Scala Native bindings for FreeType, a freely available software library to render fonts.

Add the dependency to your build.sbt:

libraryDependencies += "io.github.edadma" %%% "freetype" % "0.0.7"

You also need FreeType installed on your system:

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install libfreetype-dev

# macOS
brew install freetype

import io.github.edadma.freetype.*

// Initialize FreeType library
val library = initFreeType.getOrElse(sys.error("Failed to init FreeType"))

// Load a font face
val face = library.newFace("/path/to/font.ttf", 0).getOrElse(sys.error("Failed to load font"))

// Set pixel size
face.setPixelSizes(0, 24)

// Get kerning between two characters (requires setPixelSizes first)
val kern = face.getKerning('A', 'V')  // Returns scaled value in pixels

// Or get unscaled kerning in font design units
val kernUnscaled = face.getKerning('A', 'V', KerningMode.UNSCALED)

// Load and render a glyph
face.loadChar('A'.toLong, 0)
face.renderGlyph(RenderMode.NORMAL)

// Access bitmap data
val bmp = face.bitmap
println(s"${bmp.width} x ${bmp.rows}")

// Cleanup
face.doneFace
library.doneFreeType

• initFreeType: Either[Int, Library] - Initialize FreeType
• Library.doneFreeType: Int - Cleanup
• Library.newFace(path: String, faceIndex: Long): Either[Int, Face] - Load a font

• Face.setPixelSizes(width: Int, height: Int): Int - Set pixel size
• Face.loadChar(charCode: Long, loadFlags: Int): Int - Load a glyph
• Face.renderGlyph(mode: RenderMode): Int - Render loaded glyph
• Face.bitmap: Bitmap - Access rendered bitmap
• Face.getCharIndex(charcode: Long): Int - Get glyph index for character
• Face.getKerning(left: Char, right: Char, mode: KerningMode): Double - Get kerning
• Face.loadSfntTable(tag: String): Option[Array[Byte]] - Read a raw SFNT table by its four-character tag (e.g. "MATH", "GPOS"), or None if absent. FreeType returns the bytes unparsed, so this reaches tables it has no structured API for.

• Face.getMMVar: Either[FT_Error, MMVar] - The face's variation descriptor (axes + named instances), or Left for a static font
• Face.setVarDesignCoordinates(coords: Seq[Double]): FT_Error - Set one design value per axis, in axis order
• Face.getVarDesignCoordinates(numAxes: Int): Either[FT_Error, Vector[Double]] - Read back current design coordinates
• Face.setNamedInstance(index: Int): FT_Error - Select a predefined named instance by index (0 resets to default)
• Library.doneMMVar(mmvar: MMVar): Int - Release a descriptor obtained from getMMVar

• RenderMode: NORMAL, LIGHT, MONO, LCD, LCD_V, SDF, MAX
• KerningMode: DEFAULT (scaled, grid-fitted), UNFITTED (scaled), UNSCALED (font units)

ISC