1 Version 1.8 (2017-Dec-31)
2 -------------------------
4 * A third, 'natural' stem width mode has been added: No adjustments to
5 stem widths, discrete blue zone positioning. This is what FreeType uses
6 for its 'light' (auto-)hinting mode.
8 * A new option `-a` has been implemented to select the stem width mode for
9 the three rendering targets (grayscale, GDI ClearType, DW ClearType).
10 This supersedes option `-g`, which is now deprecated.
12 * Stem widths for the hinting process can now be manually set using the
13 new `width` keyword in a control instructions file. This is especially
14 useful for extra-bold fonts, where the algorithmically derived values
15 are often too large, causing the filling of 'eyes' in 'e' or 'a' glyphs
18 * libttfautohint gets now installed as a DLL or static library (or both,
19 depending on the parameters of the `configure` script), together with
22 * Two functions have been added to the library: `TTF_autohint_version` and
23 `TTF_autohint_version_string`, which do the obvious.
25 * Two options to `TTF_autohint` have been added: `alloc-func` and
26 `free-func`. These are necessary on some platforms if ttfautohint is
27 compiled as a shared library, and the application uses a different
28 runtime library. This can happen, for example, on the MS Windows
29 platform if your program is written in Python and communicates via the
30 'ctypes' interface with the ttfautohint DLL.
32 * `TTF_autohint` options
33 `{gray,gdi-cleartype,dw-cleartype}-strong-stem-width` are now superseded
34 by `{gray,gdi-cleartype,dw-cleartype}`-stem-width-mode` to handle the
35 new natural stem width mode also.
37 * Bug fix: Later control instructions now correctly overwrite earlier
38 entries as documented.
41 Version 1.7 (2017-Aug-26)
42 -------------------------
44 * Support for Adlam, Avestan, Bamum, Buhid, Unified Canadian Syllabics,
45 Carian, Chakma, Coptic, Cypriot, Deseret, Glagolitic, Gothic, Kayah Li,
46 Lisu, N'Ko, Ol Chiki, Old Turkic, Osage, Osmanya, Saurashtra, Shavian,
47 Sundanese, Tai Viet, Tifinagh, and Vai scripts.
49 Note that the used blue zone characters might not be optimal. Please
50 report any problems so that I can fix issues!
52 * Option `--fallback-stem-width` now works for non-symbol fonts also, as
55 * TrueType bytecode generated by ttfautohint now correctly supports most
56 recent MS interpreter versions.
58 * A bug with bytecode for composite glyphs with composite subglyphs is now
62 Version 1.6 (2016-Nov-27)
63 -------------------------
65 * A new option `--reference` (and `--reference-index` to select a font
66 within a TTC) makes ttfautohint use the blue zones from another font.
67 This helps synchronize the ascenders and descenders of font families.
69 * Support for Armenian, Cherokee, Ethiopic, Georgian, Gujarati, Gurmukhi,
70 Kannada, Malayalam, Sinhala, and Tamil scripts.
72 * New option `--ttfa-info` to display a font's `TTFA` table (if present).
74 * Glyphs covered by the fallback script are now hinted by default.
75 Previously, they were scaled only. The default fallback script `none`
76 now implies hinting without script-specific blue zones (but still
77 aligning stems to the grid if possible).
79 * The new option `--fallback-scaling` changes the behaviour of the
80 fallback script from hinting to scaling (as implemented in previous
83 * ttfautohint (but not ttfautohintGUI) now honours the SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH
84 environment variable for reproducible builds. This corresponds to the
85 new library option `epoch`.
87 * Bug fix: Allow dehinting of fonts that contain a `.ttfautohint` glyph.
90 Version 1.5 (2016-Jan-24)
91 -------------------------
93 * Support for Khmer, Myanmar, and Bengali scripts.
95 * Improved Devanagari hinting.
97 * ttfautohintGUI can now be compiled with Qt5.
99 * Bug fix: Too many delta control instructions for a single glyph caused a
100 bytecode stack overflow, making the MS rasterizer ignore all hinting
101 instructions for this glyph.
