Using bundled & TTF fonts

Octostitch lettering can come from three kinds of font source:

• Bundled fonts that ship with the app.
• TrueType (.ttf) fonts you load from your computer.
• .octofont satin fonts — purpose-built embroidery fonts (see Creating .octofont fonts).

Bundled fonts

Octostitch ships with fonts of both kinds, all available without loading anything.

Satin .octofont fonts — purpose-built for embroidery, so they letter as satin columns with proper underlay rather than as filled outlines:

• Orbit — a geometric sans, and the font a new text box starts in
• Octon — a heavy sans
• Lauren — a script

TrueType fonts — outline fonts that get filled:

• Inter Bold
• Inter

For anything small, reach for one of the .octofont fonts first — see the note on TTF sizes below.

You can modify a bundled .octofont: editing one forks a copy into your own fonts folder, which then shadows the original. The bundled file itself is read-only and is never written back, so you can always get back to it by removing your copy.

Choosing a font

A font’s name is the one thing about it that says nothing, so the Font picker in a text box’s settings shows a specimen of each font actually sewn — the word Abg, stitched in that font in the text box’s own thread colour. A satin .octofont comes out as satin strokes and a TTF as the solid fill its outlines are stitched into, which is exactly the difference a drawing of the letter shapes would hide. Each entry is captioned with what it is — a stitch font and its character count, or an outline font that gets auto-stitched — and the selected font’s name sits in the picker’s header.

The button in its top-right corner switches between a list and a grid of specimens — the same toggle the tatami pattern and decorative motif pickers use, sharing one setting between all three.

Loading a custom TTF

You can point Octostitch at your own TrueType font file and letter with it.

1. Select a text box.
2. Click Use a TTF file…, under the font picker in its settings.
3. Pick a .ttf or .otf file. The text re-lays out in that font immediately, and the font joins the picker with a specimen of its own.

TTF glyphs come in as filled outlines — the letter shapes are treated as closed regions and given a fill, using non-zero winding so counters and crossbars (the hole in an “o”, the junction of a “t”) resolve correctly.

Note

A TTF is designed for printing, not stitching. It has no built-in satin columns, underlay or stitch direction — Octostitch fills the letter shapes, which works well at larger sizes but can get busy at small sizes. For clean small lettering, a satin .octofont is the better tool.

Sharing a design that uses a TTF

A saved design stores a TTF by its file path, so the font file has to exist on any machine that opens it. .octofont satin fonts behave differently — those are embedded in the design file, so a project you send someone else keeps its lettering even if they don’t have the font installed.

If you’re sending work out, that’s a good reason to letter with an .octofont.

The Font picker in a text box’s settings — a stitched specimen of each font, with Use a TTF file… beneath for loading your own.