FontForge Font Naming for Bold and Italic Styles

This guide provides an overview of the font naming conventions required in FontForge to build functional Bold, Italic, and Bold Italic styles. Properly configuring these fields ensures that operating systems and design software recognize the fonts as a cohesive family and correctly activate styles when users apply bold or italic formatting shortcuts.

The RIBBI Model

Font families rely on the standard "RIBBI" model (Regular, Italic, Bold, Bold Italic). To link these four styles correctly in standard software like Microsoft Word, the styling must be distributed across specific naming fields and flag tables in FontForge under Element > Font Info.

PostScript Names Configuration

In FontForge, navigate to Element > Font Info > PS Names. Set the following fields depending on the style:

  • Fontname: This must contain no spaces. Use a hyphen to separate the family name from the style suffix.
    • Regular: MyFont-Regular
    • Italic: MyFont-Italic
    • Bold: MyFont-Bold
    • Bold Italic: MyFont-BoldItalic
  • Familyname: This is the shared base name for all four variants (e.g., MyFont). Do not include style modifiers here.
  • Fullname: The complete, human-readable name including spaces.
    • Regular: MyFont Regular
    • Italic: MyFont Italic
    • Bold: MyFont Bold
    • Bold Italic: MyFont Bold Italic
  • Weight: Set to Regular (or Book) for standard and italic styles, and Bold for bold and bold-italic styles.

TTF/OpenType Names Configuration

Navigate to Element > Font Info > TTF Names. These strings dictate how fonts appear in modern application menus:

  • Family (Name ID 1): Must remain identical across all four RIBBI styles (e.g., MyFont).
  • SubFamily (Name ID 2): Must only be one of four exact terms:
    • Regular
    • Italic
    • Bold
    • Bold Italic
  • Preferred Family (Name ID 16) and Preferred Styles (Name ID 17): For basic 4-style families, these are generally not required. If used in larger extended families (e.g., Light, SemiBold, Black), keep the Preferred Family as MyFont and specify the exact style (such as Bold Italic) in Preferred Styles.

OS/2 Flags and Weight Settings

Naming strings alone are insufficient; you must also configure the binary style flags in the OS/2 and Mac tables.

OS/2 > Misc

  • Weight Class: Set to 400 for Regular and Italic. Set to 700 for Bold and Bold Italic.

OS/2 > Style (fsSelection)

  • Regular: Check the Regular box.
  • Italic: Check the Italic box.
  • Bold: Check the Bold box.
  • Bold Italic: Check both the Bold and Italic boxes.

Mac Style

Under the Mac Style dropdown, ensure the checkboxes correspond with the fsSelection settings: select Italic for the italic font, Bold for the bold font, and both Bold and Italic for the combined style. Leave both unchecked for the regular font.