103 * Bug fix: Don't create multiple `TTFA` tables in font.
105 * Bug fix: Under certain circumstances, glyph indices used in Indic
106 features were incorrectly assigned to the default script.
109 Version 1.4.1 (2015-Oct-17)
110 ---------------------------
112 * A bug in handling control instruction files could cause severe glyph
113 shape distortions of accent-like glyphs. All users should update.
116 Version 1.4 (2015-Oct-04)
117 -------------------------
119 * Support for Thai and Lao scripts.
121 * Support for the Arabic script.
123 * Better support for scripts that contain superscript-like and
124 subscript-like glyphs, e.g., the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).
126 * Accents and other `non-base' glyphs are now hinted without snapping to
129 * A new control instruction syntax form was added to adjust the mapping
130 between glyphs and styles. Right now, its usage is quite limited; a
131 forthcoming version will give much more flexibility.
133 * The `touch` keyword in a control instructions file was buggy: If used
134 for a point\ `P` at a ppem value\ `s`, it sometimes led to unwanted
135 movements of\ `P` for ppem values unequal to\ `s`, thus causing outline
139 Version 1.3 (2015-Jan-06)
140 -------------------------
142 * Keywords in control instruction files can be more verbose to increase
143 readability. You can now use `left`, `right`, `nodir`, `point`,
144 `touch`, `xshift`, and `yshift` for `l`, `r`, `n`, `p`, `t, `x`, and
147 * A new control instruction keyword `touch` was added to apply delta
148 instructions before the final IUP bytecode commands, also `touching' the
149 affected points (to use the TrueType instructions terminology). Such
150 deltas *do* work even with ClearType if applied to the non-ClearType
153 * Support for the Telugu script.
155 * The amount of information about ttfautohint and its parameters that gets
156 added to the `name` table by default has been reduced. A new option
157 `--detailed-info` restores the previous behaviour.
159 * ttfautohintGUI crashed if not used with a control instruction file.
161 * ttfautohintGUI now correctly switches to a horizontal two-column layout
162 if the standard one-column layout would exceed the screen height.
164 * A new option `--family-suffix` makes it possible to append a suffix to a
165 font's family name in the `name` table. This can be useful during the
166 development process: It helps the operating system to simultaneously
167 display several instances of a font that are processed with different
168 ttfautohint parameters.
170 * The new library option `info-post-callback` helps in processing data
171 from the `name` table.
174 Version 1.2 (2014-Oct-06)
175 -------------------------
177 * It is now possible to control the hinting process at a very low level
178 using a 'control instructions' file. Right now, two modes are
181 - Adding segments and changing segment directions.
183 - Applying delta exceptions. Note that this doesn't really work in
186 Please see the documentation for a description and a small tutorial.
188 In the command-line front-end, use option `--control-file` to load such
191 * Support for input file watching in ttfautohintGUI: If the 'Watch Input
192 File' box is checked, the program automatically regenerates the output
193 file as soon as the input font or control instructions file gets
196 The idea is to dock ttfautohintGUI to your favourite font and text
197 editor instead of adding a cheap text editor to ttfautohintGUI itself.
199 * With the new option `--fallback-stem-width` it is now possible to set a
200 default stem width for all scripts that lack proper standard characters
203 * Add alias `--adjust-subglyphs` for option `--pre-hinting` to better
204 describe its functionality. The short form `-p` stays unchanged.
206 * New option `--ttfa-table` to add an SFNT table `TTFA` to the output
207 font, containing an ASCII dump of all used ttfautohint parameters
208 (including control instructions). Right now, this is mainly for
209 archiving purposes. Forthcoming versions of ttfautohint will be able to
210 re-use this data if a font gets re-processed.
212 * A harmless buglet was fixed that made the `glyf` table too large by one
213 byte under some circumstances.
215 * A bug fix taken from FreeType, correcting a crash for unusual outlines.
217 * Better handling of TTC files.
