Editing Fontographer

{{Short description|Font editor}}
{{Infobox software
| name = Fontographer
| logo = Fontographer 5 logo.png
| screenshot =
| caption = Fontographer
| developer = [[Altsys]] <small>(1986–1995)</small><br />[[Macromedia]] <small>(1995–2005)</small><br />[[FontLab]] <small>(2005–)</small>
| latest release version = 5.2.3
| latest release date = {{Start date and age|2013|12|27|df=yes}}<ref name=Softpedia-Windows /><ref name=Softpedia-OSX />
| operating system = [[Windows]], [[macOS]]
| platform = [[IA-32]], [[x64]]
| size = {{plainlist|
* '''Windows''': 8.7 [[Megabyte|MB]]<ref name=Softpedia-Windows>{{cite web|title=Fontographer (Windows)|url=http://www.softpedia.com/get/Others/Font-Utils/Fontographer.shtml|work=[[Softpedia]]|publisher=SoftNews|accessdate=8 January 2014|date=27 December 2013}}</ref> 
* '''OS X''': 19.9 [[Megabyte|MB]]<ref name=Softpedia-OSX>{{cite web|title=Fontographer (OSX)|url=http://mac.softpedia.com/get/Font-Tools/Fontographer.shtml|work=[[Softpedia]]|publisher=SoftNews|accessdate=8 January 2014|date=27 December 2013}}</ref> 
}}
| genre = [[Font editor]]
| license = [[Trialware]]
| website = {{URL|http://www.fontlab.com/font-editor/fontographer/}}
}}

'''Fontographer''' is a [[font editor]] for [[Windows]] and [[macOS]]; it is used to create [[digital font]]s. It was originally developed by [[Altsys]] but is now owned by [[FontLab|FontLab Ltd.]]

==History==
===Altsys Corporation===
In December 1984, [[James R. Von Ehr II]] founded the Altsys Corporation to develop graphics applications for personal computers. The first foray by Altsys into commercial font editing software was a [[Computer font#Bitmap fonts|bitmap font]] editor called Fontastic, released in the mid-1980s for the Apple Macintosh. The program, developed by Altsys founder Von Ehr, was able to edit the native bitmap font format of the Mac. It introduced many of the interface elements that would carry over into Fontographer. Fontastic Plus was later introduced with new editing tools and kerning pairs.<ref name="ref1">{{cite web|url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-8385652/altsys-small-company-bit.html|title=Altsys: small company with bit-time graphics impact.|publisher=MacWEEK|date=1990-04-24|access-date=2011-02-11}}</ref>

Fontographer, developed by von Ehr for the Mac and released in January 1986 — before [[Adobe Illustrator]] — was the first commercially available [[Bézier curve]] editing software for a personal computer.<ref name="ref1" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://fontographer.blogspot.com/2006/05/interview-with-fontmeister.html |title=Fontographer: Interview with the FontMeister |publisher=Fontographer.blogspot.com |date=2006-05-31 |access-date=2010-05-29}}</ref> High quality fonts in the [[PostScript]] format could be developed for a fraction of the cost of all other existing methods ([[URW++|URW]]'s [[Ikarus (typography software)|Ikarus]] required systems costing over $100,000<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.atypi.org/30_past_conferences/80_lyon/azerty_2.pdf |title=AZERTY 2 FINAL |date= |access-date=2010-05-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100918063606/http://atypi.org/30_past_conferences/80_lyon/azerty_2.pdf |archive-date=2010-09-18 |url-status=dead }}</ref>), leading to what has been called "the democratization of type design":<ref>{{cite web|url=http://jyanet.com/cap/003-1.htm |title=CAP Online_Les plaisirs du Monde: preface on the democratization of type |publisher=Jyanet.com |date= |access-date=2010-05-29}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.typotheque.com/articles/peter_bilak_founder_of_typotheque_dot_dot_dot |title=Peter Biľak, founder of Typotheque, Dot Dot Dot by Rudy VanderLans |publisher=Typotheque |date= |access-date=2010-05-29}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://themicrofoundry.com/ |title=The MicroFoundry / Top |publisher=Themicrofoundry.com |date= |access-date=2010-05-29}}</ref> for the first time in history, numerous self-taught type designers without substantial capital investment produced fonts for professional use. Fontographer 2.0 was released eight months later in the Fall of 1986.

