Overview
This is a yellow warning. You can safely submit your fonts even if this appears, but it is still important to understand what causes it and how to fix it.
If you see this warning, it means that some of the paths in your font are overlapping. Overlaps can lead to unexpected rendering results on customer devices and may increase your file size. Cleaning these up gives you a more reliable and efficient font file.
Why this happens
When the paths that form a glyph intersect or overlap each other, the system flags it. Scripted drawing, auto-tracing, or combining contours without merging them are common causes.
How to fix it
The straightforward fix is to remove overlapping paths.
Option 1: Remove Overlap in your design file
- Select all glyphs.
- In Glyphs App, go to Filter > Remove Overlap.
This quickly resolves most issues.
Option 2: Remove Overlap at export
If you prefer to keep your working file untouched, you can remove overlaps only during export.
- Open the Export dialog in Glyphs.
- Enable Remove Overlap.
This lets you work non-destructively while ensuring your production font exports cleanly.
Option 3: Use a custom parameter
You can also automate the process:
- Go to File > Font Info > Instances.
- Add a Filter parameter.
- Set its value to “Remove Overlap”.
Special case: Variable fonts
Variable fonts often need overlapping or intersecting paths to function correctly. If you are building a variable font, you can ignore this warning.