1 Version 1.8.4 (2021-XXX-XX)
2 ---------------------------
4 * Support for Hanifi Rohingya, Nyiakeng Puachue Hmong, Medefaidrin, and
7 * Bug fix: Option combination `-f none -S` to suppress hinting of
8 unassigned glyphs was broken.
10 * Parallel builds of the package are now fully supported.
12 * The `configure` option `--with-freetype-config` has been removed;
13 similarly to HarfBuzz, the `pkg-config` interface is now used
14 exclusively for finding FreeType.
17 Version 1.8.3 (2019-Apr-09)
18 ---------------------------
20 * Support for Mongolian. The de-facto standard is to render the glyphs
21 horizontally (left-to-right) line by line, then rotating each line
22 clockwise by 90\ degrees. This allows the usage of ttfautohint.
24 * Bug fix: Glyphs with complicated shapes or a large number of outlines
25 could be distorted if displayed with FreeType (or stay unhinted if
29 Version 1.8.2 (2018-Jul-24)
30 ---------------------------
32 * Support for Georgian Mtavruli.
34 * Bug fix: Compilation of ttfautohintGUI with homebrew on the Mac works
37 * Bug fix: Point deltas didn't work for composite glyphs.
40 Version 1.8.1 (2018-Jan-01)
41 ---------------------------
43 * Bug fix: The `configure` script couldn't recognize Qt 5.10.x.
46 Version 1.8 (2017-Dec-31)
47 -------------------------
49 * A third, 'natural' stem width mode has been added: No adjustments to
50 stem widths, discrete blue zone positioning. This is what FreeType uses
51 for its 'light' (auto-)hinting mode.
53 * A new option `-a` has been implemented to select the stem width mode for
54 the three rendering targets (grayscale, GDI ClearType, DW ClearType).
55 This supersedes option `-g`, which is now deprecated.
57 * Stem widths for the hinting process can now be manually set using the
58 new `width` keyword in a control instructions file. This is especially
59 useful for extra-bold fonts, where the algorithmically derived values
60 are often too large, causing the filling of 'eyes' in 'e' or 'a' glyphs
63 * libttfautohint gets now installed as a DLL or static library (or both,
64 depending on the parameters of the `configure` script), together with
67 * Two functions `TTF_autohint_version` and `TTF_autohint_version_string`
68 have been added to the library, which do the obvious.
70 * Two options to `TTF_autohint` have been added: `alloc-func` and
71 `free-func`. These are necessary on some platforms if ttfautohint is
72 compiled as a shared library, and the application uses a different
73 runtime library. This can happen, for example, on the MS Windows
74 platform if your program is written in Python and communicates via the
75 'ctypes' interface with the ttfautohint DLL.
77 * `TTF_autohint` options
78 `{gray,gdi-cleartype,dw-cleartype}-strong-stem-width` are now superseded
79 by `{gray,gdi-cleartype,dw-cleartype}`-stem-width-mode` to handle the
80 new natural stem width mode also.
82 * Bug fix: Later control instructions now correctly overwrite earlier
83 entries as documented.
86 Version 1.7 (2017-Aug-26)
87 -------------------------
89 * Support for Adlam, Avestan, Bamum, Buhid, Unified Canadian Syllabics,
90 Carian, Chakma, Coptic, Cypriot, Deseret, Glagolitic, Gothic, Kayah Li,
91 Lisu, N'Ko, Ol Chiki, Old Turkic, Osage, Osmanya, Saurashtra, Shavian,
92 Sundanese, Tai Viet, Tifinagh, and Vai scripts.
94 Note that the used blue zone characters might not be optimal. Please
95 report any problems so that I can fix issues!
97 * Option `--fallback-stem-width` now works for non-symbol fonts also, as
100 * TrueType bytecode generated by ttfautohint now correctly supports most
101 recent MS interpreter versions.
103 * A bug with bytecode for composite glyphs with composite subglyphs is now
107 Version 1.6 (2016-Nov-27)
108 -------------------------
110 * A new option `--reference` (and `--reference-index` to select a font
111 within a TTC) makes ttfautohint use the blue zones from another font.
112 This helps synchronize the ascenders and descenders of font families.
114 * Support for Armenian, Cherokee, Ethiopic, Georgian, Gujarati, Gurmukhi,
115 Kannada, Malayalam, Sinhala, and Tamil scripts.
117 * New option `--ttfa-info` to display a font's `TTFA` table (if present).
