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Orach Technic Pro 1L fonts

After nearly forty years devoted to one-line fonts, I have begun to wonder whether this page is still needed on our website.

When I began developing my first engraving fonts in the early 1990s, high-quality one-line fonts were virtually nonexistent.
Since suitable font editors did not exist either, I developed my own font editor together with my own font format – .eff (Engraving Font Format).

This page will now become More About One-Line Engraving Fonts, where the complete story will be presented.
The reason is simple: Orach Technic Pro – Thin has solved all of the fundamental problems associated with traditional one-line fonts,
and for more than two decades we have used it as a complete replacement for conventional one-line engraving fonts.

This page is therefore no longer intended as a recommendation for using traditional one-line fonts as the primary solution for engraving.
Instead, it explains the history of the problem and how engraving fonts have evolved over time.
Traditional one-line fonts still have their place in many CAD and engraving systems, which is why Orach Technic Pro 1L Pass-1 and Pass-2 available as specialized solutions.
However, for modern CAD, graphic design and engraving workflows, Orach Technic Pro – Thin has been our standard and proven solution for more than twenty years.

These two fonts are not sold separately but are available exclusively to users of the Orach Technic Pro family.
They are supplied without technical support. Their development required an enormous amount of manual work, as all 4,845 characters
had to be created individually rather than generated automatically. Providing reliable compatibility information for the many CAD, graphic design, CNC and
engraving applications, available today would require continuous testing across numerous software versions - something that goes far beyond the scope of this project.

If you are entering the world of engraving for the first time today, I hope this page will save you the many years
of searching, experimenting, and trial and error that my generation had to go through.

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Terms such as One Line, Single Line, and Single Stroke Engraving Font are commonly used, but they do not always describe the same type of font.
Their meaning often depends on the software, the font developer, or the specific application.

Although these fonts may look identical on the screen and in graphic applications, they are not always identical in CNC engraving and laser applications.
Some fonts produce a true single toolpath, while others require two separate toolpaths, which often confuses users.

To avoid confusion, we use our own clearly defined terms:
Orach Technic Pro 1L - Pass-1 OTF
Orach Technic Pro 1L - Pass-2 OTF

We provide these fonts under the same family name, and they appear that way in the font selection panel.
Both share the same character design and engraving geometry. The difference lies only in the engraving method:
Pass-1 uses a single pass, while Pass-2 uses two separate passes.

Single-line engraving fonts can be implemented in the OpenType format only as special hybrid solutions.
As a result, they do not fully conform to the original purpose of the OpenType standard and may exhibit certain limitations or compatibility issues
in some graphic, CAD/CAM, and CNC applications. For many users, however, these limitations are acceptable in practice.

For example, Orach Technic Pro 1L - Pass-1 cannot be used reliably in general graphic applications such as Adobe Illustrator or CorelDRAW,
because these programs automatically connect the first and last segments of each character, changing the intended geometry.
However, some engraving and CNC software is specifically designed to recognize this type of font and avoids closing these paths.
In such applications, Orach Technic Pro 1L - Pass-1 works exactly as intended.

The fact that this type of font works correctly in some applications but not in others
is the main reason why we do not generally recommend it as our primary solution.

Orach Technic Pro 1L - Pass-1 was developed for users whose engraving software supports true single-pass fonts.
Unfortunately, support for this type of font is not consistent across different applications.
While some engraving and CNC programs handle it correctly, many graphic applications and CAD systems do not.
For this reason, we recommend this font only to users who have verified that their software fully supports this type of font.

Fonts Pass-1 and Pass-2 are hybrid OpenType (.OTF) solutions and may exhibit application-specific limitations depending on how
individual programs interpret their geometry, although the text itself remains readable.

Programs interpret overlapping geometry although the text itself remains readable. For example:
When Pass-2 converted to outlines in Adobe Illustrator, the characters are generated correctly and can be exported for use in other applications.

Both of these fonts were developed as specialized alternatives to our standard Orach Technic Pro – Thin font,
which already provides a reliable solution for virtually all engraving and marking applications in CNC and laser technology.

Orach Technic Pro 1L - Pass-1 may offer an advantage in high-volume CNC engraving of plastic parts
where a true single engraving pass can reduce machining time.
In practice, however, this is a relatively rare requirement and is supported by only a limited number of engraving software systems.

Orach Technic Pro - Pass-2 may be beneficial when producing extremely small text (around 1mm high)
that is designed in graphic applications before being transferred to engraving systems.

* For specialized engraving software that supports its own native font formats and font editors
we also offer the complete Orach Technic 1L character set with all 5,845 glyphs.
The complete character set and technical information are available at the links below.

Orach Technic 1L - Pass 1 and Pass 2, Video Ploter

One line Orach Technic Pro
About One Line Font

Orach Technic Pro 1L - Pass-1 OTF
Orach Technic Pro 1L - Pass-2 OTF

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