While working on something else, I noticed that some of the hinting metadata had gone out of sync between Source Sans instance UFOs and the adjacent fontinfo files. Attempting a fix, I realized that 2 stem values per hinting direction seemed improbable.
For example, the ExtraLight style used to have V32, V48, H28, H40.
psstemhist -a -g A-Z,a-z font.ufo gives us
Vertical Stem List for Roman/Instances/ExtraLight/font.ufo
count width glyphs
37 32 [B D E F G H I J K L M P R S T U Y a b c d e g o p q s]
26 30 [M N U a b d e f h i j k l m n p q r t u]
9 34 [C D G O P Q R]
Horizontal Stem List for /Roman/Instances/ExtraLight/font.ufo
count width glyphs
57 28 [A B D E F G H L M P R T Z a b c d e f g h j l m n o p q s t u z]
15 30 [C G J O Q S U r w y]
3 32 [Q g v]
My conclusion is that the V48 and H40 stems are superfluous here.
The Black style (where more contrast is seen) used to have V172, V176, H134, H144.
psstemhist -a -g A-Z,a-z font.ufo gives us
Vertical Stem List for /Roman/Instances/Black/font.ufo
count width glyphs
35 172 [B D E F H I J K L P R T U Y a b d f h i j l m n p q r t u]
15 176 [C D G O Q S b c d o p q]
4 168 [B P R]
4 164 [N a g]
Horizontal Stem List for /Roman/Instances/Black/font.ufo
count width glyphs
11 148 [C G J O Q S U]
9 144 [E F L T Z]
9 140 [G b d p q]
8 138 [D c l o w]
8 134 [f j t y z]
6 136 [P Q R a]
The 4-unit difference between V172 and V176 is small, so I think a single V172 stem can handle all.
I kept H144 around, to represent the vast majority of stems found in the top 3 glyph groups.
It all is a little less granular now, and possibly you may have objections – but I think keeping it simple is worth a try.
Beyond updating the stems in the adjacent fontinfo files, some shifted alignment zones were also corrected.
While working on something else, I noticed that some of the hinting metadata had gone out of sync between Source Sans instance UFOs and the adjacent fontinfo files. Attempting a fix, I realized that 2 stem values per hinting direction seemed improbable.
For example, the ExtraLight style used to have
V32,V48,H28,H40.psstemhist -a -g A-Z,a-z font.ufogives usMy conclusion is that the
V48andH40stems are superfluous here.The Black style (where more contrast is seen) used to have
V172,V176,H134,H144.psstemhist -a -g A-Z,a-z font.ufogives usThe 4-unit difference between
V172andV176is small, so I think a singleV172stem can handle all. I keptH144around, to represent the vast majority of stems found in the top 3 glyph groups.It all is a little less granular now, and possibly you may have objections – but I think keeping it simple is worth a try.
Beyond updating the stems in the adjacent fontinfo files, some shifted alignment zones were also corrected.