Company logo in a TrueType font

[boatman]

About a week ago, it was suggested that companies building the Bluecom system may want their own logo on the front panel, so I set about investigating how this might be achieved.

 

The schematic capture and PCB layout software I use is Easy PC version 17 and it claims to be able to import bitmaps. Unfortunately this feature only partially works as imported bitmaps will appear on documentation or schematics but not on PCBs ^(**). However, Easy PC can use any font available to print characters, so I looked for a way of incorporating company logos into a TrueType font.

 

It took me several days to figure this out, but I finally managed to get a result and thought I would share the process here in case anyone wished to do something similar.

 

Inkscape can be used to edit an SVG font file and there are several online converters to create a TrueType or OpenType file from an SVG file. This document is a good starting point:

 

http://cleversomeday.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/inkscape-dingbats.pdf

 

but has a few inaccuracies. However, the blank SVG font file referred to in the first paragraph is a really good starting point.

 

Here's a quick rundown of the process which worked for me:

 

1. Make a copy of "fontstarter.svg" file with the filename you want use.

2. Start Inkscape and open the new file.

3. Click on the "Text>SVG Font Editor" tab.

4. Import any graphic into the image window and resize to give the best fit. (A width of around 1000 pixels works best for the default 1024 setting).

5. Click on the "Path>Trace Bitmap" tab.

6. Press F2 or click the second button on the left-hand task bar ("Edit paths by nodes"). This will highlight the paths and is the important step missing from the instructions above.

7. Select the "Glyphs" tab on the SVG editor palette.

8. Select the glyph you want to use for this character.

9. Click the "Get curves from selection" button.

10. Type the character you have just updated into the preview bar and you should see your new image appear above it.

11. Delete the image and the vector trace from the image window and repeat steps 4 to 10 above until you have all the required images.

12. Repeat steps 4 to 10 again, choosing the image you would like to fill all the empty characters, but this time use the "Missing Glyph: From Selection" button.

13. Follow steps 11 to 13 in the above document to edit the internal name of the font and any other XML parameters.

14. Save the file and exit Inkscape.

15. Go to "http://www.freefontconverter.com/", upload your SVG file, save the resultant "ttf" file and install your font.

 

Job done.

 

CAVEAT: Please be aware that this simplified process doesn't do anything about kerning or character spacing, so you are advised that using more than a single character from the new font may lead to problems in documents. It works fine for my purposes where I am only using a single character!

 

** In 1796 Edmund Burke wrote: "Falsehood and delusion are allowed in no case whatsoever: But, as in the exercise of all the virtues, there is an economy of truth."; later used by many Westminster politicians.