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authorNorbert Preining <norbert@preining.info>2019-09-02 13:46:59 +0900
committerNorbert Preining <norbert@preining.info>2019-09-02 13:46:59 +0900
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+GENTIUM-FAQ
+Gentium Basic Release 1.1
+4 April 2008
+========================
+
+Here are some answers to frequently asked questions about the Gentium fonts:
+
+
+General
+========
+
+How do you pronounce Gentium?
+
+ The preferred pronunciation is with a soft G as in 'general', not a
+ hard one as in 'gold': JEN-tee-oom.
+
+What is GentiumAlt?
+
+ It is a version of the font with redesigned diacritics (flatter
+ ones) to make it more suitable for use with stacking diacritics, and
+ for languages such as Vietnamese. The Greek glyphs also use the
+ Porsonic (single-curve) design for the circumflex. Since the main
+ Gentium fonts do not currently include any 'smart' rendering routines,
+ there is no easy way to access these alternate diacritic shapes from
+ within the regular Gentium font. The encoding of the fonts are the same,
+ so the same text can be viewed with either one. There is also no
+ problem with having both font families installed at the same time.
+
+
+Licensing
+=========
+
+I want to use Gentium in my publication - can I?
+
+ Gentium is released under the SIL Open Font License, which permits use
+ for any publication, whether electronic or printed. For more answers
+ to use questions see the OFL-FAQ. The license, alongside information
+ specific to Gentium, is in the release package.
+
+I would like to bundle Gentium with my application - can I?
+
+ This is our most common question. The SIL Open Font License allows
+ bundling with applications, even commercial ones, with some restrictions.
+ See the OFL file.
+
+Can I use the font on my web site?
+
+ You can certainly create web pages that request that Gentium be used to
+ display them (if that font is available on the user's system). According
+ to the license, you are even allowed to place the font on your site for
+ people to download it. We would strongly recommend, however, that you
+ direct users to our site to download the font. This ensures that they
+ are always using the most recent version with bug fixes, etc. To make
+ this easier, we've simplified the URL for Gentium:
+ http://scripts.sil.org/gentium
+
+Is Gentium going to stay free?
+
+ There is no intention to ever charge users for using Gentium. The
+ current version is licensed under a free/open license and future
+ versions will be similar.
+
+
+Modification
+============
+
+I would like to modify Gentium to add a couple of characters I need. Can I?
+
+ Yes - that is allowed as long as you abide by the conditions of the
+ SIL Open Font License.
+
+So will you add glyphs upon request?
+
+ If you have a special symbol that you need (say, for a particular
+ transcription system), the best means of doing so will be to ensure
+ that the symbol makes it into the Unicode Standard. It is impossible
+ for us to add every glyph that every person desires, but we do place
+ a high priority on adding pretty much anything that falls in certain
+ Unicode ranges (extended Latin, Greek, Cyrillic). You can send us your
+ requests, but please understand that we are unlikely to add symbols
+ where the user base is very small, unless they have been accepted
+ into Unicode.
+
+Can I send you work I've done to be incorporated into Gentium?
+
+ Yes! See the FONTLOG for information on becoming a contributor.
+
+
+Technical
+=========
+
+Can you help me get Gentium working on my system?
+
+ We cannot afford to offer individual technical support. The best
+ resource is this website, where we hope to offer some limited help.
+ However, we do want to hear of any problems you encounter, so that
+ we can add them to the list of bugs to fix in later releases.
+
+ Our contact address is <gentium AT sil DOT org>. Please understand
+ that we cannot guarantee a personal response.
+
+I can't find all the extended Latin letters in the font. How do I type them?
+
+ Gentium is Unicode-encoded, which means that the computer stores a
+ special, unique code for each letter in your document. Since most
+ keyboards do not have hundreds of keys, special software is needed
+ in order to type the hundreds of special characters supported by the
+ font.
+
+I can't find the 'o with right hook' in the font. Where is it?
+
+ Combinations of base letters with diacritics are often called
+ composite, or pre-composed glyphs. Gentium has hundreds of these
+ (the ones that are included in Unicode). There are, however, many
+ common combinations that are not represented by a single composite.
+ It is possible to enter these into a document, but only as
+ individual components. So 'o with right hook' would be entered as
+ 'o', then 'right hook'. Although this may not look very good in some
+ cases, we're not able to anticipate every possible combination.
+ Future versions of Gentium will include 'smart font' support for
+ technologies such as OpenType and SIL's Graphite. This will make
+ diacritic positioning much better. The Gentium Basic fonts do,
+ however, include limited support for both OpenType and Graphite,
+ and demonstrate the type of support that will eventually be provided.
