FAQ for users

*What are BDF fonts ?

The Bitmap Distribution Format (BDF), Version 2.1, is an X Consortium standard for font interchange, intended to be easily understood by both humans and computers.
BDF font files are used for screen display for fonts under X Windows(R).
These font files are the ASCII and binary forms of a generic bitmap distribution format.

*What the hell can I do with BDF files ?

You could work with BDF instead of TTF font for two reasons :
-First, you want a fixed bitmap font, which support Unicode/ISO layout, where you can take only some character sets. it is the case for example when you work in embedded systems, you have man a machine interface embedded with bitmap font, and need to prototype your screen on PC. TTF will not represent the reality (since it is vector font).
-or you want to build your own new font from some bitmaps and print it to screen.

*Where can I find such font ?

They are just text files, and are for most of them free. Try to search "BDF font" on google, for example, and you will have a long list.

*How can I create my own font ?

You will find many tools on the web for this task, let's have a look.
To convert TrueType Font to BDF, you will need this tool : TTF2BDF.exe
http://crl.nmsu.edu/~mleisher/ttf2bdf.html

* How can I print some text with BDF font on Delphi ?

You will need to download and open the Examples package in the source code section of the project.

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