Scanahand 3.

© 2007 - 2010 by High-Logic B.V. All rights reserved.

Scanahand Manual

© 2007 - 2010 by High-Logic B.V. All rights reserved.

All rights reserved. No parts of this work may be reproduced in any form or by any means - graphic, electronic, or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or information storage and retrieval systems - without the
written permission of the publisher.

Scanahand is a trademark of High-Logic.

Microsoft, Windows and OpenType are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the
United States and/or other countries.
Apple, the Apple Logo and Macintosh are registered trademarks and TrueType is a trademark of Apple Computer,
Inc. registered in the United States and other countries.
Adobe and PostScript are trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated which may be registered in certain
jurisdictions.
All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the sole property of their respective owners.
The Unicode Character Database is provided as is by Unicode, Inc.

While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this document, the publisher and the author assume no
responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of information contained in this
document or from the use of programs and source code that may accompany it. In no event shall the publisher and
the author be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damage caused or alleged to have been caused
directly or indirectly by this document.

March 2010
 Contents I

Table of Contents

Part I Getting Started

1 Welcome
...................................................................................................................................
to Scanahand 3.1 2
2 What's ...................................................................................................................................
New in Scanahand 3.1 2
3 Technical
...................................................................................................................................
Support 2
4 Registration
................................................................................................................................... 3
5 Credits................................................................................................................................... 3

Part II Quick Start Tutorial

1 Your First
...................................................................................................................................
Font 6

Part III The User Interface

1 Overview
................................................................................................................................... 12
2 Scan Setup
................................................................................................................................... 13
3 Font Setup
................................................................................................................................... 13
4 Template
...................................................................................................................................
Editor 14
Tem plate Editor
.......................................................................................................................................................... 14
Positioning .......................................................................................................................................................... 16
5 Customizing
...................................................................................................................................
Scanahand 16
Keyboard Shortcuts
.......................................................................................................................................................... 16
Options .......................................................................................................................................................... 17
General ......................................................................................................................................................... 17
Template ......................................................................................................................................................... 18
Warnings ......................................................................................................................................................... 19

Part IV Frequently Asked Questions

1 General
...................................................................................................................................
Questions 22

Index 24

© 2007 - 2010 by High-Logic B.V. All rights reserved.

I
Part

I
 Getting Started 2

1 Getting Started

1.1 Welcome to Scanahand 3.1

Introduction
Scanahand allows you to generate a font without the need to know all of the technical details
involved. All you need is a printer, a scanner, and a black marker or felt-tipped pen. It is also
possible to use Scanahand without using a printer and scanner, but then you'll have to draw
characters through image processing software.

Make sure you have the latest version of Scanahand:

http://www.high-logic.com/

1.2 What's New in Scanahand 3.1

New features in this version of Scanahand include:

Added extreme filter
Improved font generation algorithm
Several minor tweaks
Automatically include diacritical marks

1.3 Technical Support

Online User M anual
The user manual is also available online:
http://www.high-logic.com/scanahand/manual/index.html

Forum
The forum is available to you for support and information about managing and designing
fonts. This forum has become a place where all users of Scanahand can share their
knowledge. Membership of the forum is free. There's a good chance other people have asked
the same questions as you, so you may be able to find the answers you need. Feedback and
suggestions are also welcome in the forum.
http://forum.high-logic.com/

© 2007 - 2010 by High-Logic B.V. All rights reserved.

 3 Scanahand Help

Frequently Asked Questions

View the most frequently asked questions (and answers) about Scanahand here:
http://www.high-logic.com/scanahand/faq.html

1.4 Registration

Evaluation
During the trial period, Scanahand runs in reduced functionality mode. After using Scanahand
for a 30-day trial period, you must register and pay for it, or remove it from your system.
Registering unlocks all functionality for the specific edition and makes your copy legal. It also
helps support our efforts to develop innovative products to best serve your needs. Thank you
for your support of Scanahand!

Why Register?
When you buy a license of Scanahand 3.1 it entitles you to the following benefits:
All future versions of Scanahand 3.x.
Direct e-mail support from the developers.

Standard Edition versus Premium Edition

The Premium Edition incorporates all features available in the standard edition and also
includes several advanced features. The Premium Edition allows you to generate fonts based
on the Signature and Symbol templates and to set the font style.
Scanahand allows you to make your own templates. For each template you can define your
own character set (for example with Czech or Greek characters), so it allows you to create
multilingual fonts. The template editor is available in both editions, but you need the premium
edition in order to generate a font based on a custom template.

