ImageToFontConverter is a small WPF tool (C# / .NET 9) that converts a folder of PNG glyph images into a TrueType font (TTF). It vectorizes PNG alpha masks into SVGs using Emgu.CV (OpenCV) and automates FontForge with a generated Python script to produce the final font. The app includes a simple GUI with progress reporting and cancellation.

• PNG → SVG vectorization using Emgu.CV
• Automated FontForge script generation and execution
• Produces a .ttf font and keeps intermediate SVGs for inspection
• Simple WPF GUI with progress and cancellation support

• .NET 9 SDK
• Visual Studio 2026 (recommended) with the .NET desktop development workload
• FontForge installed and available on PATH or in one of the common install locations
• Emgu.CV NuGet packages referenced by the solution and the native OpenCV/Emgu runtime (platform native dependencies)
• (Windows) Visual C++ Redistributable may be required by native Emgu/OpenCV binaries

1. Clone the repository:
   • git clone https://github.com/SirDiabo/ImageToFontConverter.git
2. Open the solution in Visual Studio: File > Open > Project/Solution and select the .sln.
3. Restore NuGet packages (Project > Restore NuGet Packages if needed).
4. Confirm target framework is .NET 9 in Right-click Project > Properties > Target Framework.
5. Build the solution: Build > Build Solution.
6. Run the app: Debug > Start Debugging (F5) or Debug > Start Without Debugging (Ctrl+F5).

• Input must be PNG files with an alpha channel (RGBA). The converter uses the alpha channel to detect glyph contours.
• Place all glyph PNGs in a single folder (top-level). The app does not recurse subfolders.
• Filenames define the mapping to Unicode codepoints. Conventions supported by FontConverter:
  • upper_A.png, upper_B.png, ... → A..Z
  • lower_a.png, lower_b.png, ... → a..z
  • 0.png .. 9.png → digits
  • Punctuation: space, exclamation, questionmark, period, comma, colon, semicolon, hyphen, endash, emdash, ellipsis, degree, bullet, middot
  • Brackets & Quotes: leftparenthesis, rightparenthesis, leftbracket, rightbracket, leftbrace, rightbrace, angleleft, angleright, singlequote, doublequote, backtick
  • Math: plus, equal, caret, percent, asterisk, divide, multiply, plusminus, lessthan, greaterthan
  • Symbols: at, hash, ampersand, underscore, tilde, backslash, forwardslash, verticalbar, copyright, trademark, registered
  • Currency: dollar, euro, pound, yen, cent
  • Accented lowercase: lower_e_acute (é), lower_e_grave (è), lower_e_circ (ê), lower_e_uml (ë), lower_a_acute (á), lower_a_grave (à), lower_a_circ (â), lower_a_uml (ä), lower_a_ring (å), lower_o_acute (ó), lower_o_circ (ô), lower_o_uml (ö), lower_u_acute (ú), lower_u_grave (ù), lower_u_uml (ü), lower_i_acute (í), lower_i_circ (î), lower_n_tilde (ñ), lower_c_cedil (ç), lower_ss (ß), lower_ae (æ)
  • Accented uppercase: upper_A_uml (Ä), upper_O_uml (Ö), upper_U_uml (Ü), upper_A_grave (À), upper_A_ring (Å), upper_E_acute (É), upper_N_tilde (Ñ), upper_C_cedil (Ç), upper_AE (Æ)
• space.png is treated specially — it creates an empty glyph with a default advance width; the image content is ignored.
• Accented characters use compound filenames like lower_e_acute.png for é, lower_ss.png for ß, upper_AE.png for Æ, and so on. The table above lists all supported names with their corresponding characters.

Tip: use clean, high-contrast alpha masks (opaque glyph area, transparent background) for best tracing results.

1. Launch the app and use the Browse button to select the input folder.
2. The UI reports how many expected glyph files were found (based on FontConverter.ExpectedGlyphs).
3. Adjust the Simplification slider to reduce or increase contour detail (higher = fewer points).
4. Enter a Font Name. The output filename will be <FontName>.ttf and will be the font's internal install name.
5. Click Convert. Progress is shown in the UI. Conversion can be cancelled.
6. On success you will find:
   • <FontName>.ttf in the input folder
   • converted/ subfolder with generated .svg files

• MainWindow.xaml.cs drives the UI: folder selection, progress updates, and cancellation.
• FontConverter.cs does the heavy lifting:
  • Finds FontForge executable (FindFontForgeExecutable() checks common paths and where).
  • Loads PNGs with Emgu.CV and extracts the alpha channel.
  • Thresholds the alpha channel and finds contours (CvInvoke.FindContours).
  • Approximates contours and writes SVG path data (preserving holes via contour hierarchy).
  • Generates a FontForge Python script that maps filenames to Unicode values, imports SVGs, sets metrics, and writes a TTF.
  • Launches FontForge with redirected stdout/stderr and parses PROGRESS: lines for UI updates.
• Temporary Python script is created and deleted automatically (if you need it for debugging, check the code and add logging before deletion).

• <FontName>.ttf — final TrueType font (written to the input folder)
• converted/*.svg — intermediate SVGs (kept for inspection)
• Progress messages and errors are shown in the app UI; the app surfaces FontForge output to help debugging.

• "FontForge not detected" — install FontForge and make sure it is on PATH or in a common location scanned by the app.
• "No PNG files found" — ensure .png files exist at the top level of the selected folder.
• "No contours found" — check the PNG alpha channel; if the glyph is drawn on an opaque background, contour detection will fail.
• Complex glyphs can produce very complex SVGs; increase simplification to reduce path complexity.
• If FontForge fails, inspect the app output and the (temporary) generated Python script for the cause.

• MainWindow.xaml / MainWindow.xaml.cs — WPF UI and interaction logic
• FontConverter.cs — PNG → SVG logic, FontForge script creation and process orchestration
• GlyphsWindow (if present) — UI helper to inspect found glyphs
• README.md — this file