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Orach Technic CJK MANIFEST
Orach Technic Pro was created more than 35 years ago from a simple need
a reliable technical multilingual typeface suitable for engraving.From that modest technical requirement it grew into a large typographic system,
a font that today can write more than 1,600 languages.
In its early years, Orach Technic Pro had neither a manifesto nor a protocol.
Everything developed spontaneously during the work itself construction, proportions, and principles changed countless times.
Every new writing system required some reform of the existing one.
When work on the Arabic script began, much of what had already been built had to be corrected.
Through decades of refinement, the present form emerged: version 6.35, containing 5,845 characters in three styles.
With the knowledge we possess today in this field, the entire process could be completed much faster
but by nature, a person reaches the greatest clarity only at the end of the journey.
There is a great difference between developing letters within one or two related alphabets
and working on completely different scripts, such as Latin, Arabic, and Indic.
Large teams of designers normally work on such systems, and even then someone must synchronize them.
That synchronization determines the quality of a multilingual typeface.
We would have finished Orach Technic Pro long ago had there been no need to harmonize so many writing systems.
Up to version 6.35 (6.352), the font contains:
Latin — 7 versions, Cyrillic — 8, Greek — 34 versions, Hebrew — 19, Arabic — 8, Devanagari — 9, Armenian — 3 versions, etc.
All this shows how much work has been invested and why it took so long to reach the form the font has today.
Although this was not the original intention, over time it became clear that a single-line writing system is excellent for technical use
and even as a primary script in education, which gives it much broader application than CNC and laser engraving.
The font was originally single-line and intended for our CNC machines and plotters, but in the mid-1990s three additional styles
were added — Thin, Light and Regular — able to satisfy the needs of technical drawing and graphic preparation.
One of its greatest advantages is the possibility of symmetrical work in both graphics and CNC machining
something unique in the field of technical lettering.
Since the mid-1990s, type design became our main activity, financed by our companies Uncijal and InfoFORM.
Because the fonts were never sold, we did not present ourselves as a type foundry, although we were formally registered as one.
The reason is simple: we believed the font must be continuously improved.
Here I must note something important: had this work been done by any of the major world type foundries (without naming them),
we as a relatively small company would never have taken on such a task.
As stated in the FAQ on our website, type foundries do not employ mechanical engineers specializing in CNC engraving systems;
therefore this type of work lies outside their interest and knowledge.
The most powerful technical program — AutoCAD — abandoned font development long ago,
considering it the responsibility of designers. Independent designers, on the other hand, are not interested in technical fonts
strict rules apply, which they neither know nor want to follow. All this strengthened my determination to carry the project to completion.
This must be stated, briefly yet clearly — to explain how the Orach Technic CJK Manifest came into existence.
Just as Orach Technic Pro has no equivalent on the world market, there is no comparable system in CJK
(Chinese, Japanese, Korean) typography.
Although the Chinese script — the foundation of the CJK system — is more than 3,000 years old,
it still does not offer a solution of this type.
This is entirely logical. CNC machines capable of engraving (not counting prototypes and early experiments) began to be used around
1985, and after 1990 experienced rapid development.
Engraving fonts of that time were extremely primitive, so we had to begin our own development in 1988.
In China, mass production of CNC machines truly expanded only after 2000, and after 2010 became a revolution of hyper-production.
From that period we became owners of Engraving PORTAL, the most popular engraving website, presenting global manufacturers
and more than 500 producers in China. Today we hold an archive of around 1,000 CNC and laser engraving manufacturers in China.
Why is this important?
In order to list these companies on Engraving PORTAL, we had to communicate with each of them, obtain machine and software catalogs.
This gave us the opportunity to ask about fonts as well. For most, the question was surprising: “We sell machines, not fonts.”
Their software usually included a few basic fonts — the same situation found worldwide.
China has major type foundries such as FounderType, and Japan has Morisawa with its century-long history
but neither offers a system like ours, a font capable of engraving precisely what it displays, without additional conversion.
This is not simply a matter of visual form, but of the writing system and construction principle that make such functionality possible.
Everything previously mentioned encouraged us to consider developing a CJK font under the same principles as Orach Technic Pro
as a separate typeface, yet familiar in its structural logic. Practically, regardless of whether a text began
in English, Arabic, Indic or another script and continued with the CJK extension,
it would appear as if written by one person with consistent handwriting.
During 2025 these considerations grew into a serious study of the graphic structure of CJK writing,
leading to this Orach Technic CJK Manifest a presentation of our plan and protocol for constructing the font.
Unlike 1988, when our work was somewhat improvised, today we know exactly what we intend to create.
We now have stronger computing resources and access to the world’s best CJK fonts
which we will compare visually, without using their digital outlines, drawing everything manually as with Orach Technic Pro.
In typography it is often said that the best fonts arise from studying existing ones; this will greatly accelerate development.
We also state the following:
Unicode Standard version 17 (2025) defines approximately 102,000 CJK Unified Ideographs.
When an analysis is carried out of what is actually used by 99% of these three nations,
the number obtained is 7.740 characters, which will form the foundation of our future script, Orach Technic CJK.
