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Can't disable Mac export

Open KoBeWi opened this issue 5 years ago • 6 comments

I don't see a way to disable Mac export. Whenever I export a font, it exports the normal font and Mac version, even if I put empty name for the Mac font (which results in an unnamed file). An option to disable Mac export would be useful.

Using Birdfont 4.7.18

KoBeWi avatar Oct 12 '20 22:10 KoBeWi

I am not sure if I should fix this or always export both versions. I will think about it for a while.

johanmattssonm avatar Oct 13 '20 11:10 johanmattssonm

What's even a point in exporting both, or the Mac font at all? I assumed they were different, but I can open the "Mac version" just fine on Windows and after brief inspection they seem identical.

KoBeWi avatar Oct 13 '20 12:10 KoBeWi

The only difference is metadata but is an important piece of information. The Windows font will list fewer glyphs if you open it in Font Book on Mac OS. It sounds like a small thing but it looks like this feature is important, many users have tried to use only the Windows version but most people seem to run into this problem at some point. The Mac font will not work in some Windows program depending on which language the OS is set to use. I don't like this solution but it is needed in order to make sure that your font works well in as many programs as possible.

johanmattssonm avatar Oct 13 '20 12:10 johanmattssonm

The only difference is metadata but is an important piece of information. The Windows font will list fewer glyphs if you open it in Font Book on Mac OS. It sounds like a small thing but it looks like this feature is important, many users have tried to use only the Windows version but most people seem to run into this problem at some point. The Mac font will not work in some Windows program depending on which language the OS is set to use. I don't like this solution but it is needed in order to make sure that your font works well in as many programs as possible.

I think this information is very important and suggest it is displayed somewhere in the program or at least in a tutorial like Exporting TTF, OTF and SVG fonts.

svenemtell avatar Feb 25 '22 11:02 svenemtell

Good point. I will add that to the program.

johanmattssonm avatar Feb 25 '22 11:02 johanmattssonm

I still think that Mac fonts should be optional. I have to delete them every single time I export my font, because I just don't use them.

KoBeWi avatar Feb 25 '22 11:02 KoBeWi