## cairo_font_options_t cairo_font_options_t — How a font should be rendered |

## Synopsis

    typedef             cairo_font_options_t;
    cairo_font_options_t * cairo_font_options_create        (void);
    cairo_font_options_t * cairo_font_options_copy          (const cairo_font_options_t *original);
    void                cairo_font_options_destroy          (cairo_font_options_t *options);
    cairo_status_t      cairo_font_options_status           (cairo_font_options_t *options);
    void                cairo_font_options_merge            (cairo_font_options_t *options,
                                                             const cairo_font_options_t *other);
    unsigned long       cairo_font_options_hash             (const cairo_font_options_t *options);
    cairo_bool_t        cairo_font_options_equal            (const cairo_font_options_t *options,
                                                             const cairo_font_options_t *other);
    void                cairo_font_options_set_antialias    (cairo_font_options_t *options,
                                                             cairo_antialias_t antialias);
    cairo_antialias_t   cairo_font_options_get_antialias    (const cairo_font_options_t *options);
    enum                cairo_subpixel_order_t;
    void                cairo_font_options_set_subpixel_order
                                                            (cairo_font_options_t *options,
                                                             cairo_subpixel_order_t subpixel_order);
    cairo_subpixel_order_t  cairo_font_options_get_subpixel_order
                                                            (const cairo_font_options_t *options);
    enum                cairo_hint_style_t;
    void                cairo_font_options_set_hint_style   (cairo_font_options_t *options,
                                                             cairo_hint_style_t hint_style);
    cairo_hint_style_t  cairo_font_options_get_hint_style   (const cairo_font_options_t *options);
    enum                cairo_hint_metrics_t;
    void                cairo_font_options_set_hint_metrics (cairo_font_options_t *options,
                                                             cairo_hint_metrics_t hint_metrics);
    cairo_hint_metrics_t  cairo_font_options_get_hint_metrics
                                                            (const cairo_font_options_t *options);

## Description

The font options specify how fonts should be rendered. Most of the time the font options implied by a surface are just right and do not need any changes, but for pixel-based targets tweaking font options may result in superior output on a particular display.

## Details

### cairo_font_options_t

    typedef struct _cairo_font_options cairo_font_options_t;

An opaque structure holding all options that are used when rendering fonts.

Individual features of a cairo_font_options_t can be set or accessed using functions named cairo_font_options_set_feature_name and cairo_font_options_get_feature_name, like `cairo_font_options_set_antialias()` and `cairo_font_options_get_antialias()`.

New features may be added to a cairo_font_options_t in the future. For this reason, `cairo_font_options_copy()`, `cairo_font_options_equal()`, `cairo_font_options_merge()`, and `cairo_font_options_hash()` should be used to copy, check for equality, merge, or compute a hash value of cairo_font_options_t objects.

### cairo_font_options_create ()

    cairo_font_options_t * cairo_font_options_create        (void);

Allocates a new font options object with all options initialized to default values.

Returns : | a newly allocated cairo_font_options_t. Free with `cairo_font_options_destroy()`. This function always returns a valid pointer; if memory cannot be allocated, then a special error object is returned where all operations on the object do nothing. You can check for this with `cairo_font_options_status()`.

### cairo_font_options_copy ()

    cairo_font_options_t * cairo_font_options_copy          (const cairo_font_options_t *original);

Allocates a new font options object copying the option values from `original`.

`original` : | a cairo_font_options_t
Returns : | a newly allocated cairo_font_options_t. Free with `cairo_font_options_destroy()`. This function always returns a valid pointer; if memory cannot be allocated, then a special error object is returned where all operations on the object do nothing. You can check for this with `cairo_font_options_status()`.

### cairo_font_options_destroy ()

    void                cairo_font_options_destroy          (cairo_font_options_t *options);

Destroys a cairo_font_options_t object created with `cairo_font_options_create()` or `cairo_font_options_copy()`.

`options` : | a cairo_font_options_t

### cairo_font_options_status ()

    cairo_status_t      cairo_font_options_status           (cairo_font_options_t *options);

Checks whether an error has previously occurred for this font options object

`options` : | a cairo_font_options_t
Returns : | `CAIRO_STATUS_SUCCESS` or `CAIRO_STATUS_NO_MEMORY`

### cairo_font_options_merge ()

    void                cairo_font_options_merge            (cairo_font_options_t *options,
                                                             const cairo_font_options_t *other);

Merges non-default options from `other` into `options`, replacing existing values. This operation can be thought of as somewhat similar to compositing `other` onto `options` with the operation of `CAIRO_OPERATION_OVER`.

`options` : | a cairo_font_options_t
`other` : | another cairo_font_options_t

### cairo_font_options_hash ()

    unsigned long       cairo_font_options_hash             (const cairo_font_options_t *options);

Compute a hash for the font options object; this value will be useful when storing an object containing a cairo_font_options_t in a hash table.

`options` : | a cairo_font_options_t
Returns : | the hash value for the font options object. The return value can be cast to a 32-bit type if a 32-bit hash value is needed.

### cairo_font_options_equal ()

    cairo_bool_t        cairo_font_options_equal            (const cairo_font_options_t *options,
                                                             const cairo_font_options_t *other);

Compares two font options objects for equality.

`options` : | a cairo_font_options_t
`other` : | another cairo_font_options_t
Returns : | `TRUE` if all fields of the two font options objects match. Note that this function will return `FALSE` if either object is in error.

### cairo_font_options_set_antialias ()

    void                cairo_font_options_set_antialias    (cairo_font_options_t *options,
                                                             cairo_antialias_t antialias);

Sets the antialiasing mode for the font options object. This specifies the type of antialiasing to do when rendering text.

`options` : | a cairo_font_options_t
`antialias` : | the new antialiasing mode

### cairo_font_options_get_antialias ()

    cairo_antialias_t   cairo_font_options_get_antialias    (const cairo_font_options_t *options);

Gets the antialiasing mode for the font options object.

`options` : | a cairo_font_options_t
Returns : | the antialiasing mode

### enum cairo_subpixel_order_t

    typedef enum _cairo_subpixel_order {
        CAIRO_SUBPIXEL_ORDER_DEFAULT,
        CAIRO_SUBPIXEL_ORDER_RGB,
        CAIRO_SUBPIXEL_ORDER_BGR,
        CAIRO_SUBPIXEL_ORDER_VRGB,
        CAIRO_SUBPIXEL_ORDER_VBGR
    } cairo_subpixel_order_t;

The subpixel order specifies the order of color elements within each pixel on the display device when rendering with an antialiasing mode of `CAIRO_ANTIALIAS_SUBPIXEL`.

`CAIRO_SUBPIXEL_ORDER_DEFAULT` | Use the default subpixel order for for the target device
`CAIRO_SUBPIXEL_ORDER_RGB` | Subpixel elements are arranged horizontally with red at the left
`CAIRO_SUBPIXEL_ORDER_BGR` | Subpixel elements are arranged horizontally with blue at the left
`CAIRO_SUBPIXEL_ORDER_VRGB` | Subpixel elements are arranged vertically