Boldface version of Nirnay Sagar Press font: Work in progress

[Nityanand Misra]

Namaste

I have started an effort (the Herculean effort, rather) to create the boldface version of Nirnay Sagar Press’s classic Devanagari font which was used in most of their Sanskrit groups. The normal version of the font is already available as Sanskrit 2003.

The lack of a boldface version is the only roadblock (a frustrating one at that) in recreating the magical Nirnay Sagar Press reading experience. The bold option in Word (or Autofakebolding in LaTeX) works, but is not the same thing as having a boldface – a boldface version of a font has different, though similar, glyphs.

Given the number of conjuncts (several hundreds), I do not know how many months (or years) it will take to complete. For that matter, I don't even know if this would be ever complete. I have so far created around 40 glyphs. I am attaching an image juxtaposing the typeset boldface glyphs with those of Sanskrit 2003 font.

Please provide your inputs on improving the visual appearance and quality of the glyphs:

1. How the boldface glyphs look
2. How the contrast with normal weight looks
3. Changes to shapes (for both boldface and normal weight) that will make the glyphs look better
4. Would ध and भ look better with the circle (as in modern fonts) or without it

Tools used (all open/free software, tutorial will come after font completion)

• The GIMP: Image processing (lines, ellipses, the wonderful Bézier curves, derivative matching, and a lot more - there is more math to graphic designing than I thought)
  
• Inkscape: Glyph creation
• Cygwin: Automation (using shell scripts)
• Python: Font creation (using FontForge library)
• XeLaTeX: Typesetting

Thanks, Nityānanda

--

Nityānanda Miśra
http://nmisra.googlepages.com

[Nityanand Misra]

On Sunday, November 23, 2014 8:05:18 PM UTC+5:30, Nityanand Misra wrote:

Nirnay Sagar Press’s classic Devanagari font which was used in most of their Sanskrit groups

Please read that as "most of their Sanskrit books"

[Mārcis Gasūns]

Namaste, Nityānanda

  Brave you are. It took Mihas three years to make Siddhanta. So in your case it should not be a one month effort as well. There is no bigger devanagari font for Sanskrit than Siddhanta and it was all drawn with http://www.microsoft.com/typography/VOLT.mspx and I do have a backup of the source files with the hinting. It's not only about the glyphs. You'll master them till 2020, that's for sure. It's about the hynting magic and there is only one person alive, who has done it before. And the Devanagari masters say only VOLT can handle it.

  I asked if Mihas would make a bold version of Siddhanata last autumn in Moscow. He said not, because it's years and years to develop one. So yes, it's a huge task and I must say I bow to your efforts. It's good that you do not know too much of the prehistory of modern devanagari fonts and you have enough courage to start this long journey.

  As an author of two devanagari replicas myself, I salute you.

M.

[dhaval]

Aside from point under discussion - all I can say is that I love Siddhanta font.
Great glyphs.

[Mārcis Gasūns]

Indesign works with devanagari (badly, but works), you just have to turn it on for the needed paragraph style. See http://helpx.adobe.com/mena/using/arabic-hebrew.html

On Sunday, 30 November 2014 17:04:04 UTC+3, Hari Parshad Das wrote:

 (Adobe Indesign) still does not support any devanāgarī script. Many of Adobe's programmers are Indian born, and its a shame to see that we still have to use third-party scripts to type devanāgarī in Adobe Indesign.

[Nityanand Misra]

Namaste

Update on the font design: I have been successful in making progress on the most crucial part of Devanagari font design - ligature substitutions using GSUB tables.

http://fontforge.github.io/gposgsub.html

I have not used VOLT at all and all has been done using the same free software packages I mentioned before (GIMP, Inkscape, Cygwin, Python with FontForge). Going by my reading of the FontForge library, I doubt if I would ever need to use VOLT.

I have had offline discussions with several people and would like to clarify the following

1. The font being designed is indeed a Unicode font. 
2. The goal is not to have a boldface version of Sanskrit 2003 font. Sanskrit 2003 makes departures from Nirnay Sagar Press typography at several places. The goal is rather to digitize the boldface version of Nirnay Sagar Press typography.
   
3. The glyphs being used are from the boldface font of NSP books. Specifically I am using the following books by NSP: Amarakośa with Vyākhyāsudhā, Rāvaṇārjunīyam and Stavamālā.
   
4. I am open to feedback on glyphs on this list and in fact, prefer that to feedback off the list. After all, the font is for lovers of Sanskrit books, and so if the readers do not like a glyph, I have to change it! However, a public discussion helps as regarding some aspects of glyphs, different readers may have different preferences. Hence a public discussion helps to guage if some suggested improvements will be welcome unanimously by everybody, or if some people would prefer the glyph to stay as it is.
   
