How do I Embed a font with my C# application? (usi

Question

What is the best way to embed a truetype font within the application i'm developing? Basically i want to make sure a particular font is available to my application when installed on another machine. I have the *.ttf font file and just need a way of embedding it or automatically installing it when the application is run.

Do i need to set the installation program to install the font during installation or can i dynamically load the font during runtime of the application? In fact both would be nice to know.

The application is being developed in C# using .NET 2.0.

Answer 1

Its easier than this seems; you can embed the font as a resource in your app and access it as a strongly-typed property within the Properties namespace of your app. But the given link should be a good starting point.

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For the VB-disabled:

Add the font as a resource in your application. Call the resource MyFontLol. You can access this resource (as a byte array) from Properties.Resources.MyFontLol.

I haven't tested the following, but it appears to be workable:

public void LoadMyFontLolKThx()
{
    // get our font and wrap it in a memory stream
    byte[] myFont = Properties.Resources.MyFontLol;
    using (var ms = new MemoryStream(myFont))
    {
        // used to store our font and make it available in our app
        PrivateFontCollection pfc = new PrivateFontCollection();
        // The next call requires a pointer to our memory font
        // I'm doing it this way; not sure what best practice is
        GCHandle handle = GCHandle.Alloc(ms, GCHandleType.Pinned);
        // If Length > int.MaxValue this will throw
        checked
        {
            pfc.AddMemoryFont(
                handle.AddrOfPinnedObject(), (int)ms.Length); 
        }
        var font = new Font(pfc.Families[0],12);

        // use your font here
    }
}

One last note. The PFC stores the font as a GDI+ font. These aren't compatible with some forms controls. From the docs:

To use the memory font, text on a control must be rendered with GDI+. Use the SetCompatibleTextRenderingDefault method, passing true, to set GDI+ rendering on the application, or on individual controls by setting the control's UseCompatibleTextRendering property to true. Some controls cannot be rendered with GDI+.

Answer 2

it might not be the best way but couldn't you just include the font with your resources and then copy it to the font's folder on the windows dir?

Answer 3

Here's Will's answer, translated to C# (untested):

PrivateFontCollection pfc = new PrivateFontCollection();

using (Stream fontStream = GetType().Assembly.GetManifestResourceStream("Alphd___.ttf"))
{
    if (null == fontStream)
    {
        return;
    }

    int fontStreamLength = (int) fontStream.Length;

    IntPtr data = Marshal.AllocCoTaskMem(fontStreamLength);

    byte[] fontData = new byte[fontStreamLength];
    fontStream.Read(fontData, 0, fontStreamLength);

    Marshal.Copy(fontData, 0, data, fontStreamLength);

    pfc.AddMemoryFont(data, fontStreamLength);

    Marshal.FreeCoTaskMem(data);
}

along with their Paint() method:

protected void Form1_Paint(object sender, PaintEventArgs e)
{
    bool bold = false;
    bool italic = false;

    e.Graphics.PageUnit = GraphicsUnit.Point;

    using (SolidBrush b = new SolidBrush(Color.Black))
    {
        int y = 5;

        foreach (FontFamily fontFamily in pfc.Families)
        {
            if (fontFamily.IsStyleAvailable(FontStyle.Regular))
            {
                using (Font font = new Font(fontFamily, 32, FontStyle.Regular))
                {
                    e.Graphics.DrawString(font.Name, font, b, 5, y, StringFormat.GenericTypographic);
                }
                y += 40;
            }
            if (fontFamily.IsStyleAvailable(FontStyle.Bold))
            {
                bold = true;
                using (Font font = new Font(fontFamily, 32, FontStyle.Bold))
                {
                    e.Graphics.DrawString(font.Name, font, b, 5, y, StringFormat.GenericTypographic);
                }
                y += 40;
            }
            if (fontFamily.IsStyleAvailable(FontStyle.Italic))
            {
                italic = true;
                using (Font font = new Font(fontFamily, 32, FontStyle.Italic))
                {
                    e.Graphics.DrawString(font.Name, font, b, 5, y, StringFormat.GenericTypographic);
                }
                y += 40;
            }

            if(bold && italic)
            {
                using(Font font = new Font(fontFamily, 32, FontStyle.Bold | FontStyle.Italic))
                {
                    e.Graphics.DrawString(font.Name, font, b, 5, y, StringFormat.GenericTypographic);
                }
                y += 40;
            }

            using (Font font = new Font(fontFamily, 32, FontStyle.Underline))
            {
                e.Graphics.DrawString(font.Name, font, b, 5, y, StringFormat.GenericTypographic);
                y += 40;
            }

            using (Font font = new Font(fontFamily, 32, FontStyle.Strikeout))
            {
                e.Graphics.DrawString(font.Name, font, b, 5, y, StringFormat.GenericTypographic);
            }
        }
    }
}

Answer 4

This blog post should help you.

Basically you add the font as an embedded resource then load it into a PrivateFontCollection object.