UI

The main application menu shows items which apply to the app as a whole:

Each menu reveals a submenu with options (see below).

Several menu items have a corresponding keyboard shortcut.

Additional menu items can be added by extensions and custom tools.

In RoboFont 1.8.4+, the version number is appended to the application name – this makes it easer to differentiate the two versions of RoboFont when they are both open at the same time.

RoboFont

key item description
About RoboFont Open the About Window.
Preferences… Open the Preferences Window.
Preferences Editor… Open the Preferences Editor.
License… Open the License Window.
Check for Updates… Check if a more recent version of RoboFont is available.
Services ▸

Standard macOS menu to let users access functionality from one app in another.

see Services

Hide RoboFont Hide RoboFont and all its windows, and activate the most recently used app.
Hide Other Hide all other open apps and their windows.
Show All Show all other open apps and their windows behind RoboFont’s windows.
Quit RoboFont Quit the application.
Quit and Keep Windows Quit the application. The windows that were open will be restored the next time you open RoboFont.

File

key item description
New Create a new font.
Open… Open an existing document. Supported document types include fonts (.ufo, .otf, .ttf), Python scripts (.py), feature files (.fea), etc.
Open Recent Open a recently edited document. The submenu shows a list of recently opened files.
Save Save the current document.
Save As… Save the current document under another name.
Save All Save all open documents.
Save All Fonts Save all edited font documents.
Close Close the current document.
Close All Close all open documents.
Revert to Saved Revert the current font to its last saved version.
Generate Font Generate a binary font for the current font.
Test Install Generate and install a test version of the current font. See Using Test Install
Features
New Feature Create a stand-alone features document.
Export Feature Export the font’s features to an external .fea file.

Edit

key item description
Undo Undo the last action.
Redo Redo the last action.
Cut Cut the current selection to the clipboard.
Copy Copy the current selection to the clipboard.
Copy As Component Copy the selected glyph to the clipboard as a component.
Paste Paste the clipboard contents into the current document.
Paste Special Paste the glyph object along with its width.
Paste in Layer Paste the clipboard contents into a specific layer.
Paste and Match Style Paste the clipboard contents into the current document without formatting.
Delete Delete the current selection.
Select All Contours Select all contours in glyph.
Select All Select all objects (contours, anchors, components) in glyph.
Select All Components Select all components in glyph.
Deselect Deselect the current selection.
Transform Again Apply the last transformation again.

The remaining menu items (Find, Spelling, Speech etc) are standard Edit menu items available in all macOS applications.

Font

key item description
Add Glyphs Show the Add Glyphs sheet.
Font Info Show the Font Info sheet.
Sort Show the Sort Glyphs sheet.

Glyph

key item description
⌘) Next Glyph Display the next glyph in the selected set.
⌘( Previous Glyph Display the previous glyph in the selected set.
⌘1 Editing Tool Selects the Editing Tool.
⌘2 Drawing Tool Selects the Bezier Tool.
⌘3 Slice Tool Selects the Slice Tool.
⌘4 Measurement Tool Selects the Measurement Tool.
⌘ T Transform

Set the current selection in Transform mode.

  • if there is no selection, the whole glyph will be in in Transform mode
  • if a tool does not support transformations, it will not be usable
Lock Guides Locks the Guidelines.
Lock Sidebearings Locks the left and right margins.
Lock Images Locks the Images.
Layers
Layer Up Jump to next Layer (up).
Layer Down Jump to previous Layer (down).
New Layer Create a new Layer.

Python

key item description
Scripting Window Open a Scripting Window.
Output Window Open the Output Window.
Show Log File Show the Log File in Finder.
Run Execute script in the Scripting Window.
Indent Indent selected code.
Dedent Dedent selected code.
Comment Comment selected code.
Uncomment Uncomment selected code.
Word wrap Wrap words (reflow text in window).
Jump to Line Jump to a given line number.
Jump to Definition Jump to definition match.
Jump Back Jump back to previous definition match.
Extension Builder Open the Extension Builder.

Extensions

The menu will show a list of tools installed by Extensions.

Not all extensions create an entry in the Extensions menu. For example, some extensions only add a tool to the Glyph Editor.

Scripts

The menu will show a list of all .py files in the default script folder.

The Scripts menu is available in RoboFont 3 only. In RoboFont 1, scripts are listed at the bottom of the Extensions menu.

Window

key item description
Inspector Show/hide the Inspector panel.
Show Previous Tab Show the previous tab in a tab-based window.
Show Next Tab Show the next tab in a tab-based window.
Move Tab to New Window Open the current tab in a new window.
Merge All Windows Combine all open windows in a single tabbed window.
Space Center Open the Space Center.
New Space Center Open an extra Space Center.
View
Toggle Smart Find Show/hide the Search Glyphs panel.
Toggle Smart Sets Show/hide the Smart Sets panel.
Toggle Font Overview Show/hide the Font Overview window.
available only in Single Window mode
Toggle Path Browser Show/hide the path browser in a Scripting Window.
Minimize Minimize the active window to the Dock.
Minimize All Minimize all open windows to the Dock.
Enter Full Screen

Opens the window at full-screen size in a new space.

see Full-Screen Mode

Zoom In Increase the zoom level.
Zoom Out Decrease the zoom level.
Zoom To Fit Zoom the current glyph to fit the Glyph View.
available only in the Glyph Editor
Bring All to Front Bring all of the app’s open windows to the front, maintaining their onscreen location, size, and layering order.
Arrange in Front Bring all of the app’s open windows to the front, and tile them neatly.
Last edited on 01/09/2021