119 * Glyphs covered by the fallback script are now hinted by default.
120 Previously, they were scaled only. The default fallback script `none`
121 now implies hinting without script-specific blue zones (but still
122 aligning stems to the grid if possible).
124 * The new option `--fallback-scaling` changes the behaviour of the
125 fallback script from hinting to scaling (as implemented in previous
128 * ttfautohint (but not ttfautohintGUI) now honours the SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH
129 environment variable for reproducible builds. This corresponds to the
130 new library option `epoch`.
132 * Bug fix: Allow dehinting of fonts that contain a `.ttfautohint` glyph.
135 Version 1.5 (2016-Jan-24)
136 -------------------------
138 * Support for Khmer, Myanmar, and Bengali scripts.
140 * Improved Devanagari hinting.
142 * ttfautohintGUI can now be compiled with Qt5.
144 * Bug fix: Too many delta control instructions for a single glyph caused a
145 bytecode stack overflow, making the MS rasterizer ignore all hinting
146 instructions for this glyph.
148 * Bug fix: Don't create multiple `TTFA` tables in font.
150 * Bug fix: Under certain circumstances, glyph indices used in Indic
151 features were incorrectly assigned to the default script.
154 Version 1.4.1 (2015-Oct-17)
155 ---------------------------
157 * A bug in handling control instruction files could cause severe glyph
158 shape distortions of accent-like glyphs. All users should update.
161 Version 1.4 (2015-Oct-04)
162 -------------------------
164 * Support for Thai and Lao scripts.
166 * Support for the Arabic script.
168 * Better support for scripts that contain superscript-like and
169 subscript-like glyphs, e.g., the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).
171 * Accents and other `non-base' glyphs are now hinted without snapping to
174 * A new control instruction syntax form was added to adjust the mapping
175 between glyphs and styles. Right now, its usage is quite limited; a
176 forthcoming version will give much more flexibility.
178 * The `touch` keyword in a control instructions file was buggy: If used
179 for a point\ `P` at a ppem value\ `s`, it sometimes led to unwanted
180 movements of\ `P` for ppem values unequal to\ `s`, thus causing outline
184 Version 1.3 (2015-Jan-06)
185 -------------------------
187 * Keywords in control instruction files can be more verbose to increase
188 readability. You can now use `left`, `right`, `nodir`, `point`,
189 `touch`, `xshift`, and `yshift` for `l`, `r`, `n`, `p`, `t, `x`, and
192 * A new control instruction keyword `touch` was added to apply delta
193 instructions before the final IUP bytecode commands, also `touching' the
194 affected points (to use the TrueType instructions terminology). Such
195 deltas *do* work even with ClearType if applied to the non-ClearType
198 * Support for the Telugu script.
200 * The amount of information about ttfautohint and its parameters that gets
201 added to the `name` table by default has been reduced. A new option
202 `--detailed-info` restores the previous behaviour.
204 * ttfautohintGUI crashed if not used with a control instruction file.
206 * ttfautohintGUI now correctly switches to a horizontal two-column layout
207 if the standard one-column layout would exceed the screen height.
209 * A new option `--family-suffix` makes it possible to append a suffix to a
210 font's family name in the `name` table. This can be useful during the
211 development process: It helps the operating system to simultaneously
212 display several instances of a font that are processed with different
213 ttfautohint parameters.
215 * The new library option `info-post-callback` helps in processing data
216 from the `name` table.
219 Version 1.2 (2014-Oct-06)
220 -------------------------
222 * It is now possible to control the hinting process at a very low level
223 using a 'control instructions' file. Right now, two modes are
226 - Adding segments and changing segment directions.
228 - Applying delta exceptions. Note that this doesn't really work in
231 Please see the documentation for a description and a small tutorial.
233 In the command-line front-end, use option `--control-file` to load such
236 * Support for input file watching in ttfautohintGUI: If the 'Watch Input
237 File' box is checked, the program automatically regenerates the output
238 file as soon as the input font or control instructions file gets
241 The idea is to dock ttfautohintGUI to your favourite font and text
242 editor instead of adding a cheap text editor to ttfautohintGUI itself.
244 * With the new option `--fallback-stem-width` it is now possible to set a
245 default stem width for all scripts that lack proper standard characters
248 * Add alias `--adjust-subglyphs` for option `--pre-hinting` to better
249 describe its functionality. The short form `-p` stays unchanged.
