A composite glyph is built from references to other glyphs rather than from its own contours. The most common use is accented characters — composing “á” from a base “a” plus an acute mark — but composites work for any glyph that can be assembled from existing parts.
References are live. Changing a source glyph updates every composite that references it. Composites are part of the TrueType outline format and are decomposed automatically on export to CFF-based outlines.
A glyph can also mix contours and components in a single outline. Such a hybrid is converted to a simple glyph on export, as the OpenType font format does not support mixed-content outlines.
Note: most Latin-based composites can be generated through the Complete Composites feature.
Creating a Composite
Open an empty glyph in the Glyph panel, then either choose Insert Component from the Glyph menu, or copy glyphs from the Font panel and paste them into the empty Glyph panel.
Positioning Members
Drag a member to reposition it. Hold Shift to constrain the move to horizontal or vertical; hold Alt to bypass snap-to-grid and snap-to-guidelines.
Transforming Members
For scaling, rotation, or skewing, use the Transform panel.
Duplicating Members
Hold Ctrl while dragging the selection to duplicate it. Combine with Shift for axis-locked duplication, or with Alt to bypass snap. Any combination is allowed.
Replacing a Member
Right-click a member and choose Replace Component to swap it for a different glyph.
Turning Contours into a Component
Select one or more contours, right-click and choose Turn into Component. The contours are moved to a new glyph with the name you enter, and the selection is replaced by a component that references it. This is the quickest way to make a shared part out of a shape you already drew.
Opening a Member
Right-click a member and choose Jump to Component to edit the referenced glyph in this Glyph panel, or Open in New Window to open it in a panel of its own. Add Components to Text adds every member of the composite to the text line of the Text Tool, so you can see the parts next to the whole.
Converting to a Simple Glyph
To bake the composite into outlines, select the glyph and choose Glyph → Decompose → Components from the main menu. To convert only specific selected members, right-click and choose Decompose Components.
Joining Intersecting Members
If members overlap (such as C with cedilla), Get Union of Contours on the Glyph toolbar bakes the composite into a single simple glyph with the overlapping geometry merged.
