Creating Double-byte Bitmap Fonts

Q I would like to create double-byte bitmap fonts. I understand that in order to do this, I need to create fonts according to the 'fbit' format. Unfortunately, I can't find any documentation on this format. Do you have this information?

A Apple no longer encourages developers to create 'fbit' fonts since they have been replaced by 'NFNT's and 'sbit's. In addition, 'fbit' fonts will be unsupported starting with our next major OS release in mid-to-late 1998.

If you already have a TrueType font, Apple suggests that you use our Fissioner and Fuser tools (available here) to create 'NFNT's instead. The Fissioner tool automatically creates the 'NFNT's (essentially breaking the font into 256-character chunks). You can then edit those 'NFNT's using existing bitmap font editors like Fontastic or Fontographer or use a resource editor like ResEdit, and then "fuse" the 'NFNT's into 'sbit' data in the TrueType font using the Fuser tool.

For more information on 'NFNT's, please see p. 4-66 to 4-71 of Inside Macintosh: Text. For more information on 'sbit's, please see 'QuickDraw GX Font Formats: The TrueType(tm) Font Format Specification' on the Mac OS SDK Edition of the Developer CD Series.

[Feb 10 1998]

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