To Register
The quickest and most convenient way to register is online via credit card. Other supported
payment methods like checks and cash are also supported. For more details take a look at
our registration page:
http://www.high-logic.com/register.html

1.5 Credits
Scanahand contains several unmodified libraries that are available under the MPL.
Graphics32 from http://sourceforge.net/projects/graphics32;

© 2007 - 2010 by High-Logic B.V. All rights reserved.

 Getting Started 4

ADOM from http://philo.de/xml/

© 2007 - 2010 by High-Logic B.V. All rights reserved.

Part

II
 Quick Start Tutorial 6

2 Quick Start Tutorial

2.1 Your First Font

Scanahand is software that generates a font out of your handwriting. To be more precise, it
allows you to print out a template (one or more pages with a grid). After you've filled out the
template, you scan it back into Scanahand, which will then convert all characters into a font
that can be used on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.
This short introduction explains how to generate a font with Scanahand. Besides a computer
running Microsoft Windows you will need a printer, a scanner, and a black marker or felt-
tipped pen.

Step 1 - Print and fill out the empty template

We will use the Basic Character Set template to create a font. By default the Basic and
Extended Characters template is selected, so make sure you activate the Basic Character
Set template. To print the empty template, just click the Print button. A Print Setup dialog will
pop-up. Most likely the correct printer is already selected, so just press the Ok button.

Take the printed template from the printer, and fill it out. Use a suitable pen (e.g. a black

© 2007 - 2010 by High-Logic B.V. All rights reserved.

7 Scanahand Help

permanent marker of fine or medium thickness) to draw the characters the way that you
normally write. The output of ballpoint pens will be too thin to give a satisfactory result. Make
sure you draw your characters into the designated cells and ensure you don't touch the grid
lines while drawing the characters.
Note: Only characters that are written down on the template are added to the font, so if you
only need a few characters, then only write those down.
All cells (except the signature cell) contain horizontal guidelines (actually four little marks on
both left and right side of each cell) that should help you write the characters in the right
dimensions, and in the best possible position in each cell. These guidelines, represent
Ascender, x-Height, Baseline, and Descender. The image below illustrates how to get the
best results (first row) and what you should avoid (second row).

In the first row the characters are drawn with the recommended size and position. As you
can see, most characters are placed on the baseline. The small letter "g" goes below the
baseline. Capital letters and digits have the same size. Be sure not to draw your characters
as shown in the second row. The capital letter "A" is positioned on the descender, the small
letter "a" is too large, the small letter "e" has exaggerated connecting strokes, the small letter
"f" is too small, the small letter "g" goes outside the cell, small letter "s" is drawn with a large-
tip marker, and digit "8" is too small.

To aid in filling out the characters at the right position you can print out a guideline underlay.
Place this below your empty template so guidelines shine through the paper. You can print
the guideline underlay through the File menu.

Step 2 - Scan in the completed template

When you've drawn all characters you want to include in your font, put the template page as
straight as possible on the scanner bed.
Click on the "Completed Template" icon on the left, and then press the Scan button. A Scan
Setup dialog is shown. Ensure the correct scanner is selected. A 300 dpi scan resolution is
recommended, but if your characters contain details (e.g. thin strokes) you should use a
higher resolution. Press the OK button to start the scan process. Click on the "Rotate 180
Degrees" toolbar button if you accidentally placed the filled-in template into the scanner,
upside-down.

© 2007 - 2010 by High-Logic B.V. All rights reserved.

 Quick Start Tutorial 8

Step 3 - Generate and install the font

Click on the "Font" icon on the left, and then press the Generate button.
On the Font Setup dialog, fill in the Name and Copyright fields. The Name field is very
important, as that name will appear as the font name in all applications. Don't change the
advanced settings, as those are set to recommended values. Press the Ok button.

© 2007 - 2010 by High-Logic B.V. All rights reserved.

9 Scanahand Help

During the font generation process, Scanahand detects the template, and places the
characters into your font. Upon completion, you instantly get to preview your finished font.
Just type some text to see how it looks. Also include the caret character ^ and you'll see your
signature.

© 2007 - 2010 by High-Logic B.V. All rights reserved.

 Quick Start Tutorial 10

Finally click the Install button to make the font available to all applications (Microsoft Word,
etc.) on your computer. If you are running Windows Vista (or higher) it will prompt you for
permission to allow the installation. Be sure that you allow the installation to continue.

© 2007 - 2010 by High-Logic B.V. All rights reserved.

Part

III
 The User Interface 12

3 The User Interface

3.1 Overview
The default layout of Scanahand will look like the image below.

Empty Template
On the Empty Template selection box, you can select a template. You can use the Template
Editor to define your own custom templates.

