LilyPond Notation Reference: 1.8.3 Fonts

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1.8.3 Fonts

This section presents the way fonts are handled, and how they may be changed in scores.

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Fonts explained

Fonts are handled through several libraries. FontConfig is used to detect available fonts on the system; the selected fonts are rendered using Pango.

Music notation fonts can be described as a set of specific glyphs, ordered in several families. The following syntax allows LilyPond’s various Feta glyphs to be used directly in markup mode:

a'1^\markup {
  \vcenter {
    \override #'(font-encoding . fetaBraces)
    \lookup #"brace120"
    \override #'(font-encoding . fetaText)
    \column { 1 3 sf }
    \override #'(font-encoding . fetaMusic)
    \lookup #"noteheads.s0petrucci"
  }
}

However, all these glyphs except the braces of various sizes contained in fetaBraces are available using the simpler syntax described in Music notation inside markup.

When using the glyphs contained in fetaBraces, the size of the brace is specified by the numerical part of the glyph name, in arbitrary units. Any integer from 0 to 575 inclusive may be specified, 0 giving the smallest brace. The optimum value must be determined by trial and error. These glyphs are all left braces; right braces may be obtained by rotation, see Rotating objects.

Three families of text fonts are made available: the roman (serif) font, the sans font, and the typewriter font.

For svg backend:

Family	Default font
roman	`serif`
sans	`sans-serif`
typewriter	`monospace`

serif, sans-serif, and monospace are generic-family in SVG and CSS specifications.

For other backends:

Family	Default font (alias)	Alias definition lists
roman	`LilyPond Serif`	TeX Gyre Schola, C059, Century SchoolBook URW, Century Schoolbook L, DejaVu Serif, ..., serif
sans	`LilyPond Sans Serif`	TeX Gyre Heros, Nimbus Sans, Nimbus Sans L, DejaVu Sans, ..., sans-serif
typewriter	`LilyPond Monospace`	TeX Gyre Cursor, Nimbus Mono PS, Nimbus Mono, Nimbus Mono L, DejaVu Sans Mono, ..., monospace

LilyPond Serif, LilyPond Sans Serif, and LilyPond Monospace are font aliases defined in the LilyPond dedicated FontConfig configuration file 00-lilypond-fonts.conf. Where a character dosen’t exist in the first font listed, the next font listed will be used instead for that character. For details of alias definitions, please see to 00-lilypond-fonts.conf under the installed directory.

Each family may include different shapes and series. The following example demonstrates the ability to select alternate families, shapes, series and sizes. The value supplied to font-size is the required change from the default size.

\override Score.RehearsalMark.font-family = #'typewriter
\mark \markup "Ouverture"
\override Voice.TextScript.font-shape = #'italic
\override Voice.TextScript.font-series = #'bold
d''2.^\markup "Allegro"
\override Voice.TextScript.font-size = #-3
c''4^smaller

A similar syntax may be used in markup mode; however in this case it is preferable to use the simpler syntax explained in Selecting font and font size:

\markup {
  \column {
    \line {
      \override #'(font-shape . italic)
      \override #'(font-size . 4)
      Idomeneo,
    }
    \line {
      \override #'(font-family . typewriter)
      {
        \override #'(font-series . bold)
        re
        di
      }
      \override #'(font-family . sans)
      Creta
    }
  }
}

When using OpenType fonts, font features can be used. OpenType font scripts and languages can not be specified. Note: Not all OpenType fonts have all functions. If you request a feature that doesn’t exist in the chosen font, then the feature is simply ignored.

