letterpress > monotype > monotype software features

monotype software features

Created by hww3. Last updated by hww3, 3 years ago. Version #8.

The following list of features is not complete, but should give an idea of the level of development of the software component of the caster interface.

Caster Controller

• easy to use graphical interface
• support for manually enabling air codes (such as for testing or casting sorts)
• sample screenshot: /space/letterpress/monotype+adventures/screenshot2.png

Ribbon Generator

• support for italic, small cap, etc alphabets
• automatic calculation of justification codes
• can calculate ragged left, ragged right and centered justification on a per-paragraph basis
• fixed spaces can be added at any point
• support for quadding a line
• letterspacing support
• hyphenation support (us english dictionary available currently) with a preference to avoid hyphenating twice in a certain number of lines (all settings will be made configurable)
• support for automatically detecting and using ligatures in the matcase in a job. this can be disabled completely for a job, and can also be disabled for a ligature sort by marking it as non-automatic in the MCA
• when quadding, narrow fixed spaces are placed as far from the end of the line as possible, in order to prevent sorts from toppling over
• when quadding, en and em quads are alternated in order to minimize line length errors caused by worn wedges
• Sorts can be adjusted using whatever mechanisms are available on a give caster: wedge adjustment, unit adding, unit spacing. The generator will use the most efficient means available to create sorts of the desired width (within the physical limitations of the equipment).
• ribbons for generating fonts can be generated for any desired font strength, based on a given sort ratio table
• a number of "stupid caster tricks" are available, such as tables, multiple columns per delivered line and flowing text into a given shape, with varying levels of success
• a "soft proof" is generated showing proposed text layout and sort/space widths
• job settings can be saved for use later

TO DO

• add ability to specify ribbon in a text box rather than a file, such as for quick jobs. (COMPLETE)
• option to choose minimum justification setting (COMPLETE)
• when adding fixed unit spacing, make up larger spaces from smaller if exact space not available. (COMPLETE)
• option to select hyphenation language (COMPLETE, includes english, german, dutch and french)
• add list of MCA problems (duplicate mats, etc) and make it possible to highlight the problems (IN PROGRESS)
• header and footer support (COMPLETE)
• add non-standard line breaks for use in generating font ribbons (COMPLETE)
• add manual pin control with cycle sensor override (COMPLETE)
• add cycle sensor indicator in caster controller application (COMPLETE)
• add "jump to line" feature in caster controller (COMPLETE)
• figure out why dojo doesn't always load, requiring a refresh of the page (COMPLETE)
• allow drag and drop in matcase between elements (COMPLETE)
• recognize when a matrix has been removed from a matcase, and add it to the "not in matcase" list (COMPLETE)
• make "not in matcase" list configurable (COMPLETE)
• display markup help when entering text via text box (COMPLETE)
• add ability to select override settings for a given row (minimum spacing, hyphenation, etc)

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