ITT: We make xkcd slightly worse.

[abitha]

xkcd form.png

I like that the letter from the funding body was written in... Comic Sans! Clearly it's better not to receive funding from them, after all.

[operator[]]

After some more investigation, I can find three alternatives for creating a real font:

• For the Tablet PC versions of Windows, there is a powertoy for this, though I'm not sure if it can handle images.
• The trial version of Scanahand might work.
• The open-source program potrace may be used to trace the bitmaps, and then possibly converted to a font somehow.

It is really hard to find free programs for this kind of thing, it seems.

[OBrien]

After glancing at the "tools" section of dafont.com (here), this looks like it might help. There's a load of other programs on there too, some may be more helpful than others but, unfortunately, you have to pay for most of them.

I would look properly and make a list of all the ones that would be able to help, ones that might, etc., etc. But I'm pretty tired, so good night!

[scikidus]

Alright, Iv'e been tryign to make a font, and here are my findings.

The powertoy download requires a tabler pc, so I can't try that.
The Scanahand builds the font, but I need to pay 75 bucks in order to export it.
I can't figure out how to use potrace, or FontForge for that matter.
The tools on dafont.com aren't free except for that one, which is FontForge.

I'm stuck.

[sunami]

Spoiler:

He just sits there, talking to himself all day, it's a damn shame really.

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[ThorFluff]

Spoiler:

References: http://xkcd.com/561/

I laughed hard. I suppose because of the Third square, which only swedes would get i guess.

Du är för dålig för att kasta sten!

[operator[]]

Spoiler:

References: http://xkcd.com/561/

I laughed hard. I suppose because of the Third square, which only swedes would get i guess.

Du är för dålig för att kasta sten!

Heh. That was actually not at all intentional.
The idea was really more of a commentary on how his coin would most probably miss the well, and to create a paradox (is it really a truth?).

Alright, Iv'e been tryign to make a font, and here are my findings.

The powertoy download requires a tabler pc, so I can't try that.
The Scanahand builds the font, but I need to pay 75 bucks in order to export it.
I can't figure out how to use potrace, or FontForge for that matter.
The tools on dafont.com aren't free except for that one, which is FontForge.

I'm stuck.

Aww. To further comment of FontForge, I have actually tried it, but the only thing I can get it to do is to show the bitmaps as a background and letting the user manually create the font. The UI is really bad and unhelpful though, so I might have missed an obvious way of actually importing bitmaps.

Potrace is a lot nicer (probably since it follows the Unix philosophy of focusing on one thing), and I have been able to convert the font bitmaps to scalable images (attached is .ps, .eps and .svg versions - potrace also supports .pdf, .xfig, .pgm and .gimppath). Now, what I lack is a way of embedding these as fonts. I'll continue looking.

[ThorFluff]

For all you non-swedes let me explain.
There is a LOTR spoof called "Sagan om de utstötta" freely translated to "Lord of the outcasts".
Aragon comments on everything with "Dåligt" which means just "Bad". (Note that in swedish "bad" (Dåligt) does not mean bad as in Evil or bad ass or some such, just Not-Good)
Boromir and Merry are sword fighting. After every clash of blades he says "Bad" *clang* Bad *Clang* Bad!
Then there is the scene where peppin tosses a rock into the water and Aragon taps his shoulder and cautioning says "don't disturb the water".
In this case he instead says " You are too bad to throw rocks" in the same cautioning voice.

[lulzfish]

Oh, in the 4th panel.
You Swedes and your 0-indexed numbers.

[operator[]]

Good news everyone!

It turns out FontForge was able to import the created SVG files, which means I have been able to create a real font (attached). It doesn't look at all like my original, but, well, that's what using open-source programs is for. Example:

Spoiler:

Full instructions:

• Download FontForge, ImageMagick (or other program for converting images), potrace and of course the original letter images.
• Convert every image to a BMP using ImageMagick's 'convert' utility:
  

  Code: Select all

  for A in *.png; do convert $A.png `echo $A|sed 's/.png//'`.bmp; done


• Run mkbitmap on every .bmp (you might want to read the man page first):
  

  Code: Select all

  for A in *.bmp; do mkbitmap $A; done


• For me, some images screwed up due to being read wrongly, so re-save such images in your favorite editing program (Kolourpaint, right?) and run mkbitmap again.
• Run potrace to convert the created .pbm files to SVG (you might want to read the man page first):
  

