GlyphKit

GlyphKit is a renderer-independent Python typography engine. It selects explicit fonts, shapes Unicode, lays out paragraphs and structured math, measures text, extracts exact glyph paths, and creates permission-aware subset bytes. It returns immutable data only.

It does not draw, animate, create a canvas or scene, download fonts, interpret licenses, or write SVG, HTML, images, video, PDFs, or any other output file. A static figure kit, an animation kit, a document tool, or an application may consume the same TextLayout without GlyphKit importing any of them.

Install

uv add glyphkit
uv add 'glyphkit[portable]'  # add WOFF2 payload support

GlyphKit supports Python 3.10 through 3.13.

Explicit fonts, one layout for any consumer

from glyphkit import FontLibrary, FontSource, Paragraph, TextSpan, TextStyle

library = FontLibrary.from_sources(
    (
        FontSource.path("fonts/SourceSans3-Regular.ttf"),
        FontSource.path("fonts/NotoSansTC-Regular.otf"),
    ),
    generic_families={"sans-serif": ("Source Sans 3", "Noto Sans TC")},
)

paragraph = Paragraph(
    (TextSpan("效用 U(x₁, x₂)", TextStyle(("Source Sans 3", "Noto Sans TC"), 18)),),
    max_width=360,
)
layout = library.layout(paragraph)

layout is a data asset: its lines, runs, glyph positions, source ranges, logical bounds, ink bounds, and font uses are independent of DPI and any output backend.

Geometry, math, and portable data

from glyphkit.embedding import EmbeddingUse
from glyphkit.math import MathStyle, parse_math

glyph = layout.lines[0].runs[0].glyphs[0]
outline = library.outline(glyph)  # MoveTo / LineTo / QuadraticTo / CubicTo / ClosePath
bundle = library.subset(layout, embedding_use=EmbeddingUse.WEB)  # bytes, never a file

formula = parse_math(r"U(x_1, x_2) = x_1^\\alpha x_2^{1-\\alpha}")
math_box = library.layout_math(formula, style=MathStyle(18, ("STIX Two Math",)))

See font safety, the supported math grammar, and the data-only examples/ directory.

Reproducibility and safety

Use caller-owned paths, bytes, or streams. Paths and streams are snapshotted while building the library; face identity derives from SHA-256 content plus collection index, not the path. System discovery is opt-in. A portable subset is rejected when embedding permissions are restricted or unknown unless the caller explicitly records an override.

GlyphKit is distributed under the MIT License.