Custom Font Tools Release 14 with Guide + UPDATES
Author: Skinnyhouse
Custom Font Tools is a set of 35 Python plugins for creating, manipulating, organizing, and decorating character files as separate Gimp layers, and a guide to choosing the most appropriate tool for your purposes.
In menu: Filters → Custom Font Tools
Package contents list:
01. Custom_Font_Accented_Character_Kerning_Utility_v003.py
02. Custom_Font_Artistic_Pack_v003.py
03. Custom_Font_Bevel_Reflect_BRL_1_6_V_108.py
04. Custom_Font_Character_Paths_V007.py
05. Custom_Font_Colorizer_v001.py
06. Custom_Font_Distortion_Pack_1_v002.py
07. Custom_Font_Distortion_Pack_2_v002.py
08. Custom_Font_Edger_v_0_2.py
09. Custom_Font_Effects_Only_v010.py
10. Custom_Font_Embossible_v_1_03.py
11. Custom_Font_Face_Maker_v009.py
12. Custom_Font_Faux_3D_v0_02.py
13. Custom_Font_Folder_Thumbnails_v003.py
14. Custom_Font_Inner_Glow_v003.py
15. Custom_Font_Kerning_For_LowerCase_v005.py
16. Custom_Font_Kerning_For_Upper_to_LowerCase_v005.py
17. Custom_Font_Kerning_For_UpperCase_v005.py
18. Custom_Font_Layer_Utilities_v128.py
19. Custom_Font_Layers_With_Forced_Margins_V003.py
20. Custom_Font_Light_and_Shade_v001.py
21. Custom_Font_Lighting_Effects_GT_Style_005.py
22. Custom_Font_Metallic_Effects_006.py
23. Custom_Font_Noise_Pack_v002.py
24. Custom_Font_Outer_Glow_v002.py
25. Custom_Font_Outlines_Only_v005.py
26. Custom_Font_Paragrapher_009.py
27. Custom_Font_Path_Utilities_v001.py
28. Custom_Font_Paths_To_Layers_v006.py
29. Custom_Font_Perspex_Effects.py
30. Custom_Font_PixPaths_v_0_01.py
31. Custom_Font_Sheen_N_Shine_v006.py
32. Custom_Font_Single_Path_Stroker_v_006.py
33. Custom_Font_WordWall_v005.py
34. Font_Slab_Tabbed-v0_14.py
35. Font_Slab-v0-13.py
Tool Guide Part 1.pdf
Tool Guide Part 2.pdf
All photos and information come from Tool Guide: Part 1 and 2.pdf by Skinnyhouse.
01. Custom_Font_Accented_Character_Kerning_Utility
Utility for adding accented character kerning pair paths.
02. Custom_Font_Artistic_Pack
This tool provides a quick way of applying some of Gimp’s Artistic filters to all the character layers namely the Canvas filter, the Cartoon filter, the Cubism filter, the Glass Tile filter and the Oilify legacy filter.
Most of the filters have a number of options available for customising the effects for the size of font.
03. Custom_Font_Bevel_Reflect_BRL
This tool requires the additional installation of the MLBevelReflect plug-in (which does all the hard work) and is, basically, a Python interpretation of the original script by GnuTux. It produces wonderful highlighted characters using an environment map layer (emap).
More information: here.
04. Custom_Font_Character_Paths
This tool creates a path from a character and strokes the path with colours taken from the current foreground and background, the current gradient or the brush tool.
It can be used to outline characters but there are also options to create multiple paths and to add a glow effect.
Use this tool to turn a plain font face into a font face made up of a number of stroked paths.
05. Custom_Font_Colorizer
This simple plug-in allows you to apply colour ranges to the characters in a custom font file according to the choices made from the filter dialog.
More information: here .
06. Custom_Font_Distortion_Pack_1
Pack 1 adds options for applying ripples, waves, shifts and wind distortion effects to each character.
More information: here.
07. Custom_Font_Distortion_Pack_2
Pack 2 adds options for applying mosaic, video degradation and whirl and pinch effects to custom fonts.
08. Custom_Font_Edger
This plug-in uses the currently selected brush or eraser to remove sections of characters. It was initially created to improve the appearance of hair and fur edges on custom font characters but can be used in many different ways.
More information: here.
09. Custom_Font_Effects_Only
This has options for applying an emboss, a bumpmap (taken from an additional layer) and a bevel to every character in a custom font.
The effects can be applied in any combination – but of course multiple effects add to the time taken to complete the process.
More information: here.
10. Custom_Font_Embossible
This tool can be used to apply different embossing styles to a base custom font before adding the finishing decorative touches: It produces characters in shades of grey.
More information: here.
11. Custom_Font_Face_Maker
Use this tool to turn plain character faces into more interesting character faces.
This is the tool that most users will use most of the time.
This basically adds a new look to existing font faces by copying a visible layer or layers onto each character in turn. Use of layer modes is also provided and an opacity slider has been added in this update.
It also provides an option to combine two custom fonts, which can be useful when you have characters with holes in (think mesh style) that require an added outline to make them more legible.
More information: here.
12. Custom_Font_Faux 3D
This plug-in adds a 3D effect to blank or existing custom fonts by duplicating character layers and repositioning them in one of two ways.
