3 ms·

I'd like: 1. native support for optional manual hinting vector icons 2. native support for optional auto-hinting vector icons Auto hinting is not the ultimat

I'd like: 1. native support for optional manual hinting vector icons 2. native support for optional auto-hinting vector icons Auto hinting is not the ultimate solution, but it can get you part way there, just like with fonts.

masklinn 15y ago
> Auto hinting is not the ultimate solution, but it can get you part way there, just like with fonts. Even without auto-hinting, it still boggles my mind that "desktop" vector formats don't seem to support hinting at all: I recently discovered there is no possibility of hinting in SVG, therefore SVG fonts (fonts described using SVG shapes) can not be hinted at all, that's completely insane.
- Adaptive 15y ago
  YES. Given how long we've been building up to resolution independence, given the already long standing real-world examples of vector object hinting provided by fonts... it's amazing that there seems to be little work in this area and less work in terms of actual standards/implementations. This is an area Apple is perfectly, ideally positioned to execute and lead on. EDIT: I wonder if one could implement vector icons as fonts in order to properly hint them.
  - masklinn 15y ago
    > I wonder if one could implement vector icons as fonts in order to properly hint them. That's exactly what is happening these days with custom font embedding having become practical (in web pages): http://somerandomdude.com/2010/05/04/font-embedding-icons/ http://somerandomdude.com/2010/05/04/font-embedding-icons/ (that was in 2010, but this thing is really gaining traction these days following the release of "Font Awesome" for Twitter's Bootstrap[0]) In desktop OS, that is in fact a very old technique, that's why the Marlett font exists in Windows [1]. It does have a significant inconvenient though: the icon can only have one color for the glyph and one for the background. This provides a crisp look but lowers the expressivity of the icons. On the other hand, if the color scheme changes for some reason (or can vary from one page to an other), it is very easy to match the icons's color scheme to that of the application. [0] http://fortawesome.github.com/Font-Awesome/ http://fortawesome.github.com/Font-Awesome/ [1] http://blogs.msdn.com/b/oldnewthing/archive/2012/01/16/10256947.aspx http://blogs.msdn.com/b/oldnewthing/archive/2012/01/16/10256...
    - Adaptive 15y ago
      I've used custom embedded icon fonts on websites as well, but I was actually thinking of the more complex ui components through layering. I.e. button background/foreground combinations for buttons. I suspect that there would be a whole host of other issues (rending of baseline location varying by a pixel, etc.).
- justincormack 15y ago
  SVG fonts are a failed font format, which is why Mozilla refused to support them. They had a brief use as iPad fonts but that's dead now.

masklinn 15y ago

> Auto hinting is not the ultimate solution, but it can get you part way there, just like with fonts. Even without auto-hinting, it still boggles my mind that "desktop" vector formats don't seem to support hinting at all: I recently discovered there is no possibility of hinting in SVG, therefore SVG fonts (fonts described using SVG shapes) can not be hinted at all, that's completely insane.

Adaptive 15y ago
YES. Given how long we've been building up to resolution independence, given the already long standing real-world examples of vector object hinting provided by fonts... it's amazing that there seems to be little work in this area and less work in terms of actual standards/implementations. This is an area Apple is perfectly, ideally positioned to execute and lead on. EDIT: I wonder if one could implement vector icons as fonts in order to properly hint them.
- masklinn 15y ago
  > I wonder if one could implement vector icons as fonts in order to properly hint them. That's exactly what is happening these days with custom font embedding having become practical (in web pages): http://somerandomdude.com/2010/05/04/font-embedding-icons/ http://somerandomdude.com/2010/05/04/font-embedding-icons/ (that was in 2010, but this thing is really gaining traction these days following the release of "Font Awesome" for Twitter's Bootstrap[0]) In desktop OS, that is in fact a very old technique, that's why the Marlett font exists in Windows [1]. It does have a significant inconvenient though: the icon can only have one color for the glyph and one for the background. This provides a crisp look but lowers the expressivity of the icons. On the other hand, if the color scheme changes for some reason (or can vary from one page to an other), it is very easy to match the icons's color scheme to that of the application. [0] http://fortawesome.github.com/Font-Awesome/ http://fortawesome.github.com/Font-Awesome/ [1] http://blogs.msdn.com/b/oldnewthing/archive/2012/01/16/10256947.aspx http://blogs.msdn.com/b/oldnewthing/archive/2012/01/16/10256...
  - Adaptive 15y ago
    I've used custom embedded icon fonts on websites as well, but I was actually thinking of the more complex ui components through layering. I.e. button background/foreground combinations for buttons. I suspect that there would be a whole host of other issues (rending of baseline location varying by a pixel, etc.).
justincormack 15y ago
SVG fonts are a failed font format, which is why Mozilla refused to support them. They had a brief use as iPad fonts but that's dead now.