The most common task is to print the template, but you can also press the Save As button to
store the template as an image. Then you can edit your template with your favorite image
editing software. This is great for people who don't have a scanner or printer, but it is also a
pleasant way to draw your characters if you have a Tablet PC.

Completed Template
When you've drawn all characters you want to include in your font, put the template as

© 2007 - 2010 by High-Logic B.V. All rights reserved.

 13 Scanahand Help

straight as possible on the scanner bed and press the Scan button. A Scan Setup dialog is
shown.
Click on the "Rotate 180 Degrees" toolbar button if you accidentally placed the filled-in
template into the scanner, upside-down.

Font
To initiate the font generation process, press the Generate button to open the Font Setup
dialog.
During the font generation process, Scanahand detects the template, and places the
characters into your font. Upon completion, you instantly get to preview your finished font.
Click the Install button to make the font available to all applications (Microsoft Word, etc.) on
your computer.

3.2 Scan Setup

Select the scanner and a scan resolution between 300 and 600 dpi. A 300 dpi scan resolution
is recommended, but if your characters contain fine details (e.g. thin strokes) you should use
a higher resolution. If you prefer to make advanced settings through the scanner driver,
enable the checkbox.

3.3 Font Setup

Fill in the Name and Copyright fields. The Name field is very important, as that name will
appear as the font name in all applications.

© 2007 - 2010 by High-Logic B.V. All rights reserved.

 The User Interface 14

The font style allows you to set the proper fields inside the font. Please note however that this
setting will not convert your template into a bold or italic font! To make a bold font just use a
thinker pen.
Scanahand needs to find out what pixels belong to the characters. The threshold value is
used to make that decision. Usually the Auto value gives best results, but you can also
choose between Low, Medium, and High. The Low threshold removes all light colored pixels,
while the High threshold includes all light colored pixels. When you use the High threshold you
get slightly fatter characters, but you risk inclusion of unwanted pixels.
Based on the filter value, Scanahand will add or remove additional pixels to improve the
generated contours. Both the Smooth and Super filter polish the outlines. This usually results
in more rounded contours.
Recommended values for the conversion settings are Auto threshold, and Smooth filter.

3.4 Template Editor

3.4.1 Template Editor
Use the Template Editor to define your own custom templates. This allows you to decide
which characters to include in a template.

© 2007 - 2010 by High-Logic B.V. All rights reserved.

15 Scanahand Help

To create a custom template, click the Add button. Then you can give the new template a
name, set the size of the grid, and specify characters you want to include. If you don't know
how to type a specific character, you can add the corresponding code point value through the
Code Points tab. More information about characters and their codes can be found here: http://
www.unicode.org/charts/
The Export button allows you to store a template in a single file. This allows you to share your
custom templates. The import feature allows you to make use of templates made by other
users. We have collected several custom made templates, that you can download from
here: http://www.high-logic.com/scanahand/customtemplates.html
Note: You can't change the first (predefined) templates, but you can copy (clone) them and
then make modifications to those clones. Although it is allowed to change a character set
from Unicode to Symbol, we strongly recommend against doing that unless you are an
experienced user who knows how to update the code points accordingly.
Use the Advanced positioning settings to change page and cell ratios.

© 2007 - 2010 by High-Logic B.V. All rights reserved.

 The User Interface 16

3.4.2 Positioning
Although the default settings do work for most font templates, it is possible to make changes
to meet your specific requirements.

To remove the page header, set the value between Top and Header of the Page Ratios to
zero. Likewise you can do the same thing for the cell caption. From the drop list by the cell
caption position you can select from top, left, bottom, or right position for the cell caption.
Whatever changes you make, do make sure the baseline is positioned correctly, as that
position is used to determine the vertical position of your characters.
You can click the Revert to Default button if you want to reset the ratios to default settings.

3.5 Customizing Scanahand

3.5.1 Keyboard Shortcuts
You can quickly accomplish tasks by using these keyboard shortcut keys.

Press To

F1 Help

F5 Go to Empty Template

F6 Go to Completed Template

© 2007 - 2010 by High-Logic B.V. All rights reserved.

 17 Scanahand Help

Press To

F7 Go to Font

CTRL+T Template Editor

3.5.2 Options
3.5.2.1 General

You can customize Scanahand through the Options window (Select Options from the
Tools menu).

On Start... Shows the Welcome dialog when Scanahand is started.

Language Allows you to set the language in the user interface. (Applied
directly after you press OK, no restart of Scanahand is needed)

© 2007 - 2010 by High-Logic B.V. All rights reserved.

