Clip font
Encyclopedia
Clip fonts or split fonts are outline font
s that assign glyph
s representing partial characters of the Indian scripts, especially Devanagari
, at code positions
intended for characters of the Latin script. Clip fonts are also a technique in use in India to produce complex glyphs for which no provision is made on existing Unicode tables. At present this technique is in use by Indian font makers on both ASCII and Unicode
places. It is popular in the Indian print industry. Outside India, OpenType layout is a preferred technique to achieve equivalent goals.
, the Indic syllabograms, akshara
s, are formed by a sequence of characters for either a consonant with an inherent vowel (e.g. घ gha) or for a vowel (e.g. अ a), usually in a diacritic form. With Clip fonts the inherent vowel is ignored and isolated consonant glyphs are introduced that work more like letters in European scripts, but need another glyph following them to form a complete, legal glyph.
A text written to be displayed with a Clip font resembles a kind of romanization
when displayed with a normal, standard-conformant font, because the script
encoding had been moved from the code (character) layer to the application (font) layer. This is similar to obsolete clip art fonts like Wingdings
. Therefore the appropriate font has to be available wherever such a text is to be displayed, which almost never can be guaranteed. This severely hinders interoperability and data interchange even if the fonts are available broadly and freely, although it may be simpler for the individual author and can successfully be employed in a controlled environment. Sometimes this weakness is employed as a feature, i.e. as a kind of encryption.
switching in common operating system
setups and actual defective internationalization
capabilities in older software products. English computer keyboards are very common in India. Clip fonts users input
can write Hindi and other Indic languages using those English keyboards with ease. Also it is more common in India than in most other countries that people have to switch quickly between writing in any of more than two languages in as many scripts.
Some 50 commercial fonts are available using Clip font technique and ASCII
places that come with custom keyboard drivers for Indic scripts, intended to limit the number of keystrokes necessary. Since such helper software broke several times in the past with updates of the operating system, many users rather relied on higher-level hacks like clip fonts.
Clip fonts are also sometimes used for scripts that are not yet encoded in Unicode, such as the Nagari shorthand Modi
. In the philosophy of Unicode, the "correct" way would be to temporarily encode these in Unicode's Private Use Area (PUA). Practical problem today users in India find is that, only English language keyboards are available in the market and so talking of any InScript keyboard is futile.
Clip fonts may fade out during the second decade of the 21st century, since, recent and coming software handles Unicode well, OpenType
fonts support all the scripts and languages in question, including complex shaping
, and input methods also improve.
Font
In typography, a font is traditionally defined as a quantity of sorts composing a complete character set of a single size and style of a particular typeface...
s that assign glyph
Glyph
A glyph is an element of writing: an individual mark on a written medium that contributes to the meaning of what is written. A glyph is made up of one or more graphemes....
s representing partial characters of the Indian scripts, especially Devanagari
Devanagari
Devanagari |deva]]" and "nāgarī" ), also called Nagari , is an abugida alphabet of India and Nepal...
, at code positions
Unicode
Unicode is a computing industry standard for the consistent encoding, representation and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems...
intended for characters of the Latin script. Clip fonts are also a technique in use in India to produce complex glyphs for which no provision is made on existing Unicode tables. At present this technique is in use by Indian font makers on both ASCII and Unicode
Unicode
Unicode is a computing industry standard for the consistent encoding, representation and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems...
places. It is popular in the Indian print industry. Outside India, OpenType layout is a preferred technique to achieve equivalent goals.
Function
In standard encodings, i.e. UnicodeUnicode
Unicode is a computing industry standard for the consistent encoding, representation and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems...
, the Indic syllabograms, akshara
Akshara
Akshara may mean:*"letter" in Hindi*"everlasting" or "imperishable"*in Sanskrit grammar, "syllable", see Shiksha*a consonant grapheme, with an inherent vowel, of a script of the Brahmic family....
s, are formed by a sequence of characters for either a consonant with an inherent vowel (e.g. घ gha) or for a vowel (e.g. अ a), usually in a diacritic form. With Clip fonts the inherent vowel is ignored and isolated consonant glyphs are introduced that work more like letters in European scripts, but need another glyph following them to form a complete, legal glyph.