With the PostScript background established with Fontographer, Altsys developed [[Adobe FreeHand|FreeHand]] in 1988 as a Macintosh Postscript-based illustration program using Bézier curves for drawing and editing. In 1989, Fontographer 3.0 was released, featuring an auto-trace tool and automatic generation of hints for Postscript printer fonts.<ref name="ref1" /><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rjAEAAAAMBAJ&q=fontographer+3.0&pg=PT39|title=Font Editor Now Creates Postscript Hints|publisher=InfoWorld |date=1989-08-21|access-date=2011-02-28}}</ref>

===Macromedia===
In January 1995 Altsys was acquired by [[Macromedia]] and both Fontographer and FreeHand were incorporated into the Macromedia product lineup.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ejgEAAAAMBAJ&q=altsys+Macromedia+acquisition&pg=PA24|title=Macromedia's purchase of Altsys raises questions|publisher=InfoWorld|date=1994-11-07|access-date=2011-02-28}}</ref> A new version of Fontographer was included in the Macromedia Graphics Suite, which helped its wider adoption. Although development of the font editor was frozen from 1991, when version 4.1 was released,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.macromedia.com/font-editor/fontographer/|title=Released 06 November 1991|publisher=macromedia.com|date=1991-11-06}}</ref> until 2006, many font and graphics designers continued to use it. FontLab, the only serious competitor at the time, was generally considered more difficult to use, although by 2005 it had overwhelmingly replaced Fontographer for most professional font development.

===FontLab===
In May 2005, [[FontLab|FontLab Ltd.]] announced that they had licensed distribution rights from Macromedia, and resumed development. In December 2005 FontLab shipped a new version of Fontographer for Mac OS, running natively on OS X and featuring numerous bug fixes. They subsequently bought the rights to the program outright.

In June 2010, Fontographer version 5.0 was released, the first major features added to the product since 1996.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fontlab.com/news-and-events/fontlab-announcements/it-s-back-fontographer-5.html|title=Fontographer 5: An intuitive, modern font editor, made for designers|publisher=fontlab.com|date=2010-06-17|access-date=2010-06-20|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100624025846/http://www.fontlab.com/news-and-events/fontlab-announcements/it-s-back-fontographer-5.html|archivedate=2010-06-24}}</ref> FontLab positioned the product as an easier-to-use alternative to FontLab Studio without many of the high-end features needed by professional type designers, and gave it a price intermediate between FontLab Studio and their more introductory font editing program TypeTool. In the summer of 2011, Fontlab released Fontographer 5.1.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fontlab.com/font-editor/fontographer/|title=Fontographer 5.1 (new!) - Fontlab Typographic Tools - font editors and converters|publisher=fontlab.com|access-date=2011-09-05}}</ref> {{As of|2023}}, Fontographer 5.2 is the latest release; it is compatible with Windows versions XP through 10, and as a 32-bit macOS application it is compatible with  only versions 10.6 through 10.14 of the operating system.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Fontographer. Classic clutter-free font editor by FontLab. |url=https://www.fontlab.com/font-editor/fontographer/ |access-date=2023-03-27 |website=www.fontlab.com |language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Comparison of font editors]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.fontlab.com FontLab Ltd web site]
* [http://www.fontlab.com/font-editor/fontographer/ Fontographer product page]
* [http://www.adobe.com/support/fontographer/downloads.html Fontographer updates for Windows 3.x and 9x]

[[Category:Font editors]]
[[Category:Macintosh graphics software]]
[[Category:MacOS graphics software]]
[[Category:Windows graphics-related software]]
[[Category:1986 software]]