 The User Interface 18

Measurement Allows you to set the measurement units used for the template
units margins.

Codepoint format Allows you to set the codepoint format as shown on symbol or
dingbat templates. This setting also applies to the Code Points
values in the Template Editor.

Hide incompatible Uncheck this box, if for some reason your scanner is not
devices detected.

Scale This allows you to increase or decrease the size of the generated
font outlines.

Include This will include predefined diacritical marks into your font if you
predefined have not defined them yourself.
diacrtical marks

3.5.2.2 Template

To change font related settings, select Options from the Tools menu and then click the
Fonts tab.

© 2007 - 2010 by High-Logic B.V. All rights reserved.

 19 Scanahand Help

Margins Sets the printing area of the empty template. The printer will only
print within these margins.

Guide Lines The empty template will contain colored guide lines, if you enable
Colors these settings.

Print Options When this setting is enabled, everytime you print a template a
guideline underlay will also be printed. If you require just one
guideline underlay you can print it through the File menu.

3.5.2.3 Warnings

To show, enable or disable specific warning messages, select Options from the Tools
menu and then click the Warnings tab.

© 2007 - 2010 by High-Logic B.V. All rights reserved.

 The User Interface 20

Update Checker Set the interval that Scanahand uses to check for updates. An
interval of Once a week will ensure you are always working with
the latest version of Scanahand.

Template We recommend enabled warnings for novice users.

Selection

© 2007 - 2010 by High-Logic B.V. All rights reserved.

Part

IV
 Frequently Asked Questions 22

4 Frequently Asked Questions

4.1 General Questions

What are the differences between Scanahand and FontCreator?
You can use Scanahand to generate a font based on your own handwriting within just a
couple of minutes. FontCreator allows you to create and edit fonts with vector tools, so it's
more sophisticated and has more features like auto complete composites, kerning, validation,
but takes more time.
My scanner is not recognized by Scanahand. How do I get my filled in template into
Scanahand?
Uncheck "Hide incompatible devices" from the Options dialog and press the Scan button. If
even this fails, then scan the template with the software that came with the scanner, or use
any other application that does recognize the scanner. Store (save to file) the scanned image
and load it into Scanahand for further processing.
Can I use Scanahand on a Tablet PC?
Scanahand has no direct support for drawing directly on the template, but you can save the
template to file and edit it through your image editing software that. If supported, you could
add an additional layer for guidelines to help you draw your characters on the baseline.
Can I create true cursive fonts (where characters in a word are connected) with
Scanahand?
Cursive fonts with swashes are not possible with Scanahand as the side-bearings are
generated automatically.
The ink bleeds, what can I do to prevent this from happening?
Either try another pen, or use coated paper.
I find it hard to write the characters on the imaginary baseline. What can I do to get a
more even handwriting?
Print out a guideline underlay. Place this below your empty template so guidelines shine
through the paper. You can print the guideline underlay through the File menu.
Another approach is to enable the colored guide line that represents the baseline through the
Template page on the Options dialog.
I try to draw my letters in the center of the cells, but sometimes a letter is positioned
more to the left, or right. Does the horizontal position affect the correctness of the
font?
No, it doesn't matter if you draw your characters a little to the left or right inside the cells, as
Scanahand will calculate the left and right side bearings independent of it's original horizontal
position.
I scanned the completed template, but it is upside-down. Do I need to rescan it?

© 2007 - 2010 by High-Logic B.V. All rights reserved.

23 Scanahand Help

No, just click on the "Rotate 180 Degrees" toolbar button.

I think the margins of the empty template are too large. Can I adjust them?
Yes, you can change the margins in the Options dialog.
I'm very impressed with the font(s) generated by Scanahand, but I want to make some
changes to the letter spacing. How can I do that?
We suggest you use FontCreator (http://www.high-logic.com/fontcreator.html) to make
adjustments to specific glyphs.
Why do my curly quotes look the same as my comma?
When the curly quotes are not defined in the template, Scanahand generates these
automatically using the comma character.

© 2007 - 2010 by High-Logic B.V. All rights reserved.

 Index 24

Index -T-
Template Editor 18

-D-
Decimal 17 -W-
Warnings 19

-F-
Features 2

-H-
Handwriting 6
Hexadecimal 17

-L-
Language 17

-M-
Mailing List 2
Manual
PDF 2

-N-
New Features 2

-R-
Register 3

-S-
Scanahand
buying 3
getting help 2
manual 2
user interface 12
Shortcut 16
Support 2

© 2007 - 2010 by High-Logic B.V. All rights reserved.