  Code: Select all

  potrace -s *.pbm


• Open FontForge, and create a new project.
• Select every character, and use Ctrl+Shift+I to import the corresponding SVG file as a glyph.
• Use Ctrl+Shift+W and adjust the spacing between 'All' and 'All' to ~35 pixels.
• If you want to, explore the menus and make appropriate settings/changes.
• Export as a TTF, and presumably save the project for future modifications.
• Install the font somehow, such as by moving it to ~/.fonts/ or C:\WINDOWS\Fonts\.

(list recited from memory, might lack some parts)

Late edit: As attachments disappeared, I have reuploaded the font, and cached it here. A cache of the original, C++ script version of the font is here.

[Random832]

I don't know much about fonts, but I'd guess the space character showing up as a box (at least, it does so on windows) will eventually start to get old.

[Zer088]

Spoiler:

Wikipedia is actually an evil organization bent on slowly reducing productivity of the average worker of their competitors. even the Specter organization knows not to mess with them. Or perhaps Specter is a small division of wikipedia O_o

all consuming.png (128 KiB) Viewed 2894 times

sources
http://xkcd.com/609/
http://xkcd.com/214/

I'd also like to lay claim to all comics with the word "no", by replacing it with "I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid i can't do that"

[m42a]

I don't know much about fonts, but I'd guess the space character showing up as a box (at least, it does so on windows) will eventually start to get old.

I'm on Windows Vista and everything worked fine for me.

[operator[]]

I don't know much about fonts, but I'd guess the space character showing up as a box (at least, it does so on windows) will eventually start to get old.

Well, FontForge gave an error when trying to add the space file as a glyph. It worked without it when I tried, so I just silently ignored it. I'll fix it now.

Also, I think it depends on the program, not the OS.

EDIT: Updated the file. Try it again to see if it works.

[m42a]

So, I installed the new font, which was broken, then reinstalled the old font, which was broken, then reinstalled the new font, which was still broken, then reinstalled the old font, which is now fixed. Even though both work fine in OpenOffice. So I don't know what's happening, but I made a handy reference image.

[scikidus]

Congrats operator[], great work. One thing of note: the spaces are still broken, and appear more as tabs (this big: _____) than spaces (this big: _).

Here is my first creation with the font. It was so much easier this way!

Sources: 292, 609

Spoiler:

Fear him. He waits, watching, listening. He terrifies, but he protects.

He's the dial-up raptor.

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[operator[]]

So, I installed the new font, which was broken, then reinstalled the old font, which was broken, then reinstalled the new font, which was still broken, then reinstalled the old font, which is now fixed. Even though both work fine in OpenOffice. So I don't know what's happening, but I made a handy reference image.

<snip>

Err, ok. That's odd. The spacing is quite explainable, since FontForge starts with a default width for characters. I somehow thought it would automatically be corrected, but that does not seem to be the case. Also, Kolourpaint seems to ignore space glyphs entirely, and other programs might do the same depending on options. I think especially office programs might do this, since they have support for different spacing.

Anyway, I have uploaded a third variant, test that one too. It is incorrect, it might actually be easier just to open the provided .sdf file in FontForge to see if you can correct it yourself, then me guessing about errors.

And @scikidus: Good work.

[The Scyphozoa]

Spoiler:

The attachment all consuming.png is no longer available

sources
http://xkcd.com/609/
http://xkcd.com/214/

I'd also like to lay claim to all comics with the word "no", by replacing it with "I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid i can't do that"

I love how he doesn't do anything and just stares at the Wet T-shirt and Lesbianism parts.

Anywho:

Spoiler:

I have a thing for women with amnesia.

secrecy.png (55.39 KiB) Viewed 2800 times

[LuNatic]

Good news everyone!

It turns out FontForge was able to import the created SVG files, which means I have been able to create a real font (attached). It doesn't look at all like my original, but, well, that's what using open-source programs is for. Example:

Spoiler:

test.png

Hahaha, slightly worse indeed. Wait a minute...

[Squid Tamer]

Here are my new ones. They all suck, but I might as well put them out there.

Spoiler:

Now to show this to the philosophers.

