“Ghost hints” are special settings used under specific conditions in PostScript hinting. The name is cool, so if you have a chance, try to slip it into the conversation casually.

Normal horizontal hints are used to arrange strokes in the horizontal direction (horizontal stems) of characters to the desired position. However, horizontal hints cannot be specified for characters that do not have horizontal stems, such as the uppercase letter “I” in sans-serif typeface. In cases like these, ghost hints are used.

Ghost hints are set as horizontal hints with special negative values. By placing one at the top or bottom edge of the character, it makes the rasterizer recognize that “there is no stem with width here, but there is an edge that should be controlled by the alignment zone.”

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