Documentation

Introduction

Welcome to the GLIPH documentation. This guide will walk you through the process of creating a custom font from a glyph sheet using the GLIPH web application.

Workflow

Step 1: Create or Generate a Glyph Sheet

Start by preparing a glyph sheet with as many characters as possible in the same style.

• Use hand-drawn, scanned artwork or AI-generated images (DALL·E, Midjourney, ChatGPT/Sora, Ideogram, etc.).
• Use a high-contrast black-on-white image, minimum 1024px resolution.
• Ensure glyphs are spaced apart clearly. You may need to adjust spacing manually in an image editor (e.g., Photoshop).

Step 2: Upload to GLIPH and Extract Glyphs

• Upload the glyph sheet to GLIPH.
• The system will automatically extract and crop individual glyphs.
• Click “Vectorize All” to process the extracted bitmaps into vector format.

Step 3: Review and Label Glyphs

Go through each glyph:

• Click on a glyph to check its assigned character.
• If incorrect, correct it and hit “Save”.
• For duplicates or broken fragments, click the thumbs-down to remove them.
• Click “Poor Quality” to reveal hidden/rejected glyphs. Use thumbs-up to restore any good ones.

Need to add a missing character?

• Click “Add Glyph” and upload a manually cropped .png.
• After adding, re-vectorize using “Vectorize All”.

Note: The system defaults to enlarging characters like J, Q, and R when their tails extend below the baseline. If you don’t need this, open those glyphs and change them to the standard size. <3

Step 4: Fine-Tune (Optional)

Click “Edit Vector” on any glyph to adjust:

• Kerning (left/right bearing)
• Y-offset (vertical positioning)
• Scale
• Zoom in to fine-tune anchor points
• Red baseline guides help align glyphs

Controls:

• Hold Spacebar to pan
• Arrow keys move view (Note: Up/Down are inverted; Left/Right work normally)
• This feature is still in beta

Step 5: Export Your Font

When you’re satisfied with the glyphs:

• Click “Generate TTF” to export your font.
• Open the .ttf file in your system or a font editor like FontForge for additional refinements (kerning pairs, OpenType features, etc.).

Credit System

• Uploading and extracting a glyph sheet costs 5 credits per image.
• All edits, re-vectorizations, and exports within the same browser session are free.
• If you refresh or close the tab, the session ends. Re-uploading the same image will cost 5 more credits.

To avoid this:

• Use the Learning Systems Panel to export your learned data before closing the session.
• You can later import this data without losing credits or progress.