5. The effort is not a half-measure, and the end goal will be a fully functional font, no matter how long it takes.

With this, I attach a small sample of the font (Niramaya20141206.ttf). The attached file supports the following glyphs only
Consonant: त
Mātrā-s: आ, इ, उ, ऊ, ऋ
Modifiers: Anusvāra, Anunāsika, Visarga

A PDF file with a grid superimposed is attached. The XeLaTeX code for the file is below. I have to make changes to Anunāsika sign which is currently fusing with the इ Mātrā. The below signs (उ, ऊ, and ऋ Mātrā-s) do not fuse (see the last line in the PDF).

Welcome your suggestions and feedback. It is a font for you all, so please let me know how you want to have it. :)

Nityānanda

\documentclass{book}
\usepackage{pagegrid}
\usepackage[margin=2.5cm]{geometry}
\usepackage{polyglossia}
\setmainlanguage{hindi}
\setmainfont[Script=Devanagari]{Niramaya20141206}
\newfontfamily\devanagarifont[Script=Devanagari]{Niramaya20141206}
\begin{document}
\fontsize{60}{75}\selectfont
\noindent ततततः\\ ततंतँतः\\ तातांताँताः\\ तितिंतिँतिः\\ तुतुंतुँतुः\\ तूतूंतूँतूः\\ तृतृंतृँतृः\\ तृतुतूतु
\end{document}

[Purnavallabh Swami Gujarat (Gurukul kandari)]

jay swaminaryan... Very good effort, its demand of time.... congratulation for doing this work to your team..

On Sunday, November 23, 2014 8:05:18 PM UTC+5:30, Nityanand Misra wrote:

[Nagaraj Paturi]

Swamiji,

 

It is not a team effort. It is one man army called Sri Nityanandji.

 

Vidwan Marcis Granus rightly said, this is an effort that even teams dear not to take up so easily.

 

Certainly a great work.

--
निराशीर्निर्ममो भूत्वा युध्यस्व विगतज्वरः।। (भ.गी.)
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "भारतीयविद्वत्परिषत्" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to bvparishat+...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to bvpar...@googlegroups.com.
Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/bvparishat.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

--

Prof.Nagaraj Paturi

Hyderabad-500044

[Nagaraj Paturi]

When I shared the previous post of AadaraNIya Nityanandji  on this topicwith my friend Prof. Vinod Vidwans, who is a typography expert , he replied as follows:

 

I myself developed a Sharada multilingual word processor in 1998-99 that works on Windows XP but now it is not suitable for later versions. I also developed a Devanagari font for the word processor. So it is interesting to see people are working in these `not so commercially attractive fields".

--

Prof.Nagaraj Paturi

Hyderabad-500044

[Mārcis Gasūns]

https://www.google.com/get/noto/pkgs/NotoSansDevanagari-hinted.zip

https://www.google.com/get/noto/#/ 

First devanagari unicode font with regular and bold I'm aware of. 

[Nityanand Misra]

There is also ITG Devanagari developed by the Indian Type Foundry in Ahmedabad. It has five styles with varying thickness.

You can check out all the available glyphs on this page (click on glyphs)
http://www.indiantypefoundry.com/fonts/indian-type-foundry/itf-devanagari/



 

[Mārcis Gasūns]

Yeah, thanks, I'm in contact with these guys - but the price is high indeed. Today I'm sending an article to the publisher and I remembered my old article about history of devanagari, might be of interest http://samskrtam.ru/gasuns-nagari-europe/

[Nityanand Misra]

Agree, the price is high. But then again, typography is a business where there is big money.

I know of two free Unicode Devanagari fonts developed by CDAC which have boldface versions - CDAC GIST Surekh and CDAC GIST Yogesh.

http://salrc.uchicago.edu/resources/fonts/available/hindi/surekh.shtml
http://salrc.uchicago.edu/resources/fonts/available/hindi/yogesh.shtml

Quite a few conjuncts too. Please see attached sample typesets.

I still prefer APS DV Stardust, which has fewer conjuncts but has both and italic and boldface version, and is quite artistic.

[yajva]

Namaste

You may be aware of the development of lot of Devanagri fonts initiated by Google. Developed by professionals, most are under development. You can find the discussions, links and previews here.

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/googlefontdirectory-discuss

Many have Regular, Italics, Bold, and Bold Italics. Noteworthy are Vesper libre Devanagari and Alegreya Devanagari

Regards
Venkatesh

[Mārcis Gasūns]

Please attach the source files of .pdfs or a txt extract of it as well.

On Wednesday, 14 January 2015 04:52:34 UTC+3, Nityanand Misra wrote:

Agree, the price is high. But then again, typography is a business where there is big money.

Maybe, maybe not.