PrankSW.png (15.86 KiB) Viewed 2745 times

Spoiler:

And I won't do it again.

i_know_youre_listeningSW.png (17.38 KiB) Viewed 2744 times

Spoiler:

It's like one of those musicals...

cover_upSW.png (79.87 KiB) Viewed 2743 times

Not really funny... I just wanted to see what it looks like when all of the dialog is being sung.

Spoiler:

And he was never seen again.

tab_explosionSW.png (276.8 KiB) Viewed 2743 times

[enk]

Spoiler:

cover_upSW.png

Not really funny... I just wanted to see what it looks like when all of the dialog is being sung.

I smiled

This thread is so full of win that I might just read it again someday

[Random832]

Here are my new ones. They all suck, but I might as well put them out there.

Spoiler:

PrankSW.png

Thief!

great minds think alike eh?

[Squid Tamer]

Here are my new ones. They all suck, but I might as well put them out there.

Spoiler:

PrankSW.png

Thief!

great minds think alike eh?

Woah! They're exactly the same! I had forgotten about yours.
Sorry about that!

[SoapyHobo]

Several minutes later all four guys pulled journals out.

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[philsov]

I want there to be a way to say you're part of that secret club of people who it's all right to smile at on the metro, something that makes okay those random conversations in a bookstore, something that helps shy people make that secret connection that's nothing more than finding out that someone else is wandering through this world with the same hopes and uncertainties as you.

Spoiler:

xkcdsw1.PNG (57.91 KiB) Viewed 2534 times

Hey, what are the odds -- five xkcd fans on the same train! Must be going to a meet up.

And then I made this one slightly worse with punchline copy/paste!

Spoiler:

xkcdsw2.PNG (57.43 KiB) Viewed 2518 times

[OBrien]

Spoiler:

Alt. text: So I have to get on a bus-replacement service, delaying my journey, then get on a train which will most likely be delayed, then wait on a ridiculously hot train in the middle of a fucking tunnel, 10 meters from the fucking station because the train in front hasn't left yet because it's fucking delayed!

Alt. alt. text: I blame Thatcher for this

sheeplesw.png (43.25 KiB) Viewed 2518 times

True story.

[Mr Jack]

Spoiler:

Alt-text: Not to mention "fuck the zero vector." I made that one too.

sheeple.jpg (28.58 KiB) Viewed 2446 times

[rnew]

Spoiler:

sheeplesw.png

True story.

True True story.
Fucking London Underground

[Whelan]

Spoiler:

sheeplesw.png

True story.

True True story.
Fucking London Underground

I was quite lucky, the last time I was on the underground was about a week before this year's 'Summer' so I narrowly avoided dying.

[Nemphael]

Spoiler:

sheeplesw.png

True story.

True True story.
Fucking London Underground

Right next to the regular one.

[Blinke]

Sources: 483 and 77.

Spoiler:

I wish this was real.

google_earth.JPG (91.39 KiB) Viewed 2341 times

[asad137]

Sources: 483 and 77.

Spoiler:

google_earth.JPG

Win. Best one I've seen in a long time.

Asad

[Cytoplasm]

It's a little hard to follow I guess..but I think this is my first one:

Spoiler:

Yeah..>.<

itt_fora_game.JPG (69.64 KiB) Viewed 2260 times

598, 146, 308, 566, 515.

[sophyturtle]

I like it.

[LuNatic]

Sources: 483 and 77.

Spoiler:

google_earth.JPG

Truly Epic.

[Cytoplasm]

I like it.

thank you ^^!

[Ended]

Source: 610

Spoiler:

Alternate punchline: In the future, sex is a lot different.

head_mallows.png (37.36 KiB) Viewed 2167 times

@operator[]: very nice work on the font!

[Mr Jack]

Source: 610

Spoiler:

head_mallows.png

Love the title-text especially!

[DanielR]

Spoiler:

Source: #612

You're also driving without a license plate, your left rear view mirror is missing, and one of your tires seems to be low on pressure.

estimation_xkcdsw.png (20.66 KiB) Viewed 2011 times

[BHSPitMonkey]

My first attempt, based on http://xkcd.com/328/. Apologies if the joke's been used already (it probably has).

Spoiler:

I guess we have something in common!

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