More information: here.
13. Custom_Font_Folder_Thumbnails.
A small plug-in that can be used to create a thumbnail image (in png format) to accompany each custom font file in a named folder.
14. Custom_Font_Inner_Glow
This is take on adding an inner glow to custom font characters.
15, 16, 17. Custom_Font_Kerning_For_LowerCase/Upper_to_LowerCase/UpperCase.
This is a set of three filter tools (upper-case filter shown here) that can be used to generate custom font kerning path pairs.
Please note that you need to have FontSlab installed for these to work properly.
More information: here.
18. Custom_Font_Layer_Utilities
This tool mainly provides a set of utilities for working with character layers in order to speed up the process of creating custom fonts rather than altering the appearance of the characters.
Most of the options are self-explanatory.
The option to create a set of lower-case letters does require an dditional path (base_line.png) to be first added to the custom font.
More information: here.
19. Custom_Font_Layers_With_Forced_Margins
Use this if you want to turn an existing font into a set of character layers (this plug-in replaces Custom Font Layers from Fonts).
This tool converts any font (True Type etc) used by Gimp into a series of plain filled character layers that can then be worked on in Gimp and saved as an XCF custom font file.
It provides options for adding or removing padding space around the characters within the layers.
There are also options for choosing the groups of characters to convert into layers – including nonEnglish characters and unicode symbols.
More information: here.
20. Custom_Font_Light_and_Shade
This plug-in can be used to create highlights and shadows from custom fonts which can be combined with different versions of the same characters.
The plug-in uses two methods to produce areas of light or shade.
The first method uses Gimp’s colour selection tool to capture regions of the currently selected colour for each character. These characters can be combined with another custom font using an appropriate mode with the FaceMaker plug-in. The example below shows the capture of a highlight from a character produced by the Embossible filter.
The second method creates areas of colour with a set of paths which can then be stroked by a line or brush.
More information: here.
21. Custom_Font_Lighting_Effects_GT_Style
This plug-in applies the Lighting plug-in to all the characters in a custom font file.
Although by default the filter creates new character faces it can also overlay different lighting effects on top of an existing character, as long as there is an image (environment) layer present in the file.
The filter also saves a text layer (called Legend) as part of the custom font file which records the Light Effects settings used so you can always look at how the characters were originally created.
The image below, beginning from the left, shows a character without any extra effects, then the same character using the shine effect and bumpmap from the Effects Only filter and, lastly, the same character using the Lighting Effects filter.
More information: here.
22. Custom_Font_Metallic_Effects
This plug-in can apply a range of metallic effects to an existing plain, or patterned, custom font.
More information: here.
23. Custom_Font_Noise_Pack
This tool provides a quick way of applying some of Gimp’s Noise filters to character layers to add texture and interest to character faces. Think glow, grunge and fairy dust.
More information: here.
24. Custom_Font_Outer_Glow
This is option adding an outer glow to custom font characters. It provides options for adding the glow in different colours and thicknesses (you may need to increase the size of the layer to ccommodate changes) and for adjusting existing kerning path information.
25. Custom_Font_Outlines_Only
This tool creates an outline for a custom font character using the current foreground colour, brush, gradient or pattern. The resultant outline can be added to the existing character or used as a new outline custom font character.
There are options to distort the outline.
If you need a set of custom font character paths you can use an option from this tool to create paths.
26. Custom_Font_Paragrapher
Writes text onto a series of lines in the chosen custom font and is suitable for greeting cards, verses and song lyrics etc.
27. Custom_Font_Path_Utilities
Some path options – mainly removed from the Layer Utils plug-in – which can be applied to all the characters in a custom font file.
28. Custom_Font_Paths_To_Layers
Use this tool to turn skeleton character paths into a custom font.
This is a rather specialised tool intended to produce custom fonts with a more natural and/or open style.
It uses a series of character shaped skeleton paths to stroke with the brush tool to create character layers. These effects often benefit from the sympathetic use of brush dynamics.
The new dialog contains a number of options to provide more control over the emulation of brush dynamics.
29. Custom_Font_Perspex_Effects
This filter, based on KWard1979's Glass script, has options for adding colour, lining and fairy dust (noise) to character layers in the style of perspex sheet lettering.
30. Custom_Font_PixPaths
This simple filter works with existing Custom Font layers: It provides options for creating character paths so that they can be manipulated with Gimp’s path tools and then re-saved.
This filter is the new home for the Shine effect that used to be part of the Effects Only plug-in.
It provides an option to add a delicate sheen effect to the surface of each character.
This version also provides more user control when applying the shine.
32. Custom_Font_Single_Path_Stroker
In some ways this filter replicates the output of Custom Font Paths to Layers but it is mainly intended to be used with the line stroking function. It has been updated considerably in version number 0.06 in order to apply kerning path information and to improve the glow dispersal feature.
33. Custom_Font_WordWall
This filter creates a wall of words, using the text provided, in a range of sizes from the nominated folder containing custom fonts.
34 - 35. Font_Slab
Posted here.
*************** UPDATES ***************
Custom Font Faux 3D for Gimp 2.10 Updated to Version 0.03
A new version is available:
Custom Font Tools Release-16 with Guide.
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