FontForge (previously known as Pfaedit) is an open source font editor, software designed to create and modify outline and bitmap fonts.
FontForge is also a font format converter, and can convert among PostScript (ASCII & binary Type 1, some Type 3s, some Type 0s), TrueType, and OpenType (Type2), CID-keyed, SVG, CFF and multiple-master fonts.
FontForge uses FreeType for rendering fonts on screen. Fonts that have been created with FontForge include DejaVu fonts, Linux Libertine, Beteckna, and Asana-Math.
Also included with FontForge are programs to generate a font thumbnail image, check for certain common errors and to compare two font files (fontimage, fontlint, and sfddiff respectively).
Key Features
- Create or edit glyphs.
- Supports many font formats, including TrueType, PostScript, OpenType, SVG, FON, FNT, Web Open Font Format, and TeX Bitmap fonts.
- Supports Adobe’s OpenType feature file specification.
- Supports the unofficial Microsoft mathematical typesetting extensions (MATH table).
- Convert fonts from one format to another, or can store fonts in its native text-based “spline font database” format (.sfd).
- Uses Potrace or AutoTrace to trace bitmap images and import them into a font.
- 2 scripting languages.
- Internationalization support: (English), Russian, Japanese, French, Italian, Spanish, Vietnamese, Greek, Simplified & Traditional Chinese, German, Polish, and Ukrainian.
Website: fontforge.org
Support: Documentation, GitHub Code Repository
Developer: George Williams
License: Revised BSD License
FontForge is written in C. Learn C with our recommended free books and free tutorials.
Related Software
| Font Editors | |
|---|---|
| FontForge | Create and modify postscript, truetype and opentype fonts |
| fontTools | Library to manipulate font files from Python |
| Birdfont | Vala based font editor |
| Glyphr Studio | Aimed at typeface design beginners and hobbyists |
| Fontra | Browser-based font editor |
| ftcli | Command line interface built with click to edit fonts using fontTools |
| Ygt | Graphical TypeType hinting program |
| Slice | Create custom font design spaces |
| TruFont | Streamlined and hackable font editor |
| monobit | Collection of tools for working with bitmap fonts |
| Modular Font Editor K | Glyph editor for the Modular Font Editor K project |
| bited | Bitmap font editor for monochrome Unicode BDF fonts |
Read our verdict in the software roundup.
| Font Renderers | |
|---|---|
| HarfBuzz | OpenType text shaping engine |
| FreeType | Small and efficient software font engine |
| Pango | International text layout and rendering with rich script support |
| LibICU | Libraries for Unicode and internationalization |
| Fontconfig | Library for configuring and customizing font access |
| COSMIC Text | Rust library for rich multi-line text layout, shaping and editing |
| FriBidi | Implementation of the Unicode Bidirectional Algorithm |
| Swash | Pure Rust toolkit for glyph shaping, scaling and rendering |
| SheenBidi | Compact Unicode bidirectional algorithm implementation for text engines |
| Raqm | Bidirectional layout and shaping for complex writing systems |
Read our verdict in the software roundup.
 LinuxLinks helps you discover the best free and open source software for Linux. Explore our extensive collection of recommended applications, including alternatives to popular proprietary software.We also publish software reviews, Linux tutorials, hardware reviews, free programming books and articles covering the wider open source community. Browse our Linux resources to discover more. Know a useful free and open source Linux application we haven't covered? Suggest a program for inclusion. Has your software been featured on LinuxLinks? Display one of our Featured on LinuxLinks badges on your website or GitHub README. |
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Beteckna was created with Birdfont