Variable Font Overlay

Variable Font Overlay is a plugin for Glyphs 3 that lets you preview any position in a variable-font designspace directly in Edit View.

Use the sliders in the Palette to explore your font’s axes. The interpolated result appears as a colored, translucent overlay, so you can compare it with the glyphs you are editing without switching masters or creating temporary instances.

What you can do

• Preview arbitrary combinations of all variable axes in the current font.
• Adjust axis values with sliders or enter exact values directly.
• Compare an interpolation with the current master in Edit View.
• Preview paths, components, open paths, and surrounding glyphs.
• Change the overlay color and opacity.
• Reset every axis to the current master with one click.
• Toggle the overlay from the Palette, the View menu, or a keyboard shortcut.

Preview

Requirements

• Glyphs 3.2 or later
• A font with at least one variable axis and compatible masters

Installation

1. Download the latest ZIP from Releases.
2. Unzip the download.
3. Double-click Variable Font Overlay.glyphsPlugin and confirm the installation in Glyphs.
4. Restart Glyphs.

Usage

1. Open a variable font project and enter Edit View.
2. Choose Window → Palette if the Palette is not already visible.
3. Expand Variable Font Overlay.
4. Enable Show overlay.
5. Move an axis slider or enter a value in its number field.

The overlay follows the axis values immediately. Its color and opacity are shown at the bottom of the Palette and are remembered after you restart Glyphs.

Choose Reset to Current Master to return all sliders to the location of the master you are editing.

Menu and keyboard shortcut

You can also toggle the preview from:

View → Variable Font Overlay

The default shortcut is:

Control–Option–V

Troubleshooting

The Palette is not visible

Choose Window → Palette, then look for Variable Font Overlay in the right sidebar.

No axis controls appear

Make sure the current font has axes configured in File → Font Info → Font → Axes and that its masters have axis values.

The plugin does not appear after installation

Restart Glyphs completely. If macOS blocks the plugin, right-click it in Finder, choose Open, and confirm the prompt.

License

Copyright 2026 alikia2x.

Licensed under the Apache License 2.0.