 

I know of two free Unicode Devanagari fonts developed by CDAC which have boldface versions - CDAC GIST Surekh and CDAC GIST Yogesh.

http://salrc.uchicago.edu/resources/fonts/available/hindi/surekh.shtml
http://salrc.uchicago.edu/resources/fonts/available/hindi/yogesh.shtml

Yogesh and Surekh unicode? That's new to me, let me see.

 

Quite a few conjuncts too. Please see attached sample typesets.

I wonder what would be if I test it on my ligature list.

rtsny

ktry

ktvy

kṣṇy

kṣmy

kstr

gdvy

gdhry

ṅkty

ṅktr

ṅktv

ṅkṣṇ

ṅkṣm

ṅkṣy

ṅkṣv

ṅgdhy

ṅgdhv

ṅghry

tkṣm

tkṣv

ttry

tstr

tsthy

tspr

tsphy

ddvy

nttv

ntry

ntvy

ntst

ntsth

ntsn

ntsp

ntsy

ntsr

ntsv

nddhy

nddhv

ndry

ndvy

ndhry

nstr

nsphy

ptry

psny

rkṣṇ

rkṣy

rksv

rṅgy

rjmy

rttr

rtny

rtry

rtvy

rtsn

rtsy

rddhy

rdry

rdvy

rdhny

rśvy

rṣṭy

rṣṇy

lgvy

ṣṭry

stry

sthny

kkr

kkl

kkv

kkṣ

kty

ktr

ktv

kthn

kthy

kny,kpr

kpl

kmy

kry

kly

kśm

kśr

kśl

kśv

kṣṇ

kṣm

kṣy

kṣr

kṣv

kst

ksth

ksn

ksp

ksph

ksm

ksy

ksr

ksv

ggr

gghy

gghr

gjñ

gjy

gjv

gdy

gdr

gdv

gdhy

gdhr

gdhv

gny

gbr

gbhy

gbhr

gmy

gry

grv

gvy

gvr

ghny

ghry

ghvy

ṅkt

ṅkth

ṅky

ṅkr

ṅkl

ṅkv

ṅkṣ

ṅks

ṅkhy

ṅgdh

ṅgy

ṅgr

ṅgv

ṅghn

ṅghy

ṅghr

ṅtr

ṅtv

ṅdhy

ṅny

ṅnr

ṅpr

ṅvy

ṅvr

ṅsv

ccy

cchm

cchy

cchr

cchl

cchv

cñy

jjñ

jjy

jjv

jjhy

jñy

jñv

jmy

jry

jvy

ñcm

ñcy

ñcv

ñchn

ñchy

ñchr

ñchl

ñchv

ñjñ

ñjm

ñjy

ñjv

ñśm

ñśy

ñśr

ñśl

ñśv

ṭkr

ṭkṣ

ṭṭy

ṭtr

ṭtv

ṭpr

ṭśr

ṭśl

ṭst

ṭsth

ṭsn

ṭsp

ṭsv

ḍgy

ḍgr

ḍghr

ḍjñ

ḍjy

ḍḍhy

ḍḍhv

ḍdv

ḍbr

ḍbhy

ḍbhr

ḍvy

ṇṭy

ṇṭhy

ṇḍḍh

ṇḍy

ṇḍr

ṇḍv

ṇḍhy

ṇḍhr

ṇvy

tky

tkr

tkl

tkv

tkṣ

tkhy

ttn

ttm

tty

ttr

ttv

tts

tthy

tny

tnv

tpr

tpl

tmy

tyv

try

trv

tvy

tsk tskh

tst

tsth

tsn

tsp

tsph

tsm

tsy

tsr

tsv

thny

thvy

dgr

dgl

dghn

dghr

ddy

ddr

ddv

ddhm

ddhy

ddhr

ddhv

dbr

dbhy

dbhr

dbhv

dmy

dry

drv

dvy

dvr

dhny

dhry

dhvy

dhvr

nkr

nkl

nkv

nkṣ

nkhy

ngr

ngl

nghn

nghr

ntt

ntth

ntm

nty

ntr

ntv

nts

nthy

nddh

ndm

ndy

ndr

ndv

ndhm

ndhy

ndhr

ndhv

nny

nnv

npr

npl

nps

nbr

nbhr

nmy

nmr

nml

nyv

nvy

nvr

nsk

nskh

nst

nsth

nsn

nsp

nsph

nsm

nsy

nsr

nsv

nhy

nhr

nhv

pkṣ

pty

ptr

ptv

pny

ppr

pry

pśy

psn

psy

psv

bgr

bjy

bdy

bdhy

bdhv bbr

