When the control point has to give way (to comply with the rounding), you may want it to do so not in parallel to the grid line, but parallel (Y direction) or perpendicular (X direction) to the main stroke angle of the italic glyph you’re hinting. You can do so by changing the rounding methods on the control points of the italic glyphs.
You can change the rounding method of any control point while linking, interpolating, or shifting it. Just hold down the Shift key as you click the control point with the hinting tool. Visual TrueType displays the menu for rounding methods (for details, see Rounding Control Points).
For italics, you choose rounding methods from the middle and bottom rows of the menu:
· The
middle row specifies rounding in relation to the main stroke angle you measured
for the glyph:
· The
bottom row specifies rounding in relation to the adjusted italic angle, which
is the main stroke angle but adjusted to cross the baseline and the cap height
at a pixel boundary:
Use this row when the diagonal strokes of the italic glyphs have an unattractive and distracting stair-step pattern.
However, rounding may not offer the subtle adjustments you need to correct every stair-step pattern. Sometimes, you may want to use the XMove and YMove tools. Both tools can move control points slightly off the grid (for example, one-fourth pixel), which isn’t possible by simple rounding. For details about using the XMove and YMove tools, see “Refining Pixel Patterns.”
Note The move tools shift a control point a set number of pixels, and the adjustment applies to all sizes of the glyph.