Link Accents to Base Characters in FontForge

Creating accented glyphs using references in FontForge allows you to build diacritics efficiently without duplicating outlines. This guide explains how to link diacritic marks to base characters using FontForge's reference architecture and anchor point system. By utilizing references, any structural modification made to a parent character or accent mark automatically propagates to all composite glyphs, maintaining consistency and reducing file overhead.

Step 1: Prepare the Base Glyphs and Diacritics

Before building composite characters, ensure your font project contains both the standalone base letters and the necessary diacritic marks.

  1. Create and finalize your base glyphs (such as a, e, n, c).
  2. Create your accent marks in their designated Unicode slots (such as acute, grave, tilde, cedilla) or within combining diacritical mark slots (such as uni0300, uni0301).
  3. Set the advance width and horizontal metrics for the base glyphs. Accents can retain their default widths, as their positioning will be managed by anchors or reference coordinates.

Step 2: Use Anchor Points for Precise Alignment

The most reliable way to link accents to base characters using references is through Anchor Points. This ensures that FontForge automatically positions references correctly.

  1. Double-click the base glyph (e.g., e) to open the Glyph Outline Window.
  2. Go to Point > Add Anchor.
  3. In the dialog, assign a name to the anchor class (e.g., Top) and set the type to Base Glyph. Position the anchor point where the accent should sit above the character.
  4. Open the accent glyph (e.g., acute).
  5. Go to Point > Add Anchor.
  6. Select the same anchor class name (Top), but set the type to Mark. Place the point at the attachment point of the accent.
  7. Click OK to save the changes in both glyph windows.

Step 3: Automatically Generate the Accented Glyph

Once anchor points are placed, FontForge can automatically construct the composite glyph using references.

  1. Return to the Font Window.
  2. Locate and select the target accented glyph cell (e.g., eacute / U+00E9).
  3. Navigate to Element > Build > Build Accented Glyph (or press Ctrl + Shift + A).
  4. FontForge will automatically insert references to both the base glyph and the accent glyph, snapping them together at the designated anchor points.

Step 4: Manually Insert Glyph References (Alternative Method)

If you prefer to manually place references without configuring anchor points:

  1. Double-click the empty destination glyph cell in the Font Window to open the outline editor.
  2. Go to Edit > Copy Reference while having the base character selected, then paste it into the destination glyph.
  3. Open the accent glyph, select Edit > Copy Reference, and paste it into the same destination glyph.
  4. Alternatively, use Element > Insert Glyph Reference, select the desired glyph from the list, and click OK.
  5. Select the accent outline reference and drag or use the arrow keys to adjust its position relative to the base character.

Step 5: Verify Reference Integrity

To ensure that the characters remain linked dynamically:

  1. Open the composite glyph window. References appear with a distinctive coloration or dotted outline depending on your view preferences.
  2. Check the layers panel or right-click the outline to ensure it indicates a reference rather than individual editable bezier points.
  3. Edit the parent base glyph or accent glyph. Return to the composite glyph to confirm that the changes have automatically applied.

Avoid using Element > Unlink Reference, as this converts linked components into static outlines and severs the automated relationship between the base glyph, the accent, and the composite glyph.