home / skills / zhanghandong / makepad-skills / makepad-font

makepad-font skill

/skills/makepad-font

This skill helps you configure and render crisp text with Makepad fonts, layouts, and SDF-based GPU rendering.

npx playbooks add skill zhanghandong/makepad-skills --skill makepad-font

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SKILL.md
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---
name: makepad-font
description: |
  CRITICAL: Use for Makepad font and text rendering. Triggers on:
  makepad font, makepad text, makepad glyph, makepad typography,
  font atlas, text layout, font family, font size, text shaping,
  makepad 字体, makepad 文字, makepad 排版, makepad 字形
---

# Makepad Font Skill

> **Version:** makepad-widgets (dev branch) | **Last Updated:** 2026-01-19
>
> Check for updates: https://crates.io/crates/makepad-widgets

You are an expert at Makepad text and font rendering. Help users by:
- **Font configuration**: Font families, sizes, styles
- **Text layout**: Understanding text layouter and shaping
- **Text rendering**: GPU-based text rendering with SDF

## Documentation

Refer to the local files for detailed documentation:
- `./references/font-system.md` - Font module structure and APIs

## IMPORTANT: Documentation Completeness Check

**Before answering questions, Claude MUST:**

1. Read the relevant reference file(s) listed above
2. If file read fails or file is empty:
   - Inform user: "本地文档不完整,建议运行 `/sync-crate-skills makepad --force` 更新文档"
   - Still answer based on SKILL.md patterns + built-in knowledge
3. If reference file exists, incorporate its content into the answer

## Text Module Structure

```
draw/src/text/
├── font.rs           # Font handle and metrics
├── font_atlas.rs     # GPU texture atlas for glyphs
├── font_face.rs      # Font face data
├── font_family.rs    # Font family management
├── fonts.rs          # Built-in fonts
├── glyph_outline.rs  # Glyph vector outlines
├── glyph_raster_image.rs # Rasterized glyph images
├── layouter.rs       # Text layout engine
├── rasterizer.rs     # Glyph rasterization
├── sdfer.rs          # Signed distance field generator
├── selection.rs      # Text selection/cursor
├── shaper.rs         # Text shaping (harfbuzz)
```

## Using Fonts in DSL

### Text Style

```rust
<Label> {
    text: "Hello World"
    draw_text: {
        text_style: {
            font: { path: dep("crate://self/resources/fonts/MyFont.ttf") }
            font_size: 16.0
            line_spacing: 1.5
            letter_spacing: 0.0
        }
        color: #FFFFFF
    }
}
```

### Theme Fonts

```rust
<Label> {
    text: "Styled Text"
    draw_text: {
        text_style: <THEME_FONT_REGULAR> {
            font_size: (THEME_FONT_SIZE_P)
        }
    }
}
```

## Font Definition in DSL

```rust
live_design! {
    // Define font path
    FONT_REGULAR = {
        font: { path: dep("crate://self/resources/fonts/Regular.ttf") }
    }

    FONT_BOLD = {
        font: { path: dep("crate://self/resources/fonts/Bold.ttf") }
    }

    // Use in widget
    <Label> {
        draw_text: {
            text_style: <FONT_REGULAR> {
                font_size: 14.0
            }
        }
    }
}
```

## Layouter API

```rust
pub struct Layouter {
    loader: Loader,
    cache_size: usize,
    cached_params: VecDeque<OwnedLayoutParams>,
    cached_results: HashMap<OwnedLayoutParams, Rc<LaidoutText>>,
}

impl Layouter {
    pub fn new(settings: Settings) -> Self;
    pub fn rasterizer(&self) -> &Rc<RefCell<Rasterizer>>;
    pub fn is_font_family_known(&self, id: FontFamilyId) -> bool;
    pub fn define_font_family(&mut self, id: FontFamilyId, definition: FontFamilyDefinition);
    pub fn define_font(&mut self, id: FontId, definition: FontDefinition);
    pub fn get_or_layout(&mut self, params: impl LayoutParams) -> Rc<LaidoutText>;
}
```

## Layout Parameters

```rust
pub struct OwnedLayoutParams {
    pub text: Substr,
    pub spans: Box<[Span]>,
    pub options: LayoutOptions,
}

pub struct Span {
    pub style: Style,
    pub len: usize,
}

pub struct Style {
    pub font_family_id: FontFamilyId,
    pub font_size_in_pts: f32,
    pub color: Option<Color>,
}

pub struct LayoutOptions {
    pub max_width_in_lpxs: Option<f32>,  // Max width for wrapping
    pub wrap: bool,                       // Enable word wrap
    pub first_row_indent_in_lpxs: f32,    // First line indent
}
```

