fonttools

Tools to manipulate font files

fonttools Permissive license MIT Active ★ 5,203 v4.63.0 released 2026-05-14

Install

fonttools on PyPI

pip

pip install fonttools

uv

uv add fonttools

poetry

poetry add fonttools

Package facts

License	MIT (permissive)
Python support	supports the current Python release (>=3.10)
Install friction	low — pure-Python wheel
Runtime dependencies	none
Maintenance	actively maintained — 91 days since the last release
Last repo commit	2026-08-12
First released	2013-12-16
Popularity	one of the top 1,000 most-downloaded packages on PyPI (30-day window, as of 2026-08-13)
Known vulnerabilities	none known (OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-13)

Evidence: fonttools-4.63.0-py3-none-any.whl

Development Status :: 5 - Production/StableEnvironment :: ConsoleEnvironment :: Other EnvironmentIntended Audience :: DevelopersIntended Audience :: End Users/DesktopNatural Language :: EnglishOperating System :: OS IndependentProgramming Language :: PythonProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13Programming Language :: Python :: 3.14Topic :: Multimedia :: GraphicsTopic :: Multimedia :: Graphics :: Graphics ConversionTopic :: Text Processing :: Fonts

About fonttools

from the package's own PyPI description — quoted content, verbatim

What is this? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

| fontTools is a library for manipulating fonts, written in Python. The project includes the TTX tool, that can convert TrueType and OpenType fonts to and from an XML text format, which is also called TTX. It supports TrueType, OpenType, AFM and to an extent Type 1 and some Mac-specific formats. The project has an MIT open-source license <LICENSE>__. | Among other things this means you can use it free of charge.

User documentation <https://fonttools.readthedocs.io/en/latest/> and developer documentation <https://fonttools.readthedocs.io/en/latest/developer.html> are available at Read the Docs <https://fonttools.readthedocs.io/>_.

Installation ~~~~~~~~~~~~

FontTools requires Python <http://www.python.org/download/> 3.10 or later. We try to follow the same schedule of minimum Python version support as NumPy (see NEP 29 <https://numpy.org/neps/nep-0029-deprecation_policy.html>).

The package is listed in the Python Package Index (PyPI), so you can install it with pip <https://pip.pypa.io>__:

.. code:: sh

pip install fonttools

If you would like to...

Read as markdown · JSON record · Source repository · Homepage

AI interpretation — verify before relying

AI-generated interpretation of the package facts above; every digit, version, license, or vulnerability id it cites is grounded in the facts already shown on this page

fontTools is a library for reading, writing, and manipulating font files in formats including TrueType, OpenType, WOFF, and Type 1, with a command-line tool (TTX) for converting fonts to and from XML.

Installs cleanly with no runtime dependencies; actively maintained with recent releases and strong community engagement (5203 GitHub stars). Supports Python 3.10–3.14.

MIT license permits free use, modification, and distribution with minimal restrictions, making it suitable for both open-source and commercial projects.

Usage

pip install fonttools

from fontTools.ttLib import TTFont
font = TTFont('example.ttf')
print(font.getGlyphOrder())

Requires Python 3.10 or later. Some optional features (WOFF2, UFO, plotting) require additional packages installed via extras like `pip install fonttools[woff,ufo]`.

Verdict: fontTools is a mature, well-maintained font manipulation library with zero known vulnerabilities, no required external dependencies, and broad Python version support. Its permissive MIT license and top-1000 PyPI popularity make it a reliable choice for font processing tasks.

Needs verification

Whether the package's optional dependencies (brotli, scipy, matplotlib, etc.) are well-tested and stable for the specific use cases you need.
Performance characteristics when working with very large font files or batch processing scenarios.

font file manipulation librarytruetype opentype font toolsttx font conversion xmlfont format parsingglyph editing and analysisweb font compressionfont metadata extraction