CBLC</code> tables to OFF.
* Microsoft adopted a different approach than color bitmaps. Noting existing practice on the Web of layering glyphs of different color on top of one another to create multi-colored elements such as icons, Microsoft proposed a new <code>COLR</code> table to map a glyph into a set of glyphs that are layered, and a <code>CPAL</code> table to define the colors.
* Adobe and Mozilla proposed adding a new <code>SVG</code> table that can represent multi-color glyphs using [[SVG|Scalable Vector Graphics]].

These proposals were all incorporated into the third edition of OFF (ISO/IEC 14496-22:2015).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.iso.org/standard/66391.html |title=ISO/IEC 14496-22:2015 Information technology -- Coding of audio-visual objects -- Part 22: Open Font Format |date=October 2015 |access-date=2017-04-22}}</ref> Microsoft added <code>CBDT</code>, <code>CBLC</code>, <code>COLR</code>, <code>CPAL</code>, and <code>SVG</code> tables to OpenType version 1.7,<ref name=ots-changes /> and the <code>sbix</code> table in OpenType version 1.8.<ref name=ots-changes /> Microsoft implemented support for all of the different color formats in [[Windows 10 version 1607]] ("Anniversary Update").<ref>{{cite web |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/directwrite/what-s-new-in-directwrite-for-windows-8-consumer-preview#windows-10-anniversary-update |title=What's new in DirectWrite § Windows 10 Anniversary Update |department=[[DirectWrite]] |website=[[Microsoft Learn]] |date=4 October 2021 |access-date=2024-04-13}}</ref> 

OpenType 1.9 introduced a second version of the <code>COLR</code> table that adds additional graphics capabilities.<ref name=ots-changes /> Google originally proposed the enhanced version and jointly developed it with Microsoft. The enhanced graphic capabilities include support for three types of gradients, [[Affine transformation | affine transformations]], [[Alpha compositing | compositing]] and [[Blend modes | blending modes]], and custom re-usable components.<ref name=ots-colr>{{cite web |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/typography/opentype/spec/colr |title=COLR — Color Table |department=Microsoft Typography |website=[[Microsoft Learn]] |access-date=2024-04-13}}</ref> These enhancements give the <code>COLR</code> table all of the graphic capabilities of the <code>SVG</code> table except stroking. They also add compositing and blending modes, support for which is considered optional for the <code>SVG</code> table (as these are implemented in SVG as filter effects).<ref name=ots-svg>{{cite web |url=https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/typography/opentype/spec/svg |title=SVG — The SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) Table |department=Microsoft Typography |website=[[Microsoft Learn]] |access-date=2024-04-13}}</ref> In addition, the enhancements to the <code>COLR</code> table are integrated with OpenType Font Variations, which is not possible with the <code>SVG</code> table. The enhanced <code>COLR</code> table is supported in the [[Chromium (web browser) |Chromium browser engine]] as of version 98.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://chromestatus.com/feature/5638148514119680 |title=Feature: COLRv1 Color Gradient Vector Fonts |access-date=2021-12-10}}</ref>