Components indicate their alignment status with a subtle color tint: green means auto-aligned
Apply graphic attributes to paths: stroke width, fill, mask, color, gradient, shadow and glow
Copy and paste attributes via the context menu
Fit Curve indicates current curvatures, allow incremental increase and decrease of all selected curvatures
Editing
Context menu items: Focus on Selected Paths, Clear Focus on Paths; for toggling exclusive editing of some paths
Context menu item: Locked; for preventing changes to the respective glyph, locked status is indicated in the top right corner
Lock and unlock paths via the context menu, locked paths indicate their status with a red node highlight on mouse-over
Context menu item: Sharpen Corner for continuing segments adjacent to the current node selection until they intersect
Glyph > Transform Metrics: allows to add relative changes equally on both LSB and RSB
Paths > Transformations: shifting, scaling, slanting of shapes
Paths > Interpolate with Background
Filter > Shape Order (formerly: Fix Compatibility)
Edit > Paste Special (Cmd-Opt-V) now allows pasting of copied glyphs as components
All editing commands are applied on all masters simultaneously if you press the Option key:
Glyph > Update Metrics (Ctrl-Cmd-M) + Opt: for All Masters
Glyph > Add Component (Cmd-Shift-C) + Opt: for All Masters
Glyph > Create Composite (Ctrl-Cmd-C) + Opt: for All Masters
Glyph > Decompose Components (Cmd-Shift-D) + Opt: for All Masters
Glyph > Set Anchors (Cmd-U) + Opt: for All Masters
Glyph > Reset Anchors (Cmd-Shift-U) + Opt: for All Masters
Paths > Correct Path Direction (Cmd-Shift-R) + Opt: for All Masters
Paths > Round Coordinates + Opt: for All Masters
Paths > Tidy Up Paths (Cmd-Shift-T) + Opt: for All Masters
Paths > Remove Overlap (Cmd-Shift-O) + Opt: for All Masters
context menu on an individual node: Make Node First + Opt: in All Masters
context menu on one or more nodes: Open Corner + Opt: in All Masters
context menu on one or more node pairs: Reconnect Nodes + Opt: in All Masters
Selecting
New tool: Lasso Select (Shift-V)
Hold down Ctrl to slant a selection rectangle you are dragging
Edit > Keep Layer Selections in Sync: keeps the selection the same across all compatible master layers
Multiple Masters and Layers
Improved Layers palette:
change a layer type via context menu to Alternate, Intermediate, Color, iColor, Color Palette. Then double click the layer name for settings if applicable
Reorder and filter layers directly in the Layers palette
Drop a backup layer on a master layer to swap them (equivalent to Use as Master Layer in the context menu)
Double click an Intermediate or Alternate Layer to access their settings
View > Show Compatibility (Ctrl-Opt-Cmd-N) allows you to drag start points on any of the displayed layers into a new location
Improved algorithm for automatically correcting path directions, resetting start points and reordering shape orders
Previewing
Edit > Text Preview: preview long texts in any instance with Apple’s CoreText
In the Preview area of the main window, simply click and drag to reposition the preview text
Color
Color layers: allow color fills and strokes, gradient fills, shadows and inner glows. Can be exported into an SVG table (but no support for shadows in the OT table) or any of the image formats PDF, SVG and PNG.
Color Palette layers can be exported as CPAL/COLR. Or to an SVG table with the Color Palette for SVG and Color Layers to SVG parameters.
iColor layers will export as sbix table in a font, or as bitmapped SVG with the SBIX to SVG custom parameter.
Filter > Glyph as Image controls image export settings for selected glyphs, and can export PDF, SVG and PNG.
View > Show Pixel Preview renders a pixelated preview directly in Edit View. Control pixel size in context menu.