More details on this can be found on our page “The CJK Unified Character Set.”
* * *
a reliable technical multilingual typeface suitable for engraving.From that modest technical requirement it grew into a large typographic system,
a font that today can write more than 1,600 languages.
In its early years, Orach Technic Pro had neither a manifesto nor a protocol.
Everything developed spontaneously during the work itself construction, proportions, and principles changed countless times.
Every new writing system required some reform of the existing one.
When work on the Arabic script began, much of what had already been built had to be corrected.
Through decades of refinement, the present form emerged: version 6.35, containing 5,845 characters in three styles.
With the knowledge we possess today in this field, the entire process could be completed much faster
but by nature, a person reaches the greatest clarity only at the end of the journey.
There is a great difference between developing letters within one or two related alphabets
and working on completely different scripts, such as Latin, Arabic, and Indic.
Large teams of designers normally work on such systems, and even then someone must synchronize them.
That synchronization determines the quality of a multilingual typeface.
We would have finished Orach Technic Pro long ago had there been no need to harmonize so many writing systems.
Up to version 6.35 (6.352), the font contains:
Latin — 7 versions, Cyrillic — 8, Greek — 34 versions, Hebrew — 19, Arabic — 8, Devanagari — 9, Armenian — 3 versions, etc.
All this shows how much work has been invested and why it took so long to reach the form the font has today.
Although this was not the original intention, over time it became clear that a single-line writing system is excellent for technical use
and even as a primary script in education, which gives it much broader application than CNC and laser engraving.
The font was originally single-line and intended for our CNC machines and plotters, but in the mid-1990s three additional styles
were added — Thin, Light and Regular — able to satisfy the needs of technical drawing and graphic preparation.
One of its greatest advantages is the possibility of symmetrical work in both graphics and CNC machining
something unique in the field of technical lettering.
Since the mid-1990s, type design became our main activity, financed by our companies Uncijal and InfoFORM.
Because the fonts were never sold, we did not present ourselves as a type foundry, although we were formally registered as one.
The reason is simple: we believed the font must be continuously improved.
Here I must note something important: had this work been done by any of the major world type foundries (without naming them),
we as a relatively small company would never have taken on such a task.
As stated in the FAQ on our website, type foundries do not employ mechanical engineers specializing in CNC engraving systems;
therefore this type of work lies outside their interest and knowledge.
The most powerful technical program — AutoCAD — abandoned font development long ago,
considering it the responsibility of designers. Independent designers, on the other hand, are not interested in technical fonts
strict rules apply, which they neither know nor want to follow. All this strengthened my determination to carry the project to completion.
This must be stated, briefly yet clearly — to explain how the Orach Technic CJK Manifest came into existence.
Just as Orach Technic Pro has no equivalent on the world market, there is no comparable system in CJK
(Chinese, Japanese, Korean) typography.
Although the Chinese script — the foundation of the CJK system — is more than 3,000 years old,
it still does not offer a solution of this type.
This is entirely logical. CNC machines capable of engraving (not counting prototypes and early experiments) began to be used around
1985, and after 1990 experienced rapid development.
Engraving fonts of that time were extremely primitive, so we had to begin our own development in 1988.
In China, mass production of CNC machines truly expanded only after 2000, and after 2010 became a revolution of hyper-production.
From that period we became owners of Engraving PORTAL, the most popular engraving website, presenting global manufacturers
and more than 500 producers in China. Today we hold an archive of around 1,000 CNC and laser engraving manufacturers in China.
Why is this important?
In order to list these companies on Engraving PORTAL, we had to communicate with each of them, obtain machine and software catalogs.
This gave us the opportunity to ask about fonts as well. For most, the question was surprising: “We sell machines, not fonts.”
Their software usually included a few basic fonts — the same situation found worldwide.
China has major type foundries such as FounderType, and Japan has Morisawa with its century-long history
but neither offers a system like ours, a font capable of engraving precisely what it displays, without additional conversion.
This is not simply a matter of visual form, but of the writing system and construction principle that make such functionality possible.
Everything previously mentioned encouraged us to consider developing a CJK font under the same principles as Orach Technic Pro
as a separate typeface, yet familiar in its structural logic. Practically, regardless of whether a text began
in English, Arabic, Indic or another script and continued with the CJK extension,
it would appear as if written by one person with consistent handwriting.
During 2025 these considerations grew into a serious study of the graphic structure of CJK writing,
leading to this Orach Technic CJK Manifest a presentation of our plan and protocol for constructing the font.
Unlike 1988, when our work was somewhat improvised, today we know exactly what we intend to create.
We now have stronger computing resources and access to the world’s best CJK fonts
which we will compare visually, without using their digital outlines, drawing everything manually as with Orach Technic Pro.
In typography it is often said that the best fonts arise from studying existing ones; this will greatly accelerate development.
We also state the following:
Unicode Standard version 17 (2025) defines approximately 102,000 CJK Unified Ideographs.
When an analysis is carried out of what is actually used by 99% of these three nations,
the number obtained is 7.740 characters, which will form the foundation of our future script, Orach Technic CJK.
More details on this can be found on our page “The CJK Unified Character Set.”
* * *