Building Composites by Hand
Build a composite by placing references to existing glyphs in a host glyph. Work with the component as a whole when changing its placement; edit the source glyph when its shared outline needs to change.
Adding Components
Start with the source glyphs already present. For an accented letter, create or open the host, such as aacute, and check that a and the intended acute mark contain the drawings you want to reuse.
- Choose Glyph > Add Component….
- Search for the base glyph by name and select it. Name-synonym search can help locate a source under a different recognized naming scheme.
- Check the placement and metrics choices.
- Confirm to place the source as a component.
- Repeat the command for the mark, normally keeping the base's established advance width.
A Font-window selection can also be the target of Add Component. Check the selection before confirming so that the source is not added to unintended glyphs.
Choose placement and metrics
The dialog's X and Y fields allow explicit numeric placement. Use 0 where the component should retain the corresponding source-origin position. A blank field permits automatic placement, which can differ from zero. The dialog also accepts anchor-based placement; that refinement is taught in Anchors for Positioning.
Use Flip horizontally or Flip vertically to mirror the component. A reflected b can be a starting point for a d, but reflection alone does not make the design or its spacing correct. Check the resulting geometry and offset.
Keep metrics retains the host's advance width. Replace advance width adopts the source glyph's advance width. The dialog remembers its metrics choice, so select it deliberately: for a blank host receiving its base, Replace advance width is often appropriate; for a mark added above an existing base, Keep metrics usually is. Do not assume an empty glyph always resets the dialog to the appropriate choice.
Review the Apply to all masters setting before confirming. Leave it off for an operation intended only for the current working layer. Master-specific construction requires its own review; a single visible result is not evidence that every targeted layer is correct.
Use the clipboard
In the Font window, copy the source glyph cell, select the target cell, and use Edit > Paste Component when that contextual command is offered. Copying within the same font lets the command retain a component relationship. A different clipboard payload or font context can present Paste Element instead; these are not interchangeable labels for a guaranteed component operation.
For a predictable first use, copy one source and select one target. With multiple copied and selected glyphs, the transfer maps the source sequence to targets rather than necessarily putting every copied source into every host. Inspect the target selection and resulting component names.
Adjust a placed component
Select the component as a unit with the Element tool, or activate it through the component controls. Drag or use arrow-key movement to adjust its position, and use the property bar for an exact offset. Its visible outline belongs to the source; ordinary placement does not give you independent local nodes to reshape.
A component whose Anchored property is enabled is an exception to free dragging: its position is governed by attachment points. Use a freely placed component for the by-hand workflow, or adjust the controlling anchors when using that property.
Enable Color-code element type in the Glyph Window or Font Window preferences to distinguish contours, references, components, and live effects in their previews. These display colors do not change the element's fill.
The Font window can show a downward-pointing shogi-piece icon for manual composites: light gray for full composites and dark rouge for partial composites in the usual theme. Enable Auto layer and composite icons in Font Window preferences. The icon describes the displayed layer's structure, so it can differ between layers and themes.
Other ways component structure enters a font
A component can also be placed in a mask as a live reference. Enter Tools > Mask > Edit Mask. In the Add Component dialog, turn off Apply to all masters before adding the reference if it belongs only in the current mask. Return to the design layer before editing its drawing. Cousins provides another way to compare related glyph shapes without manually adding a mask component.
When opening fonts, the Open Fonts component preferences determine whether supported component data remains components or is converted to element references. For component-less outline sources, detection can reconstruct repeated structure. Font > Detect Composites provides the corresponding analysis after opening. Review detected sources: repeated geometry is evidence of a reusable shape, not proof of the intended design relationship.
By-hand placement repeats similar decisions across an accent family. Recheck those placements when the base drawing changes: a copied coordinate need not remain suitable. The recipe and anchor workflows in the following chapters reduce this repeated work.
Managing, Replacing, and Reordering Components
Open the source
Double-click a component to open its source glyph for editing, or use its source-edit command. Check the opened glyph's name before changing contours. A source edit affects every host that uses it, while moving the placed component in a host affects that placement.
The component widget identifies the source glyph of the selected component.
Use component navigation or the Elements panel to activate the intended part in a crowded composite. The < and > keys provide component/element navigation in the editing context. With coordinate display enabled, on-canvas readouts can show the component index, offset, and non-default transformation; the property bar provides the selected component's values.
With a component selected, the Elements panel exposes its source glyph and placement. The examples below the properties show other uses of the selected source.
Change the order
Use Element > Arrange or reorder the entries in the Elements panel. Send to Back puts a component first in the underlying order; that first component appears at the bottom of the panel's stacking list.
Order affects more than which shape is drawn over another. It can determine which earlier component supplies a placement reference. Check the composite after reordering, especially when later components depend on preceding ones.
Replace a source
For one active component, edit its source-glyph field in the property bar or its glyph-name property in the Elements panel, then confirm. Check the replacement's position and transformation; a differently sized source may need another offset.
For several hosts, select them in the Font window and choose Glyph > Replace Component…. Set From and To, check the master scope, and inspect the X/Y and metrics options before confirming. Empty replacement offsets retain the existing placement; entered offsets adjust it. Test a representative host before replacing a mark across a large accented set.
Find dependents and sources
In the Font window's context menu, use Select > Composites of Selected to find glyphs using the selected sources. Use Select > Component Sources to find the sources used by selected composites. These commands provide the Related Glyphs relationship navigation introduced earlier. The normal operation replaces the selection; Shift with the command can extend it instead.
These queries are useful before changing a shared accent, replacing a source, or checking how widely a base is reused. They also account for component relationships generated by auto layers.
FontLab has References to Components and Component to Reference conversions for changing the reuse mechanism. They are taught in Element References and differ from decomposition: conversion can retain shared drawing, while decomposition cuts the live source link.
Decomposing Composites
Decomposition is useful when one host needs a local outline deviation that should not change its source or siblings. Keep the component when the drawing should remain synchronized. After decomposition, a later edit to the source no longer updates the independent copy.
Choose Glyph > Decompose to replace component references with independent drawing content. Select particular components first to decompose only those; with no such selection, the operation can process the whole current layer. Matching-edit settings can extend the operation to compatible masters, so check that scope before applying it.
Compatible stroke and fill treatments can be combined into one drawing container, while differing appearances can remain separate. Source anchors can be copied when the host does not already have those names. Decomposition therefore does more than turn off an outline-editing lock; inspect the resulting structure and attachment data.
An auto layer is first made non-automatic by decomposition, then its components are resolved. If you only want manual component placement while keeping source outlines linked, turn off Auto Layer instead of decomposing all the way to independent contours.
To reduce a nested composite to one component level, use Flatten components in Tools > Actions. A nested composite uses a source that itself contains components; flattening resolves that extra nesting. This differs from decomposing all component references into independent contours. Review the action’s glyph and master scope, then inspect the resulting sources and placement; see Actions and the export choices in Export Profiles.
Some output formats resolve components during export. That does not require you to decompose the editable source in advance. Flatten Layer and Expand Filters are broader operations with additional consequences; do not use them as casual synonyms for Decompose.