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Font guidelines for sitelen pona: Difference between revisions
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{{tp title|sitelen pona}}
By now, there are many fonts for [[sitelen pona]] - and more are getting created, and some old ones are getting improved. This article seeks to collect the ideal state of a font, recommendations that emerged from dealing with many fonts, and guidelines for anyone who wants to make a "good" font.▼
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==Technically complete==▼
▲=Technically complete=
When a font is considered complete is going to differ for different font creators and font users. Generally speaking, though, a font might be considered usable by the majority of users when it has the following technical features:
*Any character that is found in [[UCSUR]] should be assigned the codepoint according to UCSUR▼
*In fact, beyond pu, having a glyph for each "ideograph" in UCSUR would be good▼
*Also add glyphs for cartouche start, cartouche end, cartouche extention lines, extended pi start, expanded character extension line, cartouche interpunct and cartouche colon in the corresponding UCSUR codepoint▼
*Add a functionality that cartouches and extended pi work with any sitelen pona character without any gaps between the lines. This can be achieved either by making new glyphs where each sitelen pona character is combined with extension lines, or by creating zero-width extension and cartouche lines that can be used ''after'' a word to reach ''under'' another character.▼
*ideally, cartouches and extended pi should work without adding a control character for the lines each time - instead, through ''contextual ligatures'', lines get filled automatically between a start and end character▼
*For increased accessibility, add ligatures for any sitelen pona character, as well as for any functionality the font supports. "Ligatures" (through "lookup tables") make it so a text in ASCII will get substituted with sitelen pona characters, meaning that <code>toki</code> typed out in the Latin writing systems automatically becomes <code>{{sp|toki}}</code> in the font▼
* All the glyphs found in ''[[Toki Pona: The Language of Good]]'' ({{tp|pu}}) should be added.
Beyond that, the following features require a big amount of work, so it tends not to be seen as a marker of completedness:▼
▲* Any character that is found in [[UCSUR]] should be assigned the codepoint according to UCSUR.
*Create smaller versions of glyphs for scaled and stacked glyph combinations▼
▲* In fact, beyond {{tp|pu}}, having a glyph for each "ideograph" in UCSUR would be good.
*Get stacked and scaled glyph combinations to work. While this may be achievable by merging characters, this would end in a big font file and a lot of work. Instead, making components all align with each other is generally a better option. Consider which kinds of combinations work with which kinds of characters in the first place▼
▲* Also add glyphs for cartouche start, cartouche end, cartouche
▲* Add a functionality that cartouches and extended {{tp|pi}} work with any {{tp|sitelen pona}} character without any gaps between the lines. This can be achieved either by making new glyphs where each {{tp|sitelen pona}} character is combined with extension lines, or by creating zero-width extension and cartouche lines that can be used
▲*
▲* For increased accessibility, add [[ASCII transcription|ligatures for any {{tp|sitelen pona}} character]], as well as for any functionality the font supports. "Ligatures" (through "lookup tables") make it so a text in ASCII will get substituted with {{tp|sitelen pona}} characters, meaning that <code>{{tok|toki}}</code> typed out in
▲Beyond that, the following features require a
▲* Create smaller versions of glyphs for scaled and stacked glyph combinations.
▲* Get stacked and scaled glyph combinations to work. While this may be achievable by merging characters, this would end in a big font file and a lot of work. Instead, making components all align with each other is generally a better option. Consider which kinds of combinations work with which kinds of characters in the first place.
Some users also find the following features useful:
* Japanese-style quotation marks. These are also used as glyphs for experimental quotative particles, {{tp|te}} and {{tp|to}}; these are what the ligatures should use.
*
*
==Glyphs==
Generally, glyphs are more legible if they are '''monospaced''', meaning that the width of each glyph should be the same, even if the drawing of the character doesn't occupy the whole space.
===Common pitfalls===
* up-arrow epiku is easy to confuse with directional ni▼
*
* Flipped-{{tp|sin}} {{tp|majuna}} is easy to mix up with {{tp|sin}} or {{tp|namako}}, and lotus {{tp|majuna}} is prettier.
*
*
*
* Making glyphs similar to [[jan Sonja]]'s handwriting in {{tp|pu}} generally makes them easier to recognize.
*
==Flexible glyphs==▼
▲===Flexible glyphs===
Many characters in sitelen pona are widely considered to not be static and aren't supposed to be drawn the same way every time.
* '''{{tp|jaki}}''': any scribble, usually with overlaps, such as {{sp|jaki1 jaki2 jaki3 jaki4 jaki5 jaki6 jaki7 jaki8 jaki9 jaki10 jaki11|font=linja lipamanka}}
* '''{{tp|ko}}''': any blobby unshapely form, such as {{sp|ko1 ko2 ko3 ko4 ko5 ko6|font=linja lipamanka}}
* '''{{tp|ni}}''': many use {{tp|ni}} to point to the part {{tp|ni}} is referencing (up, down, right, or other directions, instead of the standard downwards arrow) like so: {{sp|ni> ni< ni^ niv|font=linja lipamanka}}
* '''{{tp|ni}}:''' often the line is extended if it's been rotated to the left or right, such as {{sp|ni>(--)|font=linja lipamanka}}
* '''{{tp|lete, kin}}''': rotation, and maybe even exact number of intersecting lines, aren't important
* '''{{tp|linja, kon, telo, pakala, mun}}''': can be mirrored
* '''
* '''{{tp|ku}}''': the {{tp|toki pona}} symbol can range from a simple dot to full-fidelity
===Alternative Glyphs===▼
For various different reasons, people have made new glyphs of different characters. The Esperanto translation of the [[pu|official book]] includes drawings of these''':▼
*'''sewi''': mirrored glyph of "anpa" (not very common, but listed by ku - alternatively, it has been suggested elsewhere to use other religious symbols, with the possible downside of being less legible)▼
▲For various different reasons, people have made new glyphs of different characters. The Esperanto translation of
*'''akesi''': 2 pairs of legs instead of 3▼
▲* '''{{tp|sewi}}''': mirrored glyph of
*'''namako''': both "sin" with an extra line below, and a hot pepper with emenating lines above, are featured side-by-side▼
▲* '''{{tp|akesi}}''': 2 pairs of legs instead of 3
*additionally, 4 different drawings of '''jaki''' are included▼
▲* '''{{tp|namako}}''': both
Other common-ish variations include:
* '''{{tp|kala}}''': adding 2 dots for eyes
* '''{{tp|epiku, kokosila, lanpan}}''': although there is a more widely accepted version for all of these, their glyphs are relatively recent and have had more than one shape, so older versions are still in use
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[[Category:sitelen pona]]
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