Friday, October 04, 2013

Baybayin Keyboard Layout for Windows 7, 8+, 10

Not too late for Windows 8

Windows 8 makes it easier to switch between multi-language keyboards and custom layouts.

(UNICODE) Baybayin Keyboard Layout for Windows 8

  1. Download the .zip file from here:
    https://docs.google.com/file/d/0ByEkLQ7YrpPsaF92NlhpTkZDNDQ/view
    Save the file, then open and unzip the files.
  2. Go to the folder where you unzipped the files.
  3. Click Setup.exe and follow the instructions.
    It’ll tell you your keyboard was installed successfully, but you won’t be able to use it until you restart.
  4. Restart the machine.
    Once the machine is restarted, you should be good to go.
  5. On Windows 8 and 10, use WinKey + Space (press and hold the WinKey then hit the Space key) to switch between two or more keyboard layouts.
  6. To be able to view Baybayin characters on the Windows 7, 8, and 10 On-Screen Keyboard & Touch Keyboards, the default font "Segoe UI" needed a custom update. I included the font in the .zip file.

    How to install the Segoe UI font (segoeui.ttf) over the existing one in your machine:

    • Create a backup of your original segoeui.ttf file by copying/moving it to another folder other than the system's "windows/font" folder.
    • Left click or right click to open the segoeui.ttf file that is included in this .zip file and look for the "install font" button/link.
    • Choose "Yes" if prompted to replace or overwrite the old Segoe UI font (if you left a copy in the windows/font folder).

Notes:
When using Unicode Baybayin Fonts online, only the people who has a Unicode Baybayin compliant font in their machines can view what you typed/posted. And Firefox has been the only browser that displays Baybayin Unicode consistently, other browsers are buggy.

Caveat Lector: I have not fully tested this in mobile tablet PCs and Windows 7. Also, again, please make sure you backed up your machine's original segoeui.ttf file, it is a system font.

UPDATE: [Oct. 18, 2013] If you have upgraded your Windows 8 to 8.1 like I have, you have to re-install the Segoe UI font again and reboot. You now also have to chose Segoe UI as Firefox's default font (options/content/fonts & colors). In the near future, I may have to provide updated versions of Times New Roman & Arial fonts for people who like to use those default typefaces.

UPDATE: [Aug. 6, 2014] Testers report that the keyboard layout works on Windows 7.

UPDATE: [July 29, 2015] The keyboard layout works on Windows 10. Note: After updating/upgrading to Windows 10 from Windows 8+, you may need to re-install (re-overwrite) the Segoe UI font (segoeui.ttf) and reboot.

Enjoy!

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 For Linux and older versions of Windows, visit:
 Try the Keyboard Layout for Mac OSX:

Baybayin Unicode Keyboard Layout for Mac


Saturday, May 18, 2013

Connect the Dots...

Another New Font:


Download this font set from: http://nordenx.deviantart.com/art/Baybayin-Tulsok-Font-372428448

Another small/pixel font with no Unicode characters. You can still use this online in graphics, embedded trough a style-sheet (css), or via applications created in flash, etc.

Friday, May 10, 2013

Fancy Angles

Newly released fonts:



I didn't populate the Unicode range on these latest sets for two reasons:
  1. I don't have a dev PC anymore; I'm working through an old MacBook that doesn't have the expensive and more powerful professional/commercial font development software. I'm using freebie apps.
  2. These fancy fonts are not suited for online chat or post anyway (hard to read and too small). They are more suited for graphic work. Leaving the unicode range empty also avoids conflicts with other baybayin font files.

Saturday, April 27, 2013

Kapampangan Class

Let's review:

Baybáyin Script is an umbrella term for the Abugida (alpha-syllabary) writing systems of the Philippines. Generally, the Sulat Tagalog version is what people think of by default when "Baybáyin" is mentioned. However, there are different varieties of the script, Kulitan is one of them.

