Font design...how do I know where a character is assigned on the keyboard?

[Jason Arthur]

So this one goes out to Nate, Clem, Richard Starkings and Jaco:

When designing a font how do you know what key on the keyboard a particular character is assigned to?

I'm using FontLab 4 if that helps...

I've configured the font I'm designing and have EVERY character in the default character listing assigned with a specific character, but when I type with this font in Microsoft Word it's substituting in Times New Roman characters for about 10 of the characters that I made and assigned...

EDIT: I just noticed that the characters appear perfectly when I type them in Fontlab, but those same keystrokes give me a generic Times New Roman character in Word...sheesh...any ideas?

Am I making sense?

Any help would be appreciated.

cheers,

-- J

[JacoNB]

I know what you mean, I've made a few fonts that way, and they don't always show up in Word (the special characters, like the 'cents' symbol or the upside-down question mark for spanish, etc). But they work fine in Illustrator or Photoshop, and on the right keys.

Try using the ASCII keys, maybe? I'm not sure if that's a Mac thing or not.

[Kep!]

Go by the map number. I assume it's included in the design program you're using. Of course, I may be wrong.

[Jason Arthur]

Go by the map number. I assume it's included in the design program you're using. Of course, I may be wrong.

thanks Jaco and Kep...but uh...I have no idea how to read the map numbers and how to corrolate that to keystrokes. Any suggestions?

And Jaco, the same ones not working in Word also seem glitchy in Illustrator...I'm baffled.

-- J

[Comics Commando]

FontLab--is that a creation program? I use fontographer and if I type the keystroke--say, option+k, it highlights that space in the alphabet grid. Whatever form I put in that grid box, I know it'll come up with option+k (keep a notebook handy).

I also have been using an old (classic mac) utility called Letraset Character Chooser that displays all characters in a font (installed, that is). By selecting the proper character needed and then copying, I can paste the character where I need it without having to know the keystroke. A little clumsy, but it comes in handy when I need a tilda or an umlat (spelling?). :yawn:

Seems to me I DL'd a newer utility, but I can't seem to locate it just now. Been doing a lot of updating lately. I think there's a mac OSX letraset character chooser, but I don't recall why I don't have it....bad link maybe. I'll have to do another search. :banana:

[Jason Arthur]

Yeah, FontLab is a creation tool for font design. They actually own the rights to Fontographer now, I believe.

Thanks for your help,

-- J