BDF Font to C Array Converter

This is a simple Python program meant to convert glyphs from BDF (Bitmap Distribution Format) font file into a C array.

Main purpose of this program is generation of fonts for 128x64 OLED displays.

Workflow is semi-manual, no console interface has been made. Settings must be adjusted by user in code.

Features

• Output is a sorted C array of structs with comments
• Characters have UTF-16 encoding
• Support for large multi-row glyphs, in row-major or column-major draw order
• Configurable padding/trimming, rotation/mirroring

Requirements

• Python 3.10+
• bdfparser Python library (can be installed from requirements.txt)

Installation

1. Clone the repository

   git clone --recursive https://github.com/yourusername/bdf-to-c-array.git
   cd bdf-to-c-array

2. Create virtual environment

   Windows

   python -m venv .venv
   

   Linux, MacOS

   python3 -m venv .venv
   

3. Activate virtual environment

   Windows

   .venv/Scripts/activate.ps1
   

   Linux, MacOS

   source .venv/bin/activate
   

   Note: on Windows, execution of script in PowerShell might be blocked due to execution policy. Run following command to fix:

   Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope Process
   

4. Install dependencies

   pip install -r requirements.txt
   

Usage

To run program: activate virtual environment, run "main.py". Output files from example code were saved in examples/.

Configuration is done by manually adjusting code. See examples in "main.py" for details.

To use fonts, user needs to write functions to access array and draw glyph data on screen. Original project used binary search and modified SSD1306 library.

To specify string literals in code in UTF-16, add 'u' prefix like " u"Test String" ". This requires compiler with support for C11 language standard.

Additional information

• https://github.com/Matiasus/SSD1306/tree/v3.x.x - lightweight SSD1306 driver library used to display font in hardware
• https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/xorg/font - collection of BDF fonts

Contributing

Feel free to contribute via a pull request

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for more information.

Contact

If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to open an issue or contact me at [max.etching316@passinbox.com].