# setfont

## NAME



           setfont - load EGA/VGA console screen font
    


## SYNOPSIS



           **setfont**[**-O** _font+umap.orig_] [**-o** _font.orig_] [**-om** _cmap.orig_] [**-ou**
           _umap.orig_] [**-**_N_] [_font.new ..._] [**-m** _cmap_] [**-u** _umap_] [**-C** _console_]
           [**-h** _H_] [**-f**] [**-v**] [**-V**]
    


## DESCRIPTION



           The **setfont** command reads a font from the file _font.new_ and loads
           it into the EGA/VGA character generator, and optionally outputs
           the previous font.  It can also load various mapping tables and
           output the previous versions.
    
           If no args are given (or only the option -_N_ for some number _N_),
           then a default (8x _N_) font is loaded (see below).  One may give
           several small fonts, all containing a Unicode table, and **setfont**
           will combine them and load the union.  Typical use:
    
           **setfont**
                  Load a default font.
    
           **setfont drdos8x16**
                  Load a given font (here the 448-glyph drdos font).
    
           **setfont cybercafe -u cybercafe**
                  Load a given font that does not have a Unicode map and
                  provide one explicitly.
    
           **setfont LatArCyrHeb-19 -m 8859-2**
                  Load a given font (here a 512-glyph font combining several
                  character sets) and indicate that one's local character set
                  is ISO 8859-2.
    
           Note: if a font has more than 256 glyphs, only 8 out of 16 colors
           can be used simultaneously. It can make console perception worse
           (loss of intensity and even some colors).
    


## FONT FORMATS



           The standard Linux font format is the PSF font.  It has a header
           describing font properties like character size, followed by the
           glyph bitmaps, optionally followed by a Unicode mapping table
           giving the Unicode value for each glyph.  Several other (obsolete)
           font formats are recognized.  If the input file has code page
           format (probably with suffix .cp), containing three fonts with
           sizes e.g. 8x8, 8x14 and 8x16, then one of the options -8 or -14
           or -16 must be used to select one.  Raw font files are binary
           files of size 256*_N_ bytes, containing bit images for each of 256
           characters, one byte per scan line, and _N_ bytes per character (0 <
           _N_ <= 32).  Most fonts have a width of 8 bits, but with the
           framebuffer device (fb) other widths can be used.
    


## FONT HEIGHT



           The program **setfont** has no built-in knowledge of VGA video modes,
           but just asks the kernel to load the character ROM of the video
           card with certain bitmaps. However, since Linux 1.3.1 the kernel
           knows enough about EGA/VGA video modes to select a different line
           distance. The default character height will be the number _N_
           inferred from the font or specified by option. However, the user
           can specify a different character height _H_ using the _-h_ option.
    


## CONSOLE MAPS



           Several mappings are involved in the path from user program output
           to console display. If the console is in utf8 mode (see
           unicode_start(1)) then the kernel expects that user program output
           is coded as UTF-8 (see utf-8(7)), and converts that to Unicode
           (ucs2).  Otherwise, a translation table is used from the 8-bit
           program output to 16-bit Unicode values. Such a translation table
           is called a _Unicode console map_.  There are four of them: three
           built into the kernel, the fourth settable using the _-m_ option of
           **setfont**.  An escape sequence chooses between these four tables;
           after loading a _cmap_ , **setfont** will output the escape sequence Esc
           ( K that makes it the active translation.
    
           Suitable arguments for the _-m_ option are for example _8859-1_ ,
           _8859-2_ , ..., _8859-15_ , _cp437_ , ..., _cp1250_.
    
           Given the Unicode value of the symbol to be displayed, the kernel
           finds the right glyph in the font using the Unicode mapping info
           of the font and displays it.
    
