You'll need: FontCreator (Windows and macOS), and a font with some glyphs already drawn.

The Glyph Transformer in this font editor lets you batch transform — bulk edit glyphs — turning existing glyphs into new glyphs or new font styles automatically: small capitals, oblique versions, old-style figures, accents, fractions and much more. It runs a small script of transformation steps over the glyphs you select, so jobs that would take hours by hand take seconds. This tutorial covers how the transformer works in general, then walks two of the most useful transformations in depth. The full catalogue of predefined scripts is large; a complete reference is linked at the end.

How the Glyph Transformer batch-edits glyphs

1. Select one or more glyphs in the Font overview (or open a single glyph — run in the glyph edit window, a script affects only that glyph).
2. Open Tools → Glyph Transformer….
3. Click the folder icon to load one of the predefined scripts, or build your own by adding features from the panel on the left and saving the script for reuse.
4. Run it. If the result isn't quite right, undo and try again with different values — transformations are undoable.

A script is just an ordered list of steps — for example Scale, then Bold, then Move, then Optimize. Scripts are plain-text XML; you can edit them in the dialog or a text editor, and save your own.

Tip: When a step inserts glyphs or characters, click Validate to check the names/codepoints and count how many will be inserted.

Note: FontCreator ships its predefined scripts and data files (e.g. CompositeData.xml) with the program. In Options → Advanced, under Data Files, click Copy Data Files to User Data Folder to get editable copies, and leave the originals untouched. (Restart FontCreator after editing the copies.)

In depth 1 — Small Capitals

Small capitals are capital-shaped letters at roughly the height of the lowercase. You can use them to make a dedicated small-caps font (replacing the lowercase) or, better, to generate the glyphs for the OpenType smcp feature.

For a dedicated small-caps font:

1. Copy the capital letters to the lowercase positions and select them.
2. Run the Small Capitals script. It scales the capitals to about 75% and adds a small Bold step to compensate for the weight lost in scaling, then nudges them into place and optimizes:

`` Scale (75.00, 78.00) (0, 0) Bold (20,12) preserve bearings Move (0,12) Optimize ``

1. Fix what the bold step over-thickens. The Bold step thickens thin strokes and serifs by the same amount as the thick stems, so afterwards you'll usually tidy a few glyphs: select the affected nodes with the lasso and nudge them back with the cursor keys. Watch for the occasional intersecting node (e.g. on A) — zoom in and move or delete it.

To generate small caps for the OpenType feature instead, use the Unmapped Latin Small Capitals (or Petite Capitals) script, which inserts correctly named .smcp glyphs and composes the accented ones. Consider adding case-sensitive (.case) or narrow (.narrow) accents to suit the smaller letters.

In depth 2 — Italic / Oblique

The italic transformation produces an oblique (slanted) version of a font — not a true italic, which needs cursive lowercase designs. Uppercase letters and figures usually look fine slanted; some symbols and the .notdef look better left upright.

1. If the font is a handwritten script, set Font → Properties → PANOSE → Family Kind to Latin Hand Written first; otherwise it's treated as Latin Text.
2. Run the Italic script:

`` Italic 11.00 deg, update Left Side Bearing Point at x=0 Optimize ``

1. The slant introduces a lot of off-curve extreme points; the Optimize step removes them automatically. Fix any remaining errors by hand.

Note: The script only changes the font's style to italic if "Set font subfamily and font design to italic" is checked. For a handwritten script you usually leave it unchecked, so the glyphs slant but the style stays Regular. When you're happy, use File → Save As… and give the oblique a new filename.

Many more transformations

The predefined scripts also cover, among others: old-style figures, titling capitals, bold / weight changes (with Panose weight-ratio guidance), condensed/thin, super- and subscripts, language ranges (Eastern Europe, Greek, Vietnamese stacking diacritics), discretionary ligatures, stacking/alternative fractions, ordinals, outline/hollow, rotate / mirror / skew / position, and selecting glyphs by name or codepoint for tagging (Override Range). Each is a starting point — run it, then refine by hand and save your tuned script.

For the complete catalogue with every script listing, see the downloadable reference: Using Glyph Transformations (PDF).

Tips

• Undo and retry. Different fonts need different scale/bold/thin values — undo and adjust until it looks right.
• Optimize first. Fewer nodes are easier to edit; optimizing before a transform helps.
• Preview before committing to the whole font — run on one glyph, check it, then apply to the set.

Frequently asked questions

How do I create a small caps font? Copy the capital letters to the lowercase positions, select them, and run the Small Capitals script — it scales the capitals to about 75%, adds a small Bold step to restore weight, and nudges them into place. Alternatively, use the Unmapped Latin Small Capitals script to generate correctly named glyphs for the OpenType smcp feature.

What's the difference between oblique and italic? An oblique is simply a slanted version of the upright letters, which the Italic script produces by skewing the glyphs. A true italic uses redrawn, cursive lowercase designs, so the transformer makes an oblique rather than a genuine italic.

Can I edit many glyphs at once? Yes — that's the point of the Glyph Transformer. Select any number of glyphs in the Font overview and the script runs over all of them in seconds, so you can bulk edit glyphs instead of changing each one by hand.

What to read next

• Accents, Anchors & Complete Composites — many transform scripts build on Complete Composites.
• Glyph Name Convention — transforms rely on correct, predictable glyph names.
• Smart Components and Path Decorations — modern, non-destructive alternatives for some reusable details.