Súlat Kapampángan (a.k.a. pámagkulit or kulitan) is used for writing the Kapampangan language spoken by folks from the Pampanga province in the Philippines.

Kulitan differs slightly from Baybayin as it has been adapted solely for Kapampangan orthography. A different method of writing garlit (kudlit) diacritic marks and character ligatures & stacking were developed. Much of the character shapes originally were the same as Baybayin but through limited but continued use, Kulitan handwriting evolved to match a vertical direction of writing preferred & popularized by Kapampangan practitioners, scholars, artists, and academics.

So what's new?

Since Kulitan has been kept alive within the Kapampangan Academia; I created this Varsity styled font in dedication to the linguistic scholars of Pampanga.

I have been following up and observing how the new generation of Kulitan students & practitioners write their Kulitan characters. Many of their written works and calligraphy art has become available online through the Kulitan community in facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Kulitkulitan/ and other various Kapampangan websites. I gathered & compiled the different handwriting styles to watch for uniformity and emerging standards in strokes. What became apparent is that a new generation of Kapampangan writers and Kulitan Calligraphers are starting to develop not only particular stroke styles, they are also developing new ways of stacking, ligatures, tracking, kerning, and cursives.

This study ultimately affected the character spacing, coupling, & grouping of this new font:




Download this font set from: http://nordenx.deviantart.com/art/Kapampangan-Schoolitan-Font-368209306

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A different angle on Kulitan:

For more info about Angulo, review: http://nordenx.blogspot.com/2011/08/kulitan-angulo-typepad.html


Download this font set from: http://nordenx.deviantart.com/art/Kulitan-Angulo-Font-368214990

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Preferences

Monday, April 22, 2013

Little League

Tiny & Small Fonts (Sans Unicode)

For over two years now, I have not been able to edit fonts on a PC. My desktop has been dead for a while and the loaner laptop I have has been down as well. In the mean time, I have been using an old MacBook that was gifted to me. However, I am still unable to afford the purchase of a commercial & professional font creation suite. So, I have been limited to using less powerful & free softwares. Here is a couple of small font styles I created with these scaled down apps:


Download this font set from: http://nordenx.deviantart.com/art/Baybayin-Modern-Varsitita-Font-367508037


Download this font set from: http://nordenx.deviantart.com/art/Baybayin-Modern-Varsitito-Font-367336867


Download this font set from: http://nordenx.deviantart.com/art/Baybayin-Modern-Bolats-Font-367336085

These fonts are good for graphic-design & word-processing use only. They don't have Baybayin Unicode ranges filled up; but it's not really much of a big deal as they are too small to be used online anyway. They also don't carry my usual trademark "Tamaraw" glyph.

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Saturday, April 20, 2013

LCI Font

April 21 is the anniversary of the oldest known written artifact from the Philippines, the Laguna Copperplate Inscription (LCI).

Revisit: http://nordenx.blogspot.com/2010/04/lcis-1110th-anniversary.html

I was cleaning out my external backup hard drive when I found the LCI font that I used for writing a section about the copperplate in my manuscript. I really don't know what else to do with this rough & unfinished LCI font other than give it to anyone interested with Old Javanese or Kavi to play around with. So here it is:



A Note of Warning: This font file was never finished, it's still a "rough draft" and it may cause compatibility issues with other baybáyin fonts. Naming conventions and other table settings are not cleaned up. Use it at your own discretion.

Note that the glyph for the "o" marker is partially done and is there, but for some reason it won't show/print into the .pdf file (where the keyboard chart image was taken from). One example of how rough & unfinished this font set is.

Use the chart below for your character/syllable guide.


The glyphs from the LCI are basically Old Javanese/Kavi but with slight irregularities.

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For more info about the LCI, please read:
Paul Morrow's Page: The Laguna Copperplate Inscription
Hector Santos' Page: A Philippine Leaf
Antoon Postma's Paper: The Laguna Copperplate Inscription: Text and Commentary


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