GFTYPE(1)

💖 GFTYPE(1) — gftype 💖

okay bestie, this is the General Commands Manual page for gftype — yes, the Unix manual page, but make it make sense. ✨

🌸 NAME 🌸

gftype — verify and translate a generic font (gf) bitmap file to plain text. 💅

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

gftype [-i] [-m] gf_file[gf] [output_file]

🎀 DESCRIPTION 🎀

okay so the gftype program translates a gf (generic font) bitmap file — output by, typically, mf(1) — into a file that humans can read. It also serves as a gf file-validating program (i.e., if gftype can read it, it's correct), and as an example of a gf-reading program for other software that wants to read gf files. no cap, it's literally giving validation and translation at the same time. 👑

The gf_file on the command line must include the resolution, but can omit the suffix gf. If no output_file is specified, the output goes to stdout. periodt. 🫶

✨ OPTIONS ✨

See tex(1) for details of command-line parsing. iykyk, command-line parsing lore. 🧚

• -images — Includes ASCII art images of the characters in the output. it's giving pixel-art scrapbook energy. 🎨
• -mnemonics — Include a symbolic listing of the gf commands in the output. lowkey iconic for debugging vibes. 🔍

The standard -help and -version options are also supported. 🫶

🌈 ENVIRONMENT 🌈

• The program looks for gf_file using the environment variables GFFONTS, GLYPHFONTS, and TEXFONTS, in that order. order matters, bestie. 🦋
• If none are set, it uses the system default. 🙈
• See the Kpathsea manual at https://tug.org/kpathsea for the details of the searching. 📚

🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

• dvitype(1), pktype(1).
• Donald E. Knuth et al., Metafontware.
• Package page on CTAN: https://ctan.org/pkg/gftype
• Section in the Web2c manual: https://tug.org/texinfohtml/web2c.html#gftype-invocation
• Typeset source code, including file format descriptions: https://ctan.org/pkg/knuth-pdf

👑 AUTHORS 👑

David Fuchs and Don Knuth wrote the program. It was published as part of the Metafontware technical report. Paul Richards originally ported it to Unix. main character energy fr fr. 💜

• Public discussion list and bug reports: https://lists.tug.org/tex-k

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💖 source/version: Web2C 2026 💖 date: 25 January 2026 💖 that's the whole vibe, bestie — go read those gf files and slay 💅