Find the Layers Palette in FontForge Glyph View

This guide explains the exact location of the Layers palette within FontForge’s Glyph View, how to restore it if it has gone missing, and how to use it to manage your font design workflow. By understanding its interface placement and menu controls, you can quickly switch between background references, foreground outlines, and guide curves.

Default Location of the Layers Palette

In the FontForge Glyph View (the outline editing window), the Layers palette is located on the left side of the screen by default.

It typically appears as a narrow, floating or docked toolbar sitting directly next to or integrated with the primary editing Tools palette. Depending on your operating system and window manager settings, it may float independently over your drawing canvas or snap to the left edge of the workspace.

How to Open or Restore the Layers Palette

If the Layers palette is not visible when you open a glyph window, it has likely been closed or hidden. You can restore it immediately using the top menu bar:

1. Click on the Window menu at the top of the Glyph View.
2. Look for Layers (or Layers Palette depending on your FontForge version).
3. Click it to place a checkmark next to it, which will immediately bring the palette back into view.

Understanding the Palette Interface

Once open, the Layers palette displays the available drawing planes for that specific glyph:

• Back (Background): Used for non-exporting reference artwork, imported bitmap traces, or previous design iterations.
• Fore (Foreground): The primary drawing layer where the final vector outlines that generate the actual font contours reside.
• Guide: Contains custom guide curves and horizontal/vertical alignment markers specific to your glyph measurements.

You can click any layer name in the palette to activate it for editing, or click the visibility and lock toggles next to each layer to hide or secure outlines while you work.