           Old fonts do not have Unicode mapping info, and in order to handle
           them there are direct-to-font maps (also loaded using _-m_) that
           give a correspondence between user bytes and font positions.  The
           most common correspondence is the one given in the file _trivial_
           (where user byte values are used directly as font positions).
           Other correspondences are sometimes preferable since the PC video
           hardware expects line drawing characters in certain font
           positions.
    
           Giving a _-m none_ argument inhibits the loading and activation of a
           mapping table.  The previous console map can be saved to a file
           using the _-om file_ option.  These options of setfont render
           mapscrn(8) obsolete. (However, it may be useful to read that man
           page.)
    


## UNICODE FONT MAPS



           The correspondence between the glyphs in the font and Unicode
           values is described by a Unicode mapping table.  Many fonts have a
           Unicode mapping table included in the font file, and an explicit
           table can be indicated using the _-u_ option. The program **setfont**
           will load such a Unicode mapping table, unless a _-u none_ argument
           is given. The previous Unicode mapping table will be saved as part
           of the saved font file when the -O option is used. It can be saved
           to a separate file using the _-ou file_ option.  These options of
           setfont render loadunimap(8) obsolete.
    
           The Unicode mapping table should assign some glyph to the `missing
           character' value U+fffd, otherwise missing characters are not
           translated, giving a usually very confusing result.
    
           Usually no mapping table is needed, and a Unicode mapping table is
           already contained in the font (sometimes this is indicated by the
           .psfu extension), so that most users need not worry about the
           precise meaning and functioning of these mapping tables.
    
           One may add a Unicode mapping table to a psf font using
           psfaddtable(1).
    


## OPTIONS



           **-**_N_ , **--default8x** =_N_
                  Load default font (default8x _N_).
    
           **-h** _N_ , **--font-height** =_N_
                  Override font height. The short option must not have a
                  space between the prefix and the number.
    
           **-d** , **--double**
                  Doubles the size of the font, by replicating all of its
                  pixels vertically and horizontally.  This is suitable for
                  high pixel density (e.g. "4k") displays on which the
                  standard fonts are too small to be easily legible.  Due to
                  kernel limitations, this is suitable only for 16x16 or
                  smaller fonts.
    
           **-o** , **--output-font** =_FILE_
                  Save previous font in _FILE_.
    
           **-om** , **--output-consolemap** =_FILE_
                  Store console map in _FILE_.
    
           **-ou** , **--output-unicodemap** =_FILE_
                  Save previous Unicode map in _FILE_.
    
           **-O** , **--output-fullfont** =_FILE_
                  Save previous font and Unicode map in _FILE_.
    
           **-m** , **--consolemap** =_FILE_
                  Load console map or Unicode console map from _FILE_.
    
           **-u** , **--unicodemap** =_FILE_
                  Load Unicode table describing the font from _FILE_.
    
           **-C** , **--console** =_DEVICE_
                  Set the font for the indicated console. (May require root
                  permissions.)
    
           **-f** , **--force**
                  Force-load unicode map: Setfont`issues the system call to
                  load the unicode map even if the specified map is empty.
                  This may be useful in unusual cases.
    
           **-R** , **--reset**
                  Reset the screen font, size, and Unicode mapping to the
                  bootup defaults.
    
           **-v** , **--verbose**
                  Be verbose.
    
           **-V** , **--version**
                  Print version and exit.
    
           **-h** , **--help**
                  Print a message describing the options and exit.
    


## NOTE



           PC video hardware allows one to use the "intensity" bit either to
           indicate brightness, or to address 512 (instead of 256) glyphs in
           the font. So, if the font has more than 256 glyphs, the console
           will be reduced to 8 (instead of 16) colors.
    


## FILES



           _/usr/local/share/consolefonts_
                  The default font directory.
    
           _/usr/local/share/unimaps_
                  The default directory for Unicode maps.
    
           _/usr/local/share/consoletrans_
                  The default directory for screen mappings.
    
           The default font is a file _default_ (or _default8x_ N if the -N option
           was given for some number N) perhaps with suitable extension (like
           .psf).
    


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