Space Center ↩
The Space Center is a dedicated window for previewing text and adjusting the glyph metrics in a font.
The preview text can be edited by typing characters or glyph names into the text input field, or by selecting one of the default strings from the drop-down list.
Several display options are available from the popup menu at the right.
To modify the font’s spacing, use the Space Matrix at the bottom of the window to edit the width, left margin and right margin of each glyph.
Undo/redo is supported for the selected glyph.
Text Input Fields
The text input fields support different input formats:
| description | example | result |
|---|---|---|
| any text | abc |
tries to match glyph names:a, b, c
|
| unicode characters | &é |
tries to match unicode values:
ampersand, eacute
|
| glyph names | /ampersand/eacute |
get glyphs by name |
| glyph name and layer | /ampersand@background |
get glyphs by name from a given layer |
| active glyph | /? |
display the current active glyph |
| active glyph in layer | /?@layerName |
display the current active glyph in a specific layer |
| font selection | /! |
display the current selected glyphs in the Font Overview |
| glyphs in group | /:groupName |
display all glyphs for a group name if the group name exists |
| new line | \n |
insert a line break |
The following shortcuts are available when typing in the main text input field:
| shortcut | action |
|---|---|
| ⌥ + Escape | display a list of all glyph names in the font |
| ⇧ + Enter | insert a line break character \n |
Default strings
A list of default input strings is available from the drop-down menu below the main input field. These strings can be edited in the Space Center Preferences.
Control glyphs
The two smaller input fields at the left/right side are used to define control glyphs which are displayed before/after each glyph in the main string.
Editing glyph metrics
Glyph metrics can be edited by selecting and dragging a glyph or its margins, or by using the arrow keys to increase/decrease the values for Width, Left and Right.
Editing with the mouse
| modifiers | action | result |
|---|---|---|
| click on a glyph | Select the glyph. | |
| click outside of a glyph | Deselect the glyph. | |
| ⌥ | click + drag left/right margin | Move the left/right margin in all glyph layers. |
| click + drag left/right margin | Move the left/right margin. | |
| click + drag contours | Move the glyph horizontally. | |
| ⌥ | click + drag contours | Move the glyph vertically. |
| ⌥ + ⌘ | click + drag contours | Move the glyph freely. |
Editing with the arrow keys
If a glyph is selected, its width and margins can be modified using the arrow keys.
| modifiers | ← | → | affects |
|---|---|---|---|
| -1 | +1 | width (right margin) | |
| ⇧ | -10 | +10 | width (right margin) |
| ⇧ + ⌘ | -100 | +100 | width (right margin) |
| ⌥ | -1 | +1 | left margin |
| ⌥ + ⇧ | -10 | +10 | left margin |
| ⌥ + ⇧ + ⌘ | -100 | +100 | left margin |
| ⌃ + ⌘ | shift outlines -1 | shift outlines +1 | outlines position |
| ⌃ + ⇧ + ⌘ | shift outlines -100 | shift outlines +100 | outlines position |
Numerical fields
The Space Matrix supports a simple math syntax which makes it possible to define values as calculations with values from other glyphs.
| description | example | result |
|---|---|---|
| any number | 123 |
Sets value to the given number. |
| equal sign followed by glyph name | =a |
Sets value to be equal to the value of the assigned glyph. |
| simple math expression | =e+10-z*10 |
Sets value to be equal to the result of the evaluated expression. |
Values in nummerical fields can also be modified incrementally using the arrow keys.
| modifiers | ↑ | ↓ | affects |
|---|---|---|---|
| -1 | +1 | selected value | |
| ⇧ | -10 | +10 | selected value |
| ⇧ + ⌘ | -100 | +100 | selected value |
Arrows and tab keys can be used to navigate to adjacent values using only the keyboard.
| modifiers | keys | description |
|---|---|---|
| ⌥ | ↑ or → or ↓ or ← | Jump to adjacent input fields. |
| tab | Jump to the next input field. | |
| ⇧ | tab | Jump to the previous input field. |
| ⌥ | tab | Jump to the input field below. |
Display options
The popup menu at the top right (gears icon) gives access to several display options.
| option | description |
|---|---|
| Show Kerning |
Toggle display of kerning. Only kerning defined in the UFO is shown. Kerning defined in the |
| Suffix ▸ |
Use glyphs with the selected suffix whenever available. The suffix list is generated from all glyph names containing a dot. Example, if the font contains a glyph named |
| Show Layers ▸ | Display additional layers in the preview. |
| Multi Line | Break text into multiple lines to fit into the window. |
| Single Line | Display text as a single line. |
| Water Fall | Display a waterfall sample with a range of text sizes. |
| Cut Off | Invert foreground and background shapes between extremes. You can edit the size of the Cut Off section using cmd ⌘ + drag when no glyph is selected. Default values are baseline and xHeight, you can modify these values in the Preferences Editor. This is a great way to visualize countershapes while spacing. |
| Inverse | Invert foreground and background colors. |
| Show Metrics | Show metrics values for selected glyph. |
| Left To Right | Display text from left to right. |
| Right To Left | Display text from right to left. |
| Center | Display text aligned to center. |
| Upside Down | Flip text vertically. |
| Beam | Measure margins at the intersections with a movable horizontal beam. |
| Guides | Show font guidelines. |
| Blues | Show blue zones. |
| Family Blues | Show family blue zones. |
| Images | Show images in glyphs. |
| Fill | Display the fill of the glyph contours. |
| Stroke | Display the stroke of the glyph contours. |
| Line Space | Add or remove space between lines of text. |
| Tracking | Add or remove space between glyphs. |
| Show Control Glyphs | Toggle the display of control glyphs in the Space Matrix. |
| Show Space Matrix | Toggle the Space Matrix. |
| Show Template Glyphs | Toggle the display of template glyphs in the preview and matrix. |
Updating the preview
When glyphs which appear in the Space Center are modified, the preview is updated instantly if the total number of glyphs is smaller than the value defined in Maximum glyph count for live updating in the Space Center Preferences. For input strings longer than this value, a 0.2 seconds delay is applied.