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FreeType

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FreeType
Developer(s)David Turner, Robert Wilhelm, Werner Lemberg[1][2]and FreeType contributors
Initial release1996;28 years ago(1996)[3]
Stable release
2.13.3[4]Edit this on Wikidata / 12 August 2024;22 days ago(12 August 2024)
Repository
Written inC
Operating systemCross-platform
TypeSoftware development library:Font rasterization
LicenseGNU General Public License/FreeType License
Websitefreetype.org
A lower case e
A lower case is
A lower case w
Lower casee,is,andwsubpixel rendered with FreeType

FreeTypeis asoftware development libraryused torender textontobitmaps,and which provides support for other font-related operations. The FreeTypefont rasterizationengine isfree and open-source softwarewith thesource codedual-licensedunder aBSD-like licenseand theGPL.FreeType supports a number of font formats, includingTrueType,Type 1,andOpenType.[5]

History

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The FreeType rendering engine was started in 1995 by David Turner with the intent to provide TrueType font support for theOS/2operating system,[1]including an interpreter for handling TrueType bytecode. Originally written in thePascal programming language,it was ported in 1997 by Robert Wilhelm toC.[3][6][7]

FreeType 1 had support only for the TrueType font format, but it included an extension to supportOpenTypetext layout features.

Major rewrite 2.0

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Version 2.0 of FreeType was a complete rewrite to make it more modular. FreeType 2 brought support for more font formats and an evolved source code which the developers stated was "simpler and more powerful".[8]FreeType 2 is not backward-compatible with FreeType 1 but the developers stated that moving from FreeType 1 to FreeType 2 poses little difficulty.[8]Astext layout processingwas not an objective of FreeType 2, however, the OpenType text layout functionality of FreeType 1 was removed in FreeType 2. A very evolved form of the OpenType text layout functionality of FreeType 1 is used in thePangotext layout library. TheHarfBuzzproject is further evolving that functionality with a complete rewrite offered as a standalone library with a less restrictive license than Pango's license.[9]

Patent conflicts

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In 1999, the Freetype project was informed byApple Incorporatedthat FreeType wasinfringing patentsrelated to TrueTypefont hinting.Following that, Freetype deactivated by default or worked around patent relating technologies. Therefore, several open source projects, such asFreeBSDorLinux,had FreeType included withfont hintingfunctionality disabled or degraded to avoid the issue ofsoftware patentsheld by Apple Inc.[10]

Since May 2010, all conflicting software patents related to font hinting have expired,[10]allowing FreeType's TrueType font hinter to be used in open source. Many of the operating systems which disabled the renderer now give the user the option to enable it. In Fedora, freetype-freeworld was switched from the proprietaryyumrepository to the free repository.[11]

Since August 2019, all conflicting software patents related to ClearType color filtering have expired,[10]allowing FreeType to use ClearType color filtering method in 2.10.3.

Compact Font Format engine donation

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In 2013 Adobe donated aCompact Font Formatrendering engine to the FreeType project which integrated it and made it the default with version 2.5.[12][13]

Users

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FreeType is used as a font renderer inAndroid,ChromeOS.[14]Appleuses FreeType iniOS[14]andmacOS[15]next toApple Advanced Typography.In 2007, Sun Microsystems switched from using a proprietary font rasterizer to using FreeType in theOpenJDKJavadevelopment kit.[16]OnWindows,projects like gdipp[17]and MacType[18]aim to override the system renderer with FreeType. FreeType is also used as a font renderer inReactOS.[19]

As well as being used by the major free software desktop systems, FreeType has been used as a rasterization engine for some modernvideo games,[20][21][22]andOperafor theWii.[23]Sony ships FreeType with itsPlayStation 3,[24]PlayStation 4,[25]andPlayStation Vita[26]consoles.

References

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  1. ^ab"Interview with David Turner of Freetype".OSNews.June 28, 2007.RetrievedMarch 31,2011.
  2. ^"The FreeType Project LICENSE"(text).FreeType.January 27, 2006.RetrievedMarch 31,2011.
  3. ^ab"FreeType History".2013-07-02.Retrieved2014-08-06.
  4. ^"[ft-announce] Announcing FreeType 2.13.3".Retrieved14 August2024.
  5. ^"FreeType 2 Overview".FreeType 2.SourceForge, Inc. July 4, 2010. Features.RetrievedMarch 31,2011.
  6. ^"The FreeType 2 FAQ".Archived fromthe originalon 18 July 2009.
  7. ^"What are the differences between FreeType 1.x and FreeType 2?".Experts123.Retrieved2014-04-04.
  8. ^ab"FreeType 2 FAQ".FreeType 2.RetrievedJuly 26,2011.
  9. ^"HarfBuzz".Freedesktop.org.Retrieved2014-04-04.
  10. ^abc"FreeType and Patents".FreeType.SourceForge, Inc. July 4, 2010.RetrievedMarch 31,2011.
  11. ^"RepoView: RPM Fusion (Fedora - free) development Source RPM Packages".Download1.rpmfusion.org. 2014-03-11.Retrieved2014-04-04.
  12. ^Miñoza, Nicole (1 May 2013)."Adobe contributes font rasterizer technology to FreeType".Adobe TypeKit Blog.
  13. ^"You've Got CFF!".Google Open Source Blog.19 June 2013.
  14. ^ab"Got CFF?".Google Open Source Blog. 1 May 2013.Retrieved2014-04-04.
  15. ^"About the security content of OS X Lion v10.7.3 and Security Update 2012-001".Support.apple. 2012-05-31.Retrieved2014-04-04.
  16. ^"Font Scaler".Retrieved4 April2014.
  17. ^"gdipp".Retrieved4 August2014.
  18. ^"MacType".GitHub.Retrieved2016-09-12.
  19. ^Royal, Simon (2014-02-26)."ReactOS: A Windows Compatible Alternative OS".lowendmac.Retrieved2016-01-10.While the main core of ReactOS is built from scratch, it has some dependencies on existing software and protocols. It uses parts of Wine, networking in the form of lwIP, USB from Haiku, as well as FreeType, Mesa3D, andUniATA.
  20. ^Games companyRelic Entertainmenthas used FreeType for their gamesDawn of WarandCompany of Heroes,as can be seen in the credits on the loading screens.
  21. ^FreeType has also been implemented in theAmerican Girlgames for the PC such asA Treehouse of My OwnandJulie Saves The Eagles.
  22. ^Games companyBandai Namco Entertainmenthas also used FreeType forAce Combat 7: Skies Unknown,as can be seen in the copyright section.
  23. ^Opera 9 for theWiiconsole uses FreeType, as can be seen by looking at the "Third-party information" page which can be found on the Wii via:Internet Channel> Operations Guide > About > Opera 9 for Wii — Third-party information
  24. ^"PlayStation 3 License".Scei.co.jp.Retrieved2014-04-04.
  25. ^"Open Source Software used in PlayStation®4".Scei.co.jp.Retrieved2014-04-04.
  26. ^"Open Source Software used in PlayStation®Vita".Scei.co.jp.Retrieved2014-04-04.
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