Glyph Notes
A glyph note is freeform text attached to a glyph's working data. Use it to record a decision, explain an unfinished detail, or leave a review comment that will still be meaningful when you return to the font.
A note differs from a tag or flag. Tags classify glyphs and flags mark them visually; a note explains something in words. Notes are documentation rather than an organizing handle for Font-window filters or class building. Writing “approved” in a note does not apply an approved tag or change the glyph's export status.
Notes in the Font window
A glyph with a note can display a note icon in its cell. Larger cells may also show an excerpt. The Glyph panel provides a note field, and the Glyph window has its own note display.
The glyph information popup includes the note beneath identity and metric information. Here the note reads Completed.
These presentations refer to the annotation; they do not create separate copies of the comment merely because it is visible in several places. Indicator preferences and cell size affect how much is shown, so the absence of a visible icon does not prove that the glyph has no note.
Adding and editing one note
For a single glyph, the Glyph panel gives you a direct entry point:
- Select only the intended glyph in the Font window.
- Open Window > Panels > Glyph and locate its note field.
- Enter or revise the text.
- Move focus away to commit the field, then inspect the cell or return to the note to check the result.
Use a concrete reminder. “Compare the upper join with the related lowercase forms” gives a future reviewer more information than “fix this.” A note can record uncertainty without claiming that a change has already been made.
The context menu offers a more explicit editing surface. Right-click the intended cell and choose Edit Note. Edit the text in the popup, then use its Apply control or Cmd+Enter (Ctrl+Enter on Windows) to apply it. Esc dismisses the pending popup edit without applying it. Double-clicking a cell's note icon also opens the note for editing.
The popup and the persistent panel field have different interaction patterns. Do not assume that pressing Esc in a field that has already committed changes will undo those changes.
The same note on several glyphs
A shared note replaces each selected glyph’s note rather than appending to it.
Warning: A batch note can overwrite different comments already attached to the selected glyphs. Check the selection and preserve any comments you need before applying a shared replacement.
- Select the intended cells and choose Edit Note from the context menu.
- Enter the shared note.
- Click Apply, then inspect the notes on individual glyphs.
Inspect individual notes before applying the same replacement to several glyphs if their original comments need to be retained.
Removing a note
Open the note, clear its text, and apply the empty value. For one glyph, you can also clear the Glyph panel's note field and move focus away. The note indicator disappears when no note remains in the displayed context.
With a multi-glyph selection, applying an empty popup note clears the selected notes. This is a batch removal, not just clearing the editor's temporary display.
Save the native working font to retain annotation changes. Notes can contain formatted text, and their relationship to different glyph layers becomes relevant in more complex projects. For longer notes, Markdown formatting, and layer-dependent behavior, see Annotating Project Sources.