How to Toggle Grid Visibility in FontForge

This guide explains how to toggle the visibility of the grid and guideline system within the FontForge glyph editing workspace. Whether you need to hide distracting reference lines to evaluate glyph shapes clearly or enable them for precise alignment, FontForge provides quick methods to control visibility directly through the interface.

Toggling the Guide/Grid Layer

In FontForge, global metric lines and custom drawing guides are stored within the Guide layer (labeled as Grid in older versions).

  1. Open a glyph in the outline character view.
  2. Locate the Layers palette on the left side of the workspace (if it is not visible, select Window > Layers).
  3. Find the row labeled Guide or Grid.
  4. Click the checkmark or the eye icon in the visibility column next to the layer name. Unchecking it will immediately hide the grid lines from your workspace, while checking it will make them visible again.

Toggling Rulers and Canvas Measurements

If you want to hide or show the workspace ruler markings along the top and left edges of the glyph canvas:

  1. Click on the View menu at the top of the glyph window.
  2. Select Rulers to toggle them on or off.
  3. Alternatively, you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Shift + R (or Cmd + Shift + R on macOS).

Toggling the Hinting Grid Fit

If you are referring to the TrueType pixel grid preview (Grid Fit) used for hinting:

  1. Open the Hints menu from the top bar.
  2. Navigate to Grid Fit.
  3. Click Show Grid Fit to turn the preview grid on or off, or use the shortcut Ctrl + D (or Cmd + D on macOS).