251 * New option `--ttfa-table` to add an SFNT table `TTFA` to the output
252 font, containing an ASCII dump of all used ttfautohint parameters
253 (including control instructions). Right now, this is mainly for
254 archiving purposes. Forthcoming versions of ttfautohint will be able to
255 re-use this data if a font gets re-processed.
257 * A harmless buglet was fixed that made the `glyf` table too large by one
258 byte under some circumstances.
260 * A bug fix taken from FreeType, correcting a crash for unusual outlines.
262 * Better handling of TTC files.
264 * New library options `error-callback` and `error-callback-data` for
265 improved diagnostics. [No change in the front-ends except better error
268 * Many other, minor fixes and improvements.
271 Version 1.1 (2014-May-05)
272 -------------------------
274 * Support for the Devanagari script.
276 * Bug fixes in the computation of strong stem widths. GDI hinting now
277 gives much more consistent results.
279 * Better recognition of script coverage: ttfautohint now properly scans
280 composite glyphs to cover components also.
282 * Improved glyph shape analysis: Non-flat local extrema are now recognized
283 more reliably, and stem detection works better.
286 Version 1.00 (2014-Mar-20)
287 --------------------------
289 * Much less memory consumption while handling fonts with complicated
292 * Option `-s` was partially broken.
295 Version 1.00rc1 (2014-Feb-07)
296 -----------------------------
298 * OpenType feature support. ttfautohint now uses the HarfBuzz library to
299 analyze data from the `GSUB` table. This allows the hinting of glyphs
300 that don't have an entry in a font's `cmap` table, for example
301 superscripts or small caps.
303 Related to this, the new option `--default-script` controls the default
304 (fallback) script used for OpenType features.
306 * More than a single standard character is used. For example, the 'latin'
307 script uses characters 'o', 'O', and digit '0'. This improves the
308 hinting of fonts (and features) that have only a partial coverage of a
309 script's character repertoire.
311 * Much better GDI ClearType hinting in the range 30-80ppem (approx.),
312 avoiding overly flat tops and bottoms of round glyphs.
314 * Better handling of non-square pixels (this is, horizontal and vertical
315 resolutions differ) in the created TrueType bytecode.
318 Version 0.97 (2013-Nov-09)
319 --------------------------
321 * Improved script support. Besides Cyrillic and Greek, which are now
322 handled separately from Latin, ttfautohint can handle Hebrew.
324 * Option `-f` now takes a parameter to specify the fallback script. The
325 corresponding long option name has been renamed from `--latin-fallback`
326 to `--fallback-script`.
328 * Work around a bug in display environments that use FreeType 2.5.0 and
329 earlier for rendering: Sometimes, the 'strong' stem width routine was
330 used for DW ClearType (this is, subpixel hinting in FreeType is enabled)
331 even if 'smooth' was selected while generating the font with
335 Version 0.96 (2013-Aug-06)
336 --------------------------
338 * Option `--components` has been replaced with `--composites`: By default,
339 the components of a composite glyph are now hinted separately, since
340 tests has shown that this gives good results in most cases. If this
341 option is set, however, the composite glyph itself gets hinted (and the
342 hints of the components are ignored).
344 An unfortunate side effect is that ttfautohint's option `-c` (which
345 stays as a shorthand for `--composites`) now does exactly the opposite
346 as in previous releases.
348 * Older versions of Monotype's 'iType' bytecode interpreter have a serious
349 bug: The DIV instruction rounds the result, while the correct operation
350 is truncation. This caused 'exploding characters' with fonts hinted by
351 ttfautohint. Since many printers contain this rasterizer without any
352 possibility to update to a non-buggy version, ttfautohint now contains
353 work-arounds to circumvent the problem.
355 * Better support for glyphs where some points have almost the same
356 position (for example glyph 'Oslash' in font 'Roboto-Thin').
358 * Better support for glyphs that use explicit 'on' points around round
362 Version 0.95 (2013-Mar-07)
363 --------------------------
365 * New option `--dehint` to strip off all hints without generating new
366 hints. This option is intended for testing purposes.
368 * Minor fixes to the created bytecode for compatibility.
370 * Minor GUI improvements.
