Converting fonts with FontForge using the command line on macOS

FontForge is a powerful tool for creating and editing fonts. It is available for multiple platforms, including macOS, Windows, and Linux, and can be run programmatically from the command line.

On macOS, FontForge is installed in the /Applications/FontForge.app directory. When running FontForge scripts from the command line, the FontForge executable must be used which is located at /Applications/FontForge.app/Contents/MacOS/FontForge.

FontForge scripts can be written either in Python (-lang=py) or using FontForge's native scripting language (-lang=ff or -lang=pe). Another way to specify the scripting language is to set the FONTFORGE_LANGUAGE environment variable.

Below is a complete example of using the FontForge CLI to convert a TTF font to an SVG font that relies on FontForge's native scripting:

See also

• Chemical kerning - Improving the appearance of chemical structures by carefully adjusting the spacing between atoms and bonds.
• Awesome Metafont - A curated list of awesome resources on Metafont.
• Computer Modern Playground - An interactive demo of the Computer Modern metafont.
• The nine best fonts of all time - The list of my top nine favorite fonts.
• Timeless fonts I grew up with - A nostalgic journey into the fonts that shaped my perspective growing up and continue to be my source of inspiration.
• COLRv1 to SVG - Convert COLRv1 fonts to SVG.
• Awesome font engineering - A curated list of awesome resources on font engineering.
• Awesome typography - A curated list of awesome resources on typography.
• Typography quotes - A collection of quotes about typography.
• Typography Crossword - A daily crossword puzzle for typographical terms.
• Fonts pronunciation guide - A pronunciation guide for the names of fonts.
• Typographers and type designers pronunciation guide - A pronunciation guide to the names of typographers and type designers.
• Emoji fonts - Compare and test different emoji fonts.