FontForge Character Info Box Explained

The Character Info box in FontForge—commonly accessed as Glyph Info—serves as the primary control center for inspecting and modifying the metadata, encoding, and typographic properties of an individual character. This dialog allows font designers to manage how a specific glyph behaves in text engines, ensuring it maps to the correct keystrokes, spaces properly against other characters, and interacts seamlessly with complex OpenType layout features.

Encoding and Unicode Mapping

At its core, the Character Info box defines the digital identity of a glyph. It allows designers to assign standard Unicode code points, hex values, and PostScript glyph names. Without proper encoding configuration in this dialog, operating systems and text editors cannot correctly interpret the character when a user types a corresponding key.

Metrics and Spacing Control

While visual adjustments often happen on the main editing canvas, the Character Info dialog provides precise numerical control over a glyph's dimensions. Designers use it to define horizontal and vertical advance widths, left and right side bearings, and vertical origin points. Setting these values accurately ensures consistent rhythm and spacing across text blocks.

OpenType Substitutions and Variants

Modern digital typography relies heavily on OpenType features such as small caps, ligatures, stylistic alternates, and contextual forms. The Character Info box provides tabs to link individual glyphs to these lookup tables. Through this interface, a designer can specify whether a glyph replaces another character in specific contexts or acts as a component in a multi-character ligature.

Component References and Accents

For fonts containing accented or composite characters, the Character Info box manages references to base glyphs. Instead of redrawing diacritics manually, designers can link existing marks and base letters together. The dialog maintains these references, automatically updating composite glyphs whenever the original base shapes are modified.

Production Notes and Tracking

The dialog also includes fields for internal documentation. Designers can add comments, flag glyphs with completion statuses, or specify script categories. This functionality streamlines collaboration across design teams and keeps large type families organized throughout the production cycle.