373 Version 0.94 (2012-Nov-29)
374 --------------------------
376 * New option `--windows-compatibility` that adds two artificial blue zones
377 at vertical positions given by 'usWinAscent' and 'usWinDescent'. This
378 helps ttfautohint's hinting algorithm reduce the possibility of clipping
379 if those two values are very tight.
381 * Implement option `--x-height-snapping-exceptions`, making ttfautohint
382 avoid x-height snapping for selected PPEM values. Useful in combination
383 with `--windows-compatibility`.
385 * Minor fixes to the created bytecode for compatibility and robustness.
388 Version 0.93 (2012-Oct-09)
389 --------------------------
391 * New option `--components` to treat components of composite glyphs
392 separately. This greatly reduces the bytecode size.
394 I'm waiting for reports whether this option works for most fonts; in
395 case this is true I'm inverting the option, making it the default (and
396 the old behaviour optional).
398 * Full support of TTCs, this is, all subfonts get auto-hinted now.
400 * The upper limit of the `--increase-x-height` option has been removed.
402 * Drag-and-drop support in the GUI.
404 * The command-line version of ttfautohint now acts like a (Unix) filter,
405 this is, it accepts stdin and stdout as input and output, respectively.
407 * Less memory consumption.
410 Version 0.92 (2012-Aug-07)
411 --------------------------
413 * A serious bug in the created bytecode has been fixed, causing incorrect
417 Version 0.91 (2012-Jul-12)
418 --------------------------
420 * A new, 'strong' routine to handle stem widths and positions has been
421 added, to be selected with the `--strong-stem-width` command line
422 option. If it is active, stem widths and positions are snapped to the
423 grid as much as possible. This algorithm is useful for GDI ClearType
426 * A new command line option `--debug` (not available for ttfautohintGUI)
427 to print very detailed debugging information.
430 Version 0.9 (2012-Jun-06)
431 -------------------------
433 * The created bytecode has been reduced in size, making it approx. 20%
436 * New option `--symbol` to use standard stem height and width values
437 instead of using character 'o' (which may be missing). Use this option
438 for symbol fonts or math glyphs.
440 * More documentation (in text, HTML, and PDF format). It's still
443 * Option `--ignore-permissions` has been renamed to
444 `--ignore-restrictions`. The short form is still `-i`.
446 * Defaults for various parameters have been set to more sensible values:
448 - hinting-range-max: 50 (was 1000)
449 - hinting-limit: 200 (was 1000)
451 * Option `--increase-x-height` now has a mandatory argument (in the range
452 6-20 or value\ 0 to disable it, default value is 14).
455 Version 0.8 (2012-Mar-21)
456 -------------------------
458 * Implement option `-x` to increase the x height of the font for small
459 PPEM values by rounding up far more often then rounding down.
461 * Add option '`-G n`' to switch off hinting completely above value\ `n`.
463 * ttfautohint now appends version information and the used parameters to
464 the 'Version' field(s) in the 'name' table. This can be suppressed with
468 Version 0.7 (2012-Feb-05)
469 -------------------------
471 * A GUI has been added, using the Qt framework. The binary is called
475 Version 0.6.1 (2012-Jan-02)
476 ---------------------------
478 * The improved handling of composite glyphs in 0.6 was buggy under certain
479 circumstances, making ttfautohint crash and FontValidator complain.
481 * Dropout handling has been activated.
484 Version 0.6 (2011-Dec-25)
485 -------------------------
487 * Improved handling of composite glyphs.
489 * Implement option `-p` to pre-hint glyphs with original hints before
490 conversion takes place.
492 * Don't add a `DSIG` table if there is none in the input font.
494 * Human-readable error messages instead of hexadecimal error codes.
496 * Better tests (both at runtime and compile time) to reject too old
500 Version 0.5 (2011-Nov-06)
501 -------------------------
503 * Rendering on iOS is now expected to give good results.
505 * No bad rendering at very large PPEM values.
508 Version 0.4 (2011-Oct-27)
509 -------------------------
511 * The bytecode has been changed to 'create' twilight points. This should
512 avoid rendering artifacts on some platforms.
515 Version 0.3 (2011-Sep-09)
516 -------------------------
518 * Fix font generation; sometimes the `glyf` table was one byte too short,
519 making the font invalid.
522 Version 0.2 (2011-Jul-19)
523 -------------------------
525 * Fix bytecode bugs that prevented correct rendering on some platforms.
528 Version 0.1 (2011-Jun-30)
529 -------------------------