Text in the Glyph Window
A Glyph window's text provides the context in which you edit and judge the font. Use a short string to compare neighboring shapes, repeat the current glyph between reference letters to judge spacing, or paste a passage to inspect the design in use.
Changing this text changes what the window displays. It does not rename glyphs or turn typed letters into outlines.
Understanding the Text Model
The window's text is a sequence of glyph references. Some references identify a character by Unicode and use the glyph assigned to that character. Others identify a glyph directly by name, including glyphs with no Unicode assignment.
Glyphtext is the notation that combines these references in one string. Enter it in the Text Bar or the Content sidebar's text field.
| Enter | Meaning |
|---|---|
Hände |
The glyphs assigned to these Unicode characters |
/a.ss01 |
The glyph named a.ss01, whether or not it has a Unicode assignment |
/A/Aacute/Aogonek |
Three glyphs addressed by name |
\u0041 |
The glyph assigned to U+0041 |
\@ |
A repeater showing the current glyph |
Put a separator space between a glyph-name or codepoint reference and following literal text: /a.ss01 n identifies a.ss01 followed by n. Without the separator, the letters can be read as part of the reference. To request a space glyph explicitly in a mixed string, use /space.
Repeat the current glyph
A glyph repeater follows the current glyph as you browse. Enter n\@n\@ to place the current glyph between fixed n glyphs. With a current, the repeaters show a; with b current, they show b. The literal n references remain fixed.
This provides a stable spacing context without repeatedly rewriting the text. Repeated appearances refer to the same glyph data: editing its outline changes every appearance.
Arrange the text
Choose a layout from Text > Wrap:
- Manual uses the line breaks you enter.
- Auto wraps text to the available text column.
- Table arranges the glyphs in cells for individual comparison.
Text > Wrap > Apply converts the current wrapping into explicit line breaks. Use it when you want to retain those breaks as the glyph widths change, including when comparing masters.
The Content sidebar can also add constant pre- and post-glyph strings around glyphs in the sample. These are useful for checking each glyph against the same neighbors. Cousins show related glyphs as visual references, while Echo text lets a secondary view follow the text of another active view. Neither is a substitute for choosing the text you intend to edit.
Editing Text Content
Type on the canvas
- Select the Text tool.
- Click in the displayed text to place the text cursor.
- Type or paste ordinary Unicode text.
- Select a drawing tool when you are ready to edit a glyph's outline.
Text mode treats ordinary typing as text input. With the canvas focused, press / to open glyph-name lookup, or # for codepoint lookup, then choose the target glyph. Edit > List Related Glyphs and Edit > Find Glyphs provide additional lookup routes. You can also enter a glyphtext reference in the Text Bar when a glyph has no typed character.
The glyph chooser filters names and shows matching forms, allowing you to insert a specific glyph into the text.
Use the Text Bar or Content sidebar
Choose View > Control Bars > Text Bar, or open the Content sidebar with its toggle at the left of the property bar or compact Toolbar. The toggle moves to the Toolbar when the docked compact horizontal layout has room. Enter the desired string in its text field. These two fields share the same source, so a change in one is reflected in the other and on the canvas.
Their predefined-text controls offer strings from Preferences > Texts. Choosing a predefined string replaces the displayed text. The sidebar also provides case-conversion controls; use them to change the sample's case when the font contains the required characters.
Glyphtext references let you inspect an alternate such as /a.ss01 directly. This is useful for editing the glyph, but it does not test whether an OpenType feature correctly substitutes that alternate in normal text.
Extend editing to neighboring glyphs
With Edit > Edit Across > Glyphs off, ordinary outline editing is confined to the current glyph. Turn it on when you need to select and edit drawing objects across the glyphs shown in the window. One glyph remains current, but neighboring outlines also become available for editing.
Check this setting before a broad selection, transform, or deletion: with it on, your selection can include objects in neighboring glyphs. Turn it off when you return to work on one glyph. Grid snapping uses the current glyph's grid origin, which also matters when the selection spans several glyphs.
Edit Across Elements and Edit Across Layers extend editing along different boundaries: between elements within a glyph, or between its layers. They are separate controls, covered in Element Transformations and Editing across Masters; showing several glyphs, elements, or layers is not itself permission to edit all of them.
Glyph Placeholders and Creating Glyphs
A text sample can request characters that the font does not contain. With Preferences > Editing > Placeholders > Missing glyphs enabled, FontLab displays stand-ins for those missing glyphs. The Placeholder font in Preferences > Font Window supplies their appearance. That appearance is a visual reference, not an outline belonging to your font.
To create a missing glyph in context:
- Display a string that contains the missing character.
- Select the Contour or Element tool.
- Double-click the missing glyph's placeholder.
- FontLab creates the glyph and makes it available for editing in the same text context.
This is an alternative to the Font-window creation methods in Creating and Removing Glyphs. Starting content follows Preferences > Operations > New Glyphs; it is not a copy of the fallback font's drawing. Check the new glyph's identity and content before continuing.
A character placeholder can also appear in an empty layer of a glyph that already exists. In that case there is no missing glyph identity to create. Distinguish a reference image on the canvas from actual editable contours.
Bidirectional Text Support
Mixed-direction text needs more than a reversed row of glyphs. Unicode characters have directionality properties. Strong characters establish left-to-right or right-to-left direction. Weak types, including numbers, depend on surrounding context; neutral types such as spaces have no inherent direction. Formatting controls explicitly influence the ordering context. These roles explain why reversing a sequence is not a substitute for bidirectional text processing. The Unicode Bidirectional Algorithm resolves their display order within a paragraph.
For a realistic Arabic, Hebrew, or mixed-script sample, enable Features in the Content sidebar or use the fi control in Text mode’s property bar. The Preview panel also provides a Features toggle. This enables the text-processing path that handles bidirectional layout and shaping. Compiled OpenType features can then supply the font's substitutions and positioning. Use ordinary Unicode text when checking this behavior, so the shaping process receives the characters it would receive in a text application.
Text > Right to Left is a separate display control. Without feature processing, it reverses the sequence mechanically: TYPO is displayed as OPYT. It does not by itself analyze scripts, create joining forms, or test the font's OpenType substitutions. With feature processing active, judge the shaped result rather than treating this reversal switch as a complete bidirectional test.
Use Features to judge bidirectional and shaped text. Use Right to Left when you specifically need the simpler reversed display. In Text mode with right-to-left display, the current glyph is on the right of the text cursor, so check which glyph is active before switching back to a drawing tool.
The Text-mode context menu includes Right to Left alongside text repetition and wrapping controls.
Feature authoring and compilation are covered in The Features Panel; right-to-left kerning is covered in Right-to-Left Kerning.