219 * New library options `error-callback` and `error-callback-data` for
220 improved diagnostics. [No change in the front-ends except better error
223 * Many other, minor fixes and improvements.
226 Version 1.1 (2014-May-05)
227 -------------------------
229 * Support for the Devanagari script.
231 * Bug fixes in the computation of strong stem widths. GDI hinting now
232 gives much more consistent results.
234 * Better recognition of script coverage: ttfautohint now properly scans
235 composite glyphs to cover components also.
237 * Improved glyph shape analysis: Non-flat local extrema are now recognized
238 more reliably, and stem detection works better.
241 Version 1.00 (2014-Mar-20)
242 --------------------------
244 * Much less memory consumption while handling fonts with complicated
247 * Option `-s` was partially broken.
250 Version 1.00rc1 (2014-Feb-07)
251 -----------------------------
253 * OpenType feature support. ttfautohint now uses the HarfBuzz library to
254 analyze data from the `GSUB` table. This allows the hinting of glyphs
255 that don't have an entry in a font's `cmap` table, for example
256 superscripts or small caps.
258 Related to this, the new option `--default-script` controls the default
259 (fallback) script used for OpenType features.
261 * More than a single standard character is used. For example, the 'latin'
262 script uses characters 'o', 'O', and digit '0'. This improves the
263 hinting of fonts (and features) that have only a partial coverage of a
264 script's character repertoire.
266 * Much better GDI ClearType hinting in the range 30-80ppem (approx.),
267 avoiding overly flat tops and bottoms of round glyphs.
269 * Better handling of non-square pixels (this is, horizontal and vertical
270 resolutions differ) in the created TrueType bytecode.
273 Version 0.97 (2013-Nov-09)
274 --------------------------
276 * Improved script support. Besides Cyrillic and Greek, which are now
277 handled separately from Latin, ttfautohint can handle Hebrew.
279 * Option `-f` now takes a parameter to specify the fallback script. The
280 corresponding long option name has been renamed from `--latin-fallback`
281 to `--fallback-script`.
283 * Work around a bug in display environments that use FreeType 2.5.0 and
284 earlier for rendering: Sometimes, the 'strong' stem width routine was
285 used for DW ClearType (this is, subpixel hinting in FreeType is enabled)
286 even if 'smooth' was selected while generating the font with
290 Version 0.96 (2013-Aug-06)
291 --------------------------
293 * Option `--components` has been replaced with `--composites`: By default,
294 the components of a composite glyph are now hinted separately, since
295 tests has shown that this gives good results in most cases. If this
296 option is set, however, the composite glyph itself gets hinted (and the
297 hints of the components are ignored).
299 An unfortunate side effect is that ttfautohint's option `-c` (which
300 stays as a shorthand for `--composites`) now does exactly the opposite
301 as in previous releases.
303 * Older versions of Monotype's 'iType' bytecode interpreter have a serious
304 bug: The DIV instruction rounds the result, while the correct operation
305 is truncation. This caused 'exploding characters' with fonts hinted by
306 ttfautohint. Since many printers contain this rasterizer without any
307 possibility to update to a non-buggy version, ttfautohint now contains
308 work-arounds to circumvent the problem.
310 * Better support for glyphs where some points have almost the same
311 position (for example glyph 'Oslash' in font 'Roboto-Thin').
313 * Better support for glyphs that use explicit 'on' points around round
317 Version 0.95 (2013-Mar-07)
318 --------------------------
320 * New option `--dehint` to strip off all hints without generating new
321 hints. This option is intended for testing purposes.
323 * Minor fixes to the created bytecode for compatibility.
325 * Minor GUI improvements.
328 Version 0.94 (2012-Nov-29)
329 --------------------------
331 * New option `--windows-compatibility` that adds two artificial blue zones
332 at vertical positions given by 'usWinAscent' and 'usWinDescent'. This
333 helps ttfautohint's hinting algorithm reduce the possibility of clipping
334 if those two values are very tight.
336 * Implement option `--x-height-snapping-exceptions`, making ttfautohint
337 avoid x-height snapping for selected PPEM values. Useful in combination
338 with `--windows-compatibility`.