A text written to be displayed with a Clip font resembles a kind of romanization
Romanization
In linguistics, romanization or latinization is the representation of a written word or spoken speech with the Roman script, or a system for doing so, where the original word or language uses a different writing system . Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written...
when displayed with a normal, standard-conformant font, because the script
Writing system
A writing system is a symbolic system used to represent elements or statements expressible in language.-General properties:Writing systems are distinguished from other possible symbolic communication systems in that the reader must usually understand something of the associated spoken language to...
encoding had been moved from the code (character) layer to the application (font) layer. This is similar to obsolete clip art fonts like Wingdings
Wingdings
Wingdings are a series of dingbat fonts which render letters as a variety of symbols. They were originally developed in 1990 by Microsoft by combining glyphs from Lucida Icons, Arrows, and Stars licensed from Charles Bigelow and Kris Holmes...
. Therefore the appropriate font has to be available wherever such a text is to be displayed, which almost never can be guaranteed. This severely hinders interoperability and data interchange even if the fonts are available broadly and freely, although it may be simpler for the individual author and can successfully be employed in a controlled environment. Sometimes this weakness is employed as a feature, i.e. as a kind of encryption.
History
The reason for the development and popularity of Clip fonts is the perceived complexity of keyboard layoutKeyboard layout
A keyboard layout is any specific mechanical, visual, or functional arrangement of the keys, legends, or key–meaning associations of a computer, typewriter, or other typographic keyboard....
switching in common operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
setups and actual defective internationalization
Internationalization
In economics, internationalization has been viewed as a process of increasing involvement of enterprises in international markets, although there is no agreed definition of internationalization or international entrepreneurship...
capabilities in older software products. English computer keyboards are very common in India. Clip fonts users input
Input method
An input method is an operating system component or program that allows any data, such as keyboard strokes or mouse movements, to be received as input. In this way users can enter characters and symbols not found on their input devices...
can write Hindi and other Indic languages using those English keyboards with ease. Also it is more common in India than in most other countries that people have to switch quickly between writing in any of more than two languages in as many scripts.
Some 50 commercial fonts are available using Clip font technique and ASCII
ASCII
The American Standard Code for Information Interchange is a character-encoding scheme based on the ordering of the English alphabet. ASCII codes represent text in computers, communications equipment, and other devices that use text...
places that come with custom keyboard drivers for Indic scripts, intended to limit the number of keystrokes necessary. Since such helper software broke several times in the past with updates of the operating system, many users rather relied on higher-level hacks like clip fonts.
Clip fonts are also sometimes used for scripts that are not yet encoded in Unicode, such as the Nagari shorthand Modi
Modi script
' is one of the scripts used to write the Marathi language& Rajasthani language, which is the primary language spoken in the state of Maharashtra & Rajasthan in western India respectively. MoDiis also known as MuDiya, MuDi & VañiyāvaTi...
. In the philosophy of Unicode, the "correct" way would be to temporarily encode these in Unicode's Private Use Area (PUA). Practical problem today users in India find is that, only English language keyboards are available in the market and so talking of any InScript keyboard is futile.
Clip fonts may fade out during the second decade of the 21st century, since, recent and coming software handles Unicode well, OpenType
OpenType
OpenType is a format for scalable computer fonts. It was built on its predecessor TrueType, retaining TrueType's basic structure and adding many intricate data structures for prescribing typographic behavior...
fonts support all the scripts and languages in question, including complex shaping
Shaping
Shaping can refer to:* In electricity generation, maintaining reliable delivery, for example by use of pumped storage hydroelectricity* Shaping , the reinforcement of successive approximations to train a type of behavior...
, and input methods also improve.