Ok, I actually did do searches believe it or not, so I apologize if this has been covered too many times. I didn't find exactly what I was looking for. So long story short, I have a little pen plotter I want to use to write "hand written" letters for me. In order for that to be semi-successful, I need a couple things....

1. A hand written font with text alternates to give a more real hand written look. I messed around with calligraphr a bit, but I couldn't get inkscape to recognize the font even after installed on my computer. Probably wouldn't matter since it would not be...
2. A single line font. There are obviously single line fonts, and Hershey can do a few things but not like what I want (AFAIK).

So I guess my first question is...If I were to even create or buy a handwritten single line font with text alternates, does Inkscape have the capability to generate the character alternates?

Second question....If "yes" to the first, any recommendations on where to buy and/or create a handwritten single line font with alternates?

Any and all help is much appreciated, thanks everyone for reading.

Hi.

Interesting problem to say the least. As far as I know the Hershey extension uses a custom made "character set". Not even sure that uses the whole character set of the regular text object -most probably even ascented letters are missing-. But alternate letters is like ligatures; they are on a completely different level of text editing. It wasn't added so long ago to inkscape's possibilities.

So it's a bit of a chicken or thr egg problem. There isn't a wide set of centerline font "typefaces" so there is not a general approach how to handle them.
My guess is you may/might be able to find some vector letterings at vector stock sites but without any hinting information, just as separate objects.

Besides it'd worth checking on typographic forums too. Typophile used to be a great source a decade ago, not sure how it's rolling these days.

You could try a newer version of the Hershey font extension, it comes with many more options. I'm not 100% certain if it works with 0.92.x though - and I don't know which options you're missing, so ...

It allows you to create your own fonts, too, btw.

https://www.evilmadscientist.com/2019/hershey-text-v30/

Thanks Lazur and Moini, I'll play with the newer version of Hershey when I get home (assuming my version is older). I actually think finding a single line or engraving type font probably won't be too big of an issue. What I really need though, is an engraving font that is in a handwritten style with contextual alternates so that each letter isn't identical.

Those types of fonts (with alternates) obviously exist, but can you use them in Inkscape? You can make programs like Word or Adobe to use the alternates, but don't know if (or how) you can do it in Inkscape.