Glyph Info category ‘Icon’ changes glyph metrics to image dimensions
Managing glyphs
Customize Languages glyph sets with the plus button next to the Languages header in the sidebar
From the search field at the top of the Font View sidebar, quickly filter glyphs by name or Unicode value or with a regular expression
Smart category ‘Small Caps’ can indicate which small-cap glyphs are missing, based on available glyphs
Glyph > Info for Selection: Glyph Info dialog can be accessed from Edit view too
From Edit View, navigate to the current glyph’s cell in Font View via the context menu command Show Glyph in Font View
Glyph Info now covers writing direction and sort name, and new property ‘Case’ for differentiating between Uppercase, Lowercase, Small Caps, Minor (small figures and letter), and N/A.
Glyphs with custom Glyph Info indicate their status with an ‘i’ icon in their Font View cell.
Font Info
The Font Info UI is now completely modular, inline-documented and localizable wherever possible
Localize an entry by duplicating it with its plus button and choosing a language from the pop-up menu; remove an entry by Opt-clicking the button.
Search and filter the custom parameter
Copying and pasting of properties and parameters between Font Info windows of different fonts. No need to focus on a section first, the entries will fall into the right place automatically.
Batch-edit multiple masters or instances after Shift- or Cmd-selecting their names in the sidebar.
Font Info > Masters > Metrics are pairs of height and zone size, or an italic angle. Metrics can be filtered by script or glyph category.
Font Info > Font > Exports: add Variable Font Settings for parameters that apply to the whole variable font.
OpenType Features
Completely house-made feature compilation, we have dropped Adobe MakeOTF for generating binaries.
UI improvements: improved syntax coloring, changing font size with Cmd-plus/minus, autocompletion of class and glyph names.
Customizable code snippet menu.
Live code verification checks for errors as you type, can suggest corrections. Issues are marked in-line in the feature code and in the feature list in the sidebar.
Spec button in each feature takes you to the official documentation.
Adding a feature gives you a searchable list of all registered features to choose from.
Add dynamic code with tokens:
number values are defined and named in Font Info > Masters, can be inserted with a prefixed dollar sign in the feature code: $numberName
number values can be used for calculations with curly braces: ${numberName2}
predicate tokens produce a list of glyph names for which the predicate applies; write an NSPredicate between square brackets: $[name like “.sc”]
Opt-click on a glyph or class name or a predicate token to preview its glyph scope.
Contextual mark attachment anchors: duplicate an attachment anchor with a prefixed asterisk and an optional arbitrary dot suffix to invoke the Anchor Context UI (Cmd-Shift-I) at the bottom of the Palette sidebar. Type the OT feature context with * as placeholder for the current glyph, e.g., “* @tall” for a conditional anchor position that is invoked whenever the glyph is followed by glyphs from the @tall class.
Feature code preprocessor macros: add feature code for variable fonts only by enclosing it between “#ifdef VARIABLE” and “#endif”, or for static fonts only by using #ifndef instead of #ifdef.
Add OTVar conditions by using the condition keyword, followed by any number of comma-separated lowvalue < tag < highvalue structures, followed by a semicolon. Code that follows will only be added if the condition is met. Exports as feature variations in OTVars. E.g., condition 600 < wght < 900, 70 < wdth < 90;
Extending
The Glyphs Python API requires Python 3.
Install plug-ins, scripts, Python 3 and modules via the Plugin Manager. Filter by name and installation status (installed/uninstalled).
Add custom extension collections by supplying a custom package list URL in Glyphs > Preferences > Addons.
Exporting
File > Export UI completely overhauled: exports for static fonts (including both desktop and webfonts), variable fonts, Metrics, UFO, and SFSymbols.
Static font export allows direct test installation in memory without cache problems. An app may need to restart to force-rebuild its font menu if the font is test-installed the first time.
File > Export All (Cmd-Opt-E): hold down Opt to batch-export all open fonts with the most recent export settings.
New file format .glyphsPackage, equivalent to .glyphs, but data split in many separate files to facilitate subversioning (git, svn).
App Preferences
Customize all colors, for both Light and Dark Mode