Render Glyp Data from a TrueType Character

[Lempytushe]

Hi,

Is it possible to draw a character on screen with only the Glyph Data from the glyf table in the TrueType file?

I have been searching and found soms API's that can render glyphs. Most of them need acces to the .ttf file.

Hope somseone can help me. If my question isn't clear enough or you need more info, just ask.

[Thomas Phinney]

You don't specify what platform you are on, which would be a necessary piece of information.

There's a reason that most APIs don't do this.

The hinting code for the TTF is not in the glyf table, but requires a number of other tables (prep, prgm, CVT, just off the top of my head). Most rendering engines for fonts will do a truly awful job at small to medium sizes without hinting code present in the font. Say, at 24 or 30 px or smaller.

There are exceptions to the need for hints. Apple's Quartz rendering usually ignores the hints in the font anyway (except at truly tiny sizes, unless the user has tweaked that cut-off size). The FreeType rendering engine can be set to ignore hints and auto-hint on the fly. If the rendered size is large enough (exact size depends on font and rendering mode/engine), unhinted fonts may render acceptably.