FontLab will immediately assume support for the current version and will begin development of a new release of the venerable font editor.
With almost 20 years under its belt, and despite not being updated for many years, Fontographer must be eligible for some kind of longevity award for graphics and publishing applications. This Mac and Windows font creation tool was in no small way responsible for the success of what was called "desktop publishing" in the 1980s, making it possible for the first time on Macs and PCs to digitize existing fonts or create new ones from scratch that could meet the rigorous requirements of traditional typographers.
Acquired by Macromedia from Alysys, it was always an awkward fit with Macromedia's heavy Web emphasis, but to their credit they kept it on life support long after most had given up on it. In a move that looks very much influenced by the upcoming acquisition of Macromedia by Adobe, Fontographer has now found a good home in the hands of FontLab, a longtime developer of font creation and editing tools. Jim Gallagher, who has been involved with Fontographer for a decade, will provide advice on the next version of Fontographer, expected in early 2006.
According to Ted Harrison, president of Fontlab Ltd., “With our TypeTool product we have a font editor for beginners, hobbyists and students. FontLab Studio and AsiaFont Studio are our high-end products with a certain degree of technical complexity, aimed at professional type designers. With Fontographer, we now have a tool that fills the gap between those products—a font editor for graphic designers and desktop publishers, powerful enough for real-world typography but without all the bells and whistles of our high-end products.”
More information about Fontographer is available on the FontLab site. |