## Rasterizer Settings

```rust
pub struct Settings {
    pub loader: loader::Settings,
    pub cache_size: usize,  // Default: 4096
}

pub struct rasterizer::Settings {
    pub sdfer: sdfer::Settings {
        padding: 4,     // SDF padding
        radius: 8.0,    // SDF radius
        cutoff: 0.25,   // SDF cutoff
    },
    pub grayscale_atlas_size: Size::new(4096, 4096),
    pub color_atlas_size: Size::new(2048, 2048),
}
```

## DrawText Widget

```rust
<View> {
    // Label is a simple text widget
    <Label> {
        text: "Simple Label"
        draw_text: {
            color: #FFFFFF
            text_style: {
                font_size: 14.0
            }
        }
    }

    // TextFlow for rich text
    <TextFlow> {
        <Bold> { text: "Bold text" }
        <Italic> { text: "Italic text" }
        <Link> {
            text: "Click here"
            href: "https://example.com"
        }
    }
}
```

## Text Properties

| Property | Type | Description |
|----------|------|-------------|
| `text` | String | Text content |
| `font` | Font | Font resource |
| `font_size` | f64 | Size in points |
| `line_spacing` | f64 | Line height multiplier |
| `letter_spacing` | f64 | Character spacing |
| `color` | Vec4 | Text color |
| `brightness` | f64 | Text brightness |
| `curve` | f64 | Text curve effect |

## When Answering Questions

1. Makepad uses SDF (Signed Distance Field) for crisp text at any scale
2. Fonts are loaded once and cached in GPU texture atlases
3. Text shaping uses harfbuzz for proper glyph positioning
4. Use `dep("crate://...")` for embedded font resources
5. Default font cache size is 4096 glyphs
6. Atlas sizes: 4096x4096 for grayscale, 2048x2048 for color (emoji)

Overview

This skill provides expert guidance for Makepad font and text rendering. It covers font configuration, text layout and shaping, GPU-based SDF rendering, and practical DSL usage for embedding fonts in Makepad apps. Use it to optimize typography, atlas sizing, and layout behavior in cross‑platform Makepad projects.

How this skill works

The skill inspects Makepad's text module surfaces: font families, font face data, atlas management, rasterizer and sdfer settings, the harfbuzz shaper, and the layouter API. It explains how glyphs are rasterized into GPU texture atlases as SDFs, cached, and sampled for crisp scalable text. It also shows the DSL patterns for defining fonts, text styles, and using the Layouter to request laid out text.

When to use it

  • Configuring embedded or theme fonts for a Makepad app
  • Tuning rasterizer/SDF parameters for sharp scalable text
  • Designing text layout: wrapping, indentation, and multiple spans
  • Diagnosing missing glyphs, shaping issues, or atlas overflow
  • Choosing atlas sizes and cache sizes for performance vs memory

Best practices

  • Embed fonts with dep("crate://...") and define font families in live_design for reuse
  • Keep default cache_size (~4096) and adjust only when seeing cache thrashing or misses
  • Use SDF padding/radius settings to balance sharpness and halo artifacts
  • Use harfbuzz shaper for complex scripts and ensure font faces include required tables
  • Prefer grayscale atlas 4096×4096 and color atlas 2048×2048 for emoji and color glyphs

Example use cases

  • Define FONT_REGULAR and FONT_BOLD in live_design and apply via text_style across widgets
  • Create a Layouter and call get_or_layout with OwnedLayoutParams for on‑demand layout caching
  • Adjust sdfer::Settings (padding, radius, cutoff) to remove SDF halos at your target font sizes
  • Detect unknown font_family_id via is_font_family_known and define missing families dynamically
  • Switch to color atlas for emoji-heavy UI and increase cache_size when rendering many distinct glyphs

FAQ

How do I embed a custom TTF and use it in a Label?

Define a Font in live_design with font: { path: dep("crate://self/resources/fonts/YourFont.ttf") } and reference it in draw_text.text_style.font or a named theme font.

Why do glyphs look fuzzy at some sizes?

Adjust sdfer::Settings (padding, radius, cutoff) and ensure atlas resolution fits your target sizes. Increasing padding and radius or using a larger atlas usually improves crispness.

How is shaping handled for complex scripts?

Makepad uses harfbuzz-based shaper (shaper.rs) to produce proper glyph clusters and positions; ensure the font includes required OpenType tables.