bbhy

bvy

bhry

bhrv

bhvy

mny

mpy

mpr

mpl

mps

mby

mbr

mbv

mbhy

mbhr

mmy

mmr

mml

mry

rkc

rkt

rkth

rkp

rky

rkṣ

rks

rkhy

rgg

rggh

rgj

rgbh

rgy

rgr

rgl

rgv

rghn

rghy

rghr

rṅkh

rṅg

rcch

rcy

rjñ

rjm

rjy

rjv

rñj

rḍy

rḍhy

rṇṇ

rṇy

rṇv

rtt

rtn

rtm

rty

rtr

rtv

rts

rthy

rddh

rdm

rdy

rdr

rdv

rdhn

rdhm

rdhy

rdhr

rdhv

rny

rnv

rpy

rbr

rbhy

rbhr

rbhv

rmy

rmr

rml

ryy

rvy

rvr

rvl

rśm

rśy

rśv

rṣṭ

rṣṭh

rṣṇ

rṣm

rṣy

rṣv

rsr

rsv

rhy

rhr

rhl

rhv

lky

lgv

lpy

lby

lbhy

lly

lvy

lhy

vny

ścy

śny

śmy

śry

śrv

śvy

ṣky

ṣkr

ṣkl

ṣkv

ṣkṣ

ṣṭy

ṣṭr

ṣṭv

ṣṭhy

ṣṭhv

ṣṇy

ṣṇv

ṣpy

ṣpr

ṣpl

ṣmy

skr

stm

sty

str

stv

sts

sthn

sthy

sny

spr

sphy

smy

sry

svy

ssy

ssv

hny

hmy

hvy

kk

kkh

kc

kch

kṇkt

kth

kn

kp

kph

km

ky

kr

kl

kv

kś

kṣ

ks

kh

kh

kh

nk

hy

khv

gg

ggh

gj

gḍ

gṇ

gd

gdh

gn

gb

gbh

gm

gy

gr

gl

gv

ghn

ghm

ghy

ghr

ghv

ṅk

ṅkh

ṅg

ṅgh

ṅṅ

ṅc

ṅj

ṅt

ṅd

ṅdh

ṅn

ṅp

ṅbh

ṅm

ṅy

ṅr

ṅv

ṅś

ṅs

ṅh

cc

cch

cñ

cm

cy

cr

cv

chy

jj

jjh

jñ

jm

jy

jr

jv

jh

jhñ

cñ

ch

ñj

ñjh

ñś

ṭk

ṭkh

ṭc

ṭch

ṭṭ

ṭṇ

ṭt

ṭp

ṭph

ṭm

ṭy

ṭv

ṭś

ṭṣ

ṭs

ṭhy

ḍg

ḍgh

ḍj

ḍḍ

ḍḍh

ḍd

ḍdh

ḍb

ḍbh

ḍm

ḍy

ḍr

ḍl

ḍv

ḍhy

ḍhr

ḍhv

ṇṭ

ṇṭh

ṇḍ

ṇḍh

ṇṇ

ṇn

ṇm

ṇy

ṇv

tk

tkh

tt

tth

tn

tp

tph

tm

ty

tr

tv

tṣ

ts

thn

thy

thr

thv

dg

dgh

dd

ddh

dn

db

dbh

dm

dy

dr

dv

dhn

dhm

dhy

dhr

dhv

nkn

khn

gn

ghn

tn

thn

dn

dhn

nn

pn

phn

bn

bhn

mn

yn

rn

vn

ṣn

snh

pk

pkh

pc

pch

pṭ

pṇ

pt

pn

pp

pph

pm

py

pr

pl

pv

pś

ps

bg

bj

bd

bdh

bb

bbh

by

br

bl

bv

bhṇ

bhn

bhm

bhy

bhr

bhl

bhv

mṇ

mn

mp

mph

mb

mbh

mm

my

mr

ml

mv

yy

yv

rk

rk

hr

gr

gh

rc

rch

rj

rj

hr

ṭr

ḍr

ḍh

rṇ

rt

rth

rd

rdh

rn

rp

rph

rb

rbh

rm

ry

rl

rv

rś

rṣ

rs

rh

lk

lg

ld

lp

lph

lb

lbh

lm

ly

ll

lv

lś

lh

vṇ

vn

vy

vr

vl

śc

śch

śn

śp

śm

śy

śr

śl

śv

śś

ṣk

ṣkh

ṣṭ

ṣṭh

ṣṇ

ṣp

ṣph

ṣm

ṣy

ṣr

ṣv

ṣṣ

sk

skh

st

sth

sn

sp

sph

sm

sy

sr

sv

ss

hṇ

hn

hm

hy

hr

hl

hv

[Mārcis Gasūns]

On Wednesday, 14 January 2015 04:52:34 UTC+3, Nityanand Misra wrote:

Agree, the price is high. But then again, typography is a business where there is big money.

No big money in India.

 

Any updates?