Export Profiles
An export profile records the format and technical decisions for a target. Give custom profiles meaningful names so a later export does not depend on remembering a series of temporary dialog changes.
Export Settings as Profiles
Open File > Export Profiles…, or use Customize… from the export dialog. Built-in profiles are protected starting configurations; clone and rename a configurable profile to customize it. VFC/VFJ native-save profiles do not expose the same customization route. Native-source profiles retain their source-saving purpose rather than becoming arbitrary production pipelines.
The standard profile families include:
| Profile family | Purpose |
|---|---|
| OpenType TT / OpenType PS | Static quadratic or CFF font output. |
| FontLab / FontLab JSON | Native source storage. |
| UFO Package | Interchange source for one design. |
| FontLab Classic | Legacy VFB interchange. |
| PostScript Type 1 | Legacy production output. |
| DesignSpace + UFO | Multi-master interchange project. |
| OpenType Variations | Variable font output. |
| Web TT / Web PS | Web packages based on the corresponding outline flavor. |
The available list can evolve; inspect the profiles installed with the current release instead of relying on a fixed total count.
Single-font profiles create individual static designs from the selected layer, masters, or instances. Multi-master/source or variable profiles consume the relevant project model as a whole. “Multiple profiles” means several output configurations, not that every profile stores several styles in one file.
To make a custom production profile:
- Select the closest built-in profile, such as OpenType TT, in the left-hand list.
- Click the plus-shaped Add profile button, or choose Duplicate Profile from the profiles menu.
- Enter a descriptive Profile name on the right, then adjust the required parameter groups.
- Enable the checkbox to the left of the new profile’s name so it appears in Export Font As.
- Choose that profile for a representative export and inspect the output before using it for the whole release.
Deactivate profiles you do not need by clearing their checkboxes. FontLab remembers recent choices, so check the selected profile and destination when switching projects. A last-used profile may be correct for the previous family and wrong for the current one.
A custom profile keeps its name and parameter groups together. The displayed outline and compression choices belong to this example; select them for your output requirements.
Profile Parameters
Review parameter groups according to the target:
Format chooses the output family and any supported legacy-version option. Changing only the filename extension does not perform that conversion.
Outlines controls curve conversion, direction, overlap removal, extrema, cleanup, rounding, and open-contour treatment. Remove looped corners also depends on the master’s Font Info > Font Dimensions > Unfill loops setting. Compare shapes when enabling operations that modify geometry.
Compression covers choices such as preserving suitable TT composites, CFF subroutines, or compressed interchange packaging. These are different mechanisms and do not promise the same result in every format. TTF: Allow nested composites permits a component source to contain further components. With it off, recursive composites are flattened for that output. This export choice does not require flattening the editable source in advance.
PostScript and TrueType hinting determine whether to retain or regenerate hints, which engine or Font-Info-specified route to use—including FontLab TTH and TTFAutohint— and whether imported native or existing visual instructions participate. Rebuilding PS hints can replace the input to the FontLab TT workflow.
Glyph organization controls required glyphs, ordering, and exported names. Review .notdef, required NULL/CR control glyphs and their names, and production naming from Managing Glyph Names and Codepoints. Source names, glyph IDs, and Unicode mappings are separate data.
Features and kerning controls compilation and generation. Check whether existing feature source is retained or replaced, whether mark attachment is generated, and whether a legacy kern table is needed. Do not assume a universal mark-generation default across profiles.
Web files selects WOFF2, WOFF, or legacy deliverables and any accompanying sample HTML/CSS. Web output is taught in OpenType, Variable, and Web Fonts. Color files selects technologies such as SVG, COLR, sbix, and CBDT, with fallback/rasterization behavior explained in Color Fonts.
Keep a copy of the release profile with the project documentation. When a result changes, compare profile settings as well as outlines and feature code. A different cleanup, rounding, or generation policy can change the binary even when the source drawings are unchanged.