FreeType

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FreeType

Developer:	FreeType contributors
Latest release:	2.2.1 / May 13, 2006
OS:	Portable
Use:	Font rasterization library
License:	GNU General Public License / FreeType License
Website:	Savannah

FreeType is a software library that implements a font engine. It is used to rasterize characters into bitmaps and provides support for other font-related operations.

FreeType is a font service and doesn't provide APIs to perform higher-level features, like text layout or graphics processing (e.g., colored text rendering, "hollowing", etc.). However, it greatly simplifies these tasks by providing a simple, easy to use and uniform interface to access the content of font files.

As of May 2006, the latest version of FreeType is FreeType 2.2.1, which supports an assortment of font formats, including TrueType, Type 1, and OpenType.

FreeType is released under two free-source licenses: the GNU General Public License or a license similar to the original BSD license (with the advertising clause). The authors listed in the license file are David Turner, Robert Wilhelm, and Werner Lemberg. The library can thus be used by any kind of projects, be they proprietary or not.