sutherla@qtp.ufl.edu (scott sutherland) (11/07/89)
Has anyone out there had experience with Calligrapher? I am just getting into Titling software and I am hearing about ColorFonts. I have seen some of these and I understand that these fonts are created with Calligrapher. At least, that's what it says in the Video Titler (Aegis) manual. I am interested in creating my own fonts by wrapping various textures on letters, and I understand that that is what Calligrapher does. Is it difficult to work with? Is it worth the $70 mail order price?? Any comments would be appreciated. Scott Sutherland sutherla@qtp.ufl.edu
Classic_-_Concepts@cup.portal.com (11/09/89)
Re: Request for information on Calligrapher
I think Calligrapher is good software and worth the price (and I don't
even have the updated version, the cost of upgrading software is
killing my budget) and yes, it will attach textures to fonts, but it
won't 'wrap' textures, in the sense of 'wrapping' over a 3d surface.
Actually, despite the ease with which you can put textures on
fonts in Calligrapher, I NEVER use the option. It comes down to a
question of quality. What are you willing to settle for? You can't
do subtle modeling, anti-aliasing or other attributes which
distinguish a good font from an excellent font with Calligrapher
nearly as well as you can with a good drawing tool such as Deluxe
Paint. Calligrapher is great for sizing fonts, touching them up,
merging letters, kerning, etc. It's packed with features.
Because I'm so fussy, I end up doing 95% of the work on a font
with Deluxe Paint and then importing it into Calligrapher. If you
just want to pretty up some fonts with texture, Calligrapher will do a
good job and automate the process for you. (For the record,
Calligrapher is one of the most robust programs I've ever used on the
Amiga. It's the only one I've used regularly for well over a year
that has NEVER crashed on me.)
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__ _____________________________________________ `\\)\_ / '~//
/// Julie Petersen (LadyHawke@cup.portal.com) `\\//\\/|'//'
/// (Classic_-_Concepts@cup.portal.com) (\/Yyyy/'
__ /// "TimeLords aren't supposed to interfere." /Yyyy/'
\\\ /// "This one calls himself 'Doctor' and interferes //\\ LadyHawke
\\/// all the time." _______________________________ ///\\\ koo@tcville.HAC.COM (Frances Koo) (11/18/89)
I have Calligrapher at home. It is just for my personal use and
it is very good and has a great deal of flexibility.
YES, you can create Colorfonts with Calligrapher. And it allows
you to load a picture (e.g. a pattern) and then fill the font
with the pattern in a number of ways (e.g. centered, random
cookie cutting, and more).
The Calligrapher works by the layer concept, which means that
each character of a font is made up of a number of layers.
And each layer could have a different size, offset (great
for making shadows), color, or pattern.
I have only used one other font design program in the past
(FontWorks for the Apple ][). Calligrapher is much faster and
very good for what I want to do.
Although designing a font from scratch is slow and tedious (you
have to use the Calligrapher editor), you could modify existing
fonts very easily (i.e. create desired font sizes, add layers,
change the colors, etc.).
There are also commands for adjusting kerning and spacing, and your
font can have up to 32 (or is it 16?) colors.
You may preview the fonts before you save the changes, and you can
also define the range of the font (e.g. upper case A-Z only, all
132 characters, or anything you want.)
The Calligrapher also comes with font moving utilities, and
the manual contains instructions on how to use ColorFonts
in DPaint II.
One drawback is that the Calligrapher character editor is rather
limited...it would be perfect if I could use DPaint III
to edit/create the characters.
All in all, I would say that Calligrapher is a good program, and
it provides enough capabilities and is good for someone who is
willing to spend some time creating custom fonts.
Reading the manual is boring but necessary.
Once you understand how the fonts are modified, it is not too
difficult, but I still refer to the manual occasionally for some
operations.
Frances Koo (koo@tcville.hac.com)