Slitscan Type Generator

Script Updated

In the previous version of the Slitscan script (below), the bottoms of all the letterforms were aligned and the coloring of the slices gradated from the outside to the inside. In this version of the script (above), the bottoms of the letterforms are not aligned, but use the font’s baseline position. This gives a better representation of the diversity of type designs. I have also randomized the coloring of the slices.

I created an Illustrator script that types a letter (in this case, ‘J’ & ‘K’) using every font installed on a computer. It aligns all the letters and then cuts slices out of each letter based on width. The collections are the results of 18 computers that friends and I tried this on. They range from 97 to 6607 fonts.

If you’d like to try this on your computer:

Pre-requisites:

1. Adobe Illustrator CS, CS2, or CS3. If you are using CS4, please down-save the files to CS3 before sending. In the event of any error, let me know exactly what happened and I can try to debug.
2. Some patience (amount depends on size of font collection)
3. Willingness to e-mail me the two files when you are done
4. Acceptance that this may produce an error and not work for you the first time

How to use the Slitscan type generator (as verbosely as I can think) :

1. Download the Slitscan zip file
2. Unzip it. This will extract two files: a jpeg of what your output should look like, and a javascript file (.jsx) that Illustrator will use.
3. Open Illustrator
4. Go to the ‘File’ Menu and choose ‘Scripts’ >> ‘Other Scripts…’
5. Navigate to the unzipped javascript file titled ‘Slitscan-v1_1.jsx’ and select it.
6. Wait
7. When an alert pops up telling you how many fonts Illustrator thinks you have, click ‘OK‘
8. There will be two files that remain open in Illustrator and should look similar to the jpeg file. Look at them if you feel so inclined, but don’t touch! If you are using CS4, please down-save the files to CS3 before sending!
9. Close the files
10. Navigate to your home folder or do a search for ‘Slitscan’
11. There should be two files with the prefix ‘Slitscan-’ in your home folder
12. If you can, zip or stuff them into one archive file.
13. E-mail me the archive file. Please use ‘Slitscan’ as the subject line (this way I should see it if my e-mail program labels as spam).
14. Wait again
15. I run another set of scripts on this file which will get a final result.
16. I will e-mail you the two files back so you can have them for posterity’s sake. You are free to use them however and wherever you like as well.
17. Bask in the warm feeling that you are a vital component of this project