script to make font as a grid in plain text?

I need to generate, from a truetype (Unicode) font a
pattern of the font in a certain size. Basically to get a
"grid" of the font, best in a selected size.

There are examples here
http://czyborra.com/unifont/

but how to use scripts are not fully clear to me.


What I need is an outcome that is similar to

4E21:
----------------
----------------
-#############--
-------#--------
-------#--------
--###########---
--#----#----#---
--#-#--#--#-#---
--#-#--#--#-#---
--#-#--#--#-#---
--#-#--#--#-#---
--#-#######-#---
--#-#-----#-#---
--#---------#---
--#--------##---
----------------

... and to be able to generate this type of pattern for
any range of unicode characters, such as
0400 .. 04FF or similar.


Is there a script / module somewhere to do such thing ?

Re: script to make font as a grid in plain text?

T wrote:
> I need to generate, from a truetype (Unicode) font a
> [bitmap] pattern of the font in a certain size.

>
> Is there a script / module somewhere to do such thing ?
>

It seems unlikely to me. It looks like a rather rare and arcane sort of
requirement. Wouldn't you have to pass the font data through a Truetype
rendering engine so that the font's hinting algorithms are processed? If
the rendering engine doesn't have a method that delivers bitmap data to
a normal IO stream then I guess you'd have to display it and scrape the
bitmap off the display. If I was doing this I wouldn't pick Perl.

Just my two U+00A2 worth. Just because it seems unlikely to an ignorant
oaf like me doesn't mean that such a script/module doesn't exist. :-)

Re: script to make font as a grid in plain text?

RedGrittyBrick wrote:
> T wrote:
>=20
>> I need to generate, from a truetype (Unicode) font a
>> [bitmap] pattern of the font in a certain size.=20
>=20
>=20
>>
>> Is there a script / module somewhere to do such thing ?
>>
>=20
> It seems unlikely to me. It looks like a rather rare and arcane sort of=
=20
> requirement. Wouldn't you have to pass the font data through a Truetype=
=20
> rendering engine so that the font's hinting algorithms are processed? I=
f=20
> the rendering engine doesn't have a method that delivers bitmap data to=
=20
> a normal IO stream then I guess you'd have to display it and scrape the=
=20
> bitmap off the display. If I was doing this I wouldn't pick Perl.

Untested:
Maybe you could use the ImageMagik packages to render the character into =

an image that you then load and dump.

--=20
These are my personal views and not those of Fujitsu Siemens Computers!
Josef Möllers (Pinguinpfleger bei FSC)
If failure had no penalty success would not be a prize (T. Pratchett)
Company Details: http://www.fujitsu-siemens.com/imprint.html

Re: script to make font as a grid in plain text?

RedGrittyBrick wrote in news:47332e6b$0
$21088$da0feed9@news.zen.co.uk:


> It seems unlikely to me. It looks like a rather rare and arcane sort of
> requirement. Wouldn't you have to pass the font data through a Truetype
> rendering engine so that the font's hinting algorithms are processed?

That may be another way. Where do I ask how it's done (as a simple
example)?

All I need to have "Font X" rendered in a certain size onto a grid,
to be used in an ANSI C application.

You are welcome to mail me personally, just remove numbers from the mail.

Thank you.