% True small caps
\markup { Normal Style: Hello HELLO }
\markup { \caps { Small Caps: Hello } }
\markup { \override #'(font-features . ("smcp"))
          { True Small Caps: Hello } }

% Number styles
\markup { Normal Number Style: 0123456789 }
\markup { \override #'(font-features . ("onum"))
          { Old Number Style: 0123456789 } }

% Stylistic Alternates
\markup { \override #'(font-features . ("salt 0"))
          { Stylistic Alternates 0: εφπρθ } }
\markup { \override #'(font-features . ("salt 1"))
          { Stylistic Alternates 1: εφπρθ } }

% Multiple features
\markup { \override #'(font-features . ("onum" "smcp" "salt 1"))
          { Multiple features: Hello 0123456789 εφπρθ } }

For the full OpenType font feature list please see: https://www.microsoft.com/typography/otspec/featurelist.htm

For identifying features of OpenType fonts please see: http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/lilypond-devel/2017-08/msg00004.html

Although it is easy to switch between preconfigured fonts, it is also possible to use other fonts, as explained in the following sections: Single entry fonts and Entire document fonts.

Single entry fonts

Any font that is installed on the operating system and recognized by FontConfig may be used in a score, using the following syntax:

\override Staff.TimeSignature.font-name = #"Bitstream Charter"
\override Staff.TimeSignature.font-size = #2
\time 3/4

a'1_\markup {
  \override #'(font-name . "Bitstream Vera Sans,sans-serif, Oblique Bold")
    { Vera Oblique Bold }
}

font-name can be described using a comma-separated list of ‘fonts’ and a white-space separated list of ‘styles’. As long as the ‘font’ in the list is installed and contains requested glyph, it will be used, otherwise the next font in the list will be used instead.

Running lilypond with the following option displays a list of all available fonts on the operating system:

lilypond -dshow-available-fonts x

Entire document fonts

It is possible to change the fonts to be used as the default fonts in the roman, sans and typewriter font families by specifying them, in that order, as shown in the example below, which automatically scales the fonts with the value set for the global staff size. Similar to Single entry fonts, it can be described using a comma-separated list of ‘fonts’. However, font ‘styles’ can not be described. For an explanation of fonts, see Fonts explained.

\paper  {
  #(define fonts
    (make-pango-font-tree "Times New Roman"
                          "Nimbus Sans,Nimbus Sans L"
                          "Luxi Mono"
                          (/ staff-height pt 20)))
}

\relative c'{
  c1-\markup {
    roman,
    \sans sans,
    \typewriter typewriter. }
}

Note: make-pango-font-tree resets the notation fonts to default of Emmentaler.

The following syntax allows you to change the specific fonts, leaving others to the default values. The following example has the same effect as the above make-pango-font-tree example. The same as make-pango-font-tree, you can specify a comma-separated list of ‘fonts’ for roman, sans, and typewriter categories. If you don’t change the staff size from the default of 20 pt, #:factor (/ staff-height pt 20) is unnecessary.

\paper {
  #(define fonts
    (set-global-fonts
     #:roman "Times New Roman"
     #:sans "Nimbus Sans,Nimbus Sans L"
     #:typewriter "Luxi Mono"
     #:factor (/ staff-height pt 20) ; unnecessary if the staff size is default
    ))
}

It also can specify the notation fonts. The following example also has the same effect as the above examples, because it sets the notation fonts as the default. For more information, see Replacing the notation font.

\paper {
  #(define fonts
    (set-global-fonts
     #:music "emmentaler"            ; default
     #:brace "emmentaler"            ; default
     #:roman "Times New Roman"
     #:sans "Nimbus Sans,Nimbus Sans L"
     #:typewriter "Luxi Mono"
     #:factor (/ staff-height pt 20) ; unnecessary if the staff size is default
    ))
}

Note: Each call to set-global-fonts completely resets both the main notation and text fonts. If any category is left unspecified, then the default font will be used for that category. Each call of set-global-fonts affects each \book blocks that follow it. If there are multiple \book blocks and you want to use different fonts for each, simply call set-global-fonts again, like this:

\paper {
  #(define fonts
    (set-global-fonts
     …
    ))
}
\book {
  …
}

\paper {
  #(define fonts
    (set-global-fonts
     …
    ))
}
\book {
  …
}

1.8.3 Fonts

Fonts explained

See also

Single entry fonts

See also

Entire document fonts

See also

LilyPond — Notation Reference v2.21.0 (ontwikkelingstak).