340 * Minor fixes to the created bytecode for compatibility and robustness.
343 Version 0.93 (2012-Oct-09)
344 --------------------------
346 * New option `--components` to treat components of composite glyphs
347 separately. This greatly reduces the bytecode size.
349 I'm waiting for reports whether this option works for most fonts; in
350 case this is true I'm inverting the option, making it the default (and
351 the old behaviour optional).
353 * Full support of TTCs, this is, all subfonts get auto-hinted now.
355 * The upper limit of the `--increase-x-height` option has been removed.
357 * Drag-and-drop support in the GUI.
359 * The command-line version of ttfautohint now acts like a (Unix) filter,
360 this is, it accepts stdin and stdout as input and output, respectively.
362 * Less memory consumption.
365 Version 0.92 (2012-Aug-07)
366 --------------------------
368 * A serious bug in the created bytecode has been fixed, causing incorrect
372 Version 0.91 (2012-Jul-12)
373 --------------------------
375 * A new, 'strong' routine to handle stem widths and positions has been
376 added, to be selected with the `--strong-stem-width` command line
377 option. If it is active, stem widths and positions are snapped to the
378 grid as much as possible. This algorithm is useful for GDI ClearType
381 * A new command line option `--debug` (not available for ttfautohintGUI)
382 to print very detailed debugging information.
385 Version 0.9 (2012-Jun-06)
386 -------------------------
388 * The created bytecode has been reduced in size, making it approx. 20%
391 * New option `--symbol` to use standard stem height and width values
392 instead of using character 'o' (which may be missing). Use this option
393 for symbol fonts or math glyphs.
395 * More documentation (in text, HTML, and PDF format). It's still
398 * Option `--ignore-permissions` has been renamed to
399 `--ignore-restrictions`. The short form is still `-i`.
401 * Defaults for various parameters have been set to more sensible values:
403 - hinting-range-max: 50 (was 1000)
404 - hinting-limit: 200 (was 1000)
406 * Option `--increase-x-height` now has a mandatory argument (in the range
407 6-20 or value\ 0 to disable it, default value is 14).
410 Version 0.8 (2012-Mar-21)
411 -------------------------
413 * Implement option `-x` to increase the x height of the font for small
414 PPEM values by rounding up far more often then rounding down.
416 * Add option '`-G n`' to switch off hinting completely above value\ `n`.
418 * ttfautohint now appends version information and the used parameters to
419 the 'Version' field(s) in the 'name' table. This can be suppressed with
423 Version 0.7 (2012-Feb-05)
424 -------------------------
426 * A GUI has been added, using the Qt framework. The binary is called
430 Version 0.6.1 (2012-Jan-02)
431 ---------------------------
433 * The improved handling of composite glyphs in 0.6 was buggy under certain
434 circumstances, making ttfautohint crash and FontValidator complain.
436 * Dropout handling has been activated.
439 Version 0.6 (2011-Dec-25)
440 -------------------------
442 * Improved handling of composite glyphs.
444 * Implement option `-p` to pre-hint glyphs with original hints before
445 conversion takes place.
447 * Don't add a `DSIG` table if there is none in the input font.
449 * Human-readable error messages instead of hexadecimal error codes.
451 * Better tests (both at runtime and compile time) to reject too old
455 Version 0.5 (2011-Nov-06)
456 -------------------------
458 * Rendering on iOS is now expected to give good results.
460 * No bad rendering at very large PPEM values.
463 Version 0.4 (2011-Oct-27)
464 -------------------------
466 * The bytecode has been changed to 'create' twilight points. This should
467 avoid rendering artifacts on some platforms.
470 Version 0.3 (2011-Sep-09)
471 -------------------------
473 * Fix font generation; sometimes the `glyf` table was one byte too short,
474 making the font invalid.
477 Version 0.2 (2011-Jul-19)
478 -------------------------
480 * Fix bytecode bugs that prevented correct rendering on some platforms.
483 Version 0.1 (2011-Jun-30)
484 -------------------------