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# FreeType-2.14.2 API Reference

# Table of Contents

## General Remarks

Preamble | What FreeType is and isn't
FreeType's header inclusion scheme | How client applications should include FreeType header files.
User allocation | How client applications should allocate FreeType data structures.

## Core API

Basic Data Types | The basic data types defined by the library.
Library Setup | Functions to start and end the usage of the FreeType library.
Face Creation | Functions to manage fonts.
Font Testing Macros | Macros to test various properties of fonts.
Sizing and Scaling | Functions to manage font sizes.
Glyph Retrieval | Functions to manage glyphs.
Character Mapping | Functions to manage character-to-glyph maps.
Information Retrieval | Functions to retrieve font and glyph information.
Other API Data | Other structures, enumerations, and macros.

## Extended API

Unicode Variation Sequences | The FreeType 2 interface to Unicode Variation Sequences (UVS), using the SFNT cmap format 14.
Glyph Color Management | Retrieving and manipulating OpenType's ‘CPAL’ table data.
Glyph Layer Management | Retrieving and manipulating OpenType's ‘COLR’ table data.
Glyph Management | Generic interface to manage individual glyph data.
Mac Specific Interface | Only available on the Macintosh.
Size Management | Managing multiple sizes per face.
Header File Macros | Macro definitions used to `#include` specific header files.

## Format-Specific API

OpenType Font Variations, TrueType GX, and Adobe MM Fonts | How to manage variable fonts with multiple design axes.
TrueType Tables | TrueType-specific table types and functions.
Type 1 Tables | Type 1-specific font tables.
SFNT Names | Access the names embedded in TrueType and OpenType files.
BDF and PCF Files | BDF and PCF specific API.
CID Fonts | CID-keyed font-specific API.
PFR Fonts | PFR/TrueDoc-specific API.
Window FNT Files | Windows FNT-specific API.
OpenType SVG Fonts | OT-SVG API between FreeType and an external SVG rendering library.
Font Formats | Getting the font format.
Gasp Table | Retrieving TrueType ‘gasp’ table entries.

## Controlling FreeType Modules

The auto-hinter | Controlling the auto-hinting module.
The CFF driver | Controlling the CFF driver module.
The Type 1 and CID drivers | Controlling the Type 1 and CID driver modules.
The TrueType driver | Controlling the TrueType driver module.
The PCF driver | Controlling the PCF driver module.
The SVG driver | Controlling the external rendering of OT-SVG glyphs.
Driver properties | Controlling driver modules.
Parameter Tags | Macros for driver property and font loading parameter tags.
Subpixel Rendering | API to control subpixel rendering.

## Cache Sub-System

Cache Sub-System | How to cache face, size, and glyph data with FreeType 2.

## Support API

Computations | Crunching fixed numbers and vectors.
List Processing | Simple management of lists.
Outline Processing | Functions to create, transform, and render vectorial glyph images.
Quick retrieval of advance values | Retrieve horizontal and vertical advance values without processing glyph outlines, if possible.
Bitmap Handling | Handling FT_Bitmap objects.
Scanline Converter | How vectorial outlines are converted into bitmaps and pixmaps.
Glyph Stroker | Generating bordered and stroked glyphs.
System Interface | How FreeType manages memory and i/o.
Module Management | How to add, upgrade, remove, and control modules from FreeType.
GZIP Streams | Using gzip-compressed font files.
LZW Streams | Using LZW-compressed font files.
BZIP2 Streams | Using bzip2-compressed font files.
External Debugging APIs | Public APIs to control the `FT_DEBUG_LOGGING` macro.

## Error Codes

Error Enumerations | How to handle errors and error strings.
Error Code Values | All possible error codes returned by FreeType functions.

## Miscellaneous

TrueTypeGX/AAT Validation | An API to validate TrueTypeGX/AAT tables.
Incremental Loading | Custom Glyph Loading.
The TrueType Engine | TrueType bytecode support.
OpenType Validation | An API to validate OpenType tables.

## Global Index

generated on Sun Mar 1 13:59:35 2026 UTC