The Astern typesetter is a digital tool providing controls for setting type on curves. The tool is developed by Wim Wepster in collaboration with Frode Helland, and accompanies the release of the Astern typeface.

astern-typesetter.py

Download astern-typesetter.py from its Sourcehut repository.

Requirements

The script is developed for use with the open-source software Drawbot (Mac only). It further relies on the three styles that make up the Astern typeface family: Astern Frown, Astern Normal, and Astern Smile.

Getting started

• Save Astern-typesetter.py to a new folder.

• Add a second folder inside the first, name it “assets”, and place your licensed copies of the three Astern fonts inside (Astern-Frown.otf, Astern-Normal.otf, and Astern-Smile.otf).

• Right click “Astern-typesetter.py” and open it with Drawbot.

Instructions

• Hit “Run” in Drawbot.

• Input your text in the field named “the_text”.

• The first four sliders define font size, starting position and rotation of the first character.

• The bottom sliders specify the directional changes of the text.

Exporting

You can export your composition as a .pdf vector graphics file by selecting File > Save as PDF (Shift+CMD+P) in Drawbot.

License

This project is released under the MIT License. The code is provided as is, with no warranties or promise of support. Please review the license description for more details.