+
+Some diacritics are not aligning well with base glyphs, and if I type more
+than one diacritic, they run into each other. Why is that?
+
+ Gentium currently has no 'smart font' code for automatic diacritic
+ positioning, but the Gentium Basic fonts do, and similar support will
+ appear in the main fonts in the near future.
+
+How do I type the Greek letters?
+
+ You need a Unicode-compatible keyboarding system, which is not
+ included in the distribution package.
+
+I'm having problems making PDFs -- why won't my document distill?
+
+ Gentium is a large font, with lots of glyphs. As a result, some
+ printers can balk at PDFs that have the complete font embedded. The
+ easiest way to avoid this is to have Acrobat/Distiller subset the
+ font. This is generally a good idea anyway (with any font) and can
+ reduce the size of your files.
+
+
+Basic
+=====
+
+How are the Basic fonts (Gentium Basic, Gentium Book Basic) different
+from Gentium?
+
+ These font families are based on the original Gentium design, but with
+ additional weights. Both families come with a complete regular, bold,
+ italic and bold italic set of fonts. The supported character set,
+ however, is much smaller than for the main Gentium fonts. These
+ 'Basic' fonts support only the Basic Latin and Latin-1 Supplement
+ Unicode ranges, plus a selection of the more commonly used extended
+ Latin characters, with miscellaneous diacritical marks, symbols and
+ punctuation. In particular, these fonts do not support full extended
+ Latin IPA, complete support for Central European languages, Greek and
+ Cyrillic.
+
+What is the Book weight?
+
+ It is a complete second font family that is slightly heavier overall,
+ and more useful for some purposes. The main Gentium family will
+ eventually have a complete matching Book weight, along with matching
+ italics.
+
+Why is the line spacing greater for the Basic fonts?
+
+ In some environments, stacked diacritics in Gentium could display as
+ 'chopped-off'. Gentium Basic has slightly wider default line spacing
+ in order to avoid this problem. Most applications do, however, let you
+ set the line spacing explicitly, so you can have the lines spaced
+ precisely as you wish.
+
+Will you be accepting requests for additions to the Basic character set?
+
+ No. We are now focusing our development efforts on the main Gentium
+ fonts, which already provide richer character set support.
+
+Is there an Alt version of the Basic fonts?
+
+ No, although you may notice that capitals and some tall lowercase
+ letters do use 'low-profile' versions.
+
+
+Future
+======
+
+Now that SIL International has taken over Gentium, who will be the next
+designer?
+
+ Victor Gaultney will remain as primary designer, but Annie Olsen, a
+ fellow type designer from the SIL Non-Roman Script Initiative, has
+ joined the project team. She is a former calligraphy teacher, and is
+ well suited for the task. Other members of the NRSI team will also
+ add their expertise in technical matters.
+
+Do you plan to include other typographic enhancements (small caps, old style
+figures, etc.)?
+
+ Those would be nice, wouldn't they? From a design point of view,
+ it would be great to have these refinements, and we haven't ruled
+ them out. But there are other needs that are much higher priority
+ (Bold, Cyrillic, etc.). If you think you could contribute some of
+ your time and effort to these enhancements, see the FONTLOG file for
+ information on becoming a contributor.
+
+What about bold?
+
+ The Gentium Basic fonts include Bold and Bold Italic versions. The
+ main Gentium fonts will also include them in the future.
+
+Sans-serif?
+
+ There is a definite need for a sans-serif font that shares some of
+ Gentium’s strengths -- high readability, economy of space, etc. It
+ would also be great if that font also harmonized well with Gentium.
+ We don't currently have any plans for a companion face, although one
+ of our other projects - Andika - may be useful. Andika is a sans-serif
+ font designed specifically for use in literacy programs around the
+ world, and is available from our web site.
+
+Will you be extending Gentium to cover other scripts, and Hebrew in
+particular?
+
+ It is very unlikely that we would do this, as there are so many
+ pressing needs in Latin, Greek and Cyrillic scripts. But you could
+ contribute to the project.
+
+When will Cyrillic be completed?
+
+ As soon as we can get it done, but it is still a few months away.
+
+I need a couple of ancient Greek glyphs, such as the digamma. When will
+those be ready?
+
+ These have already been designed and will be in the next main release.
+
+Will there be a Type 1 version? What about OpenType?
+
+ The next generation of Gentium will have OpenType, Graphite and AAT
+ support. We do not plan to produce Type 1 versions at this time, but
+ please write us if this is important (and tell us why). We are, however,
+ considering releasing a version in OT-CFF format, but it will not go
+ through the same careful testing as the standard OT/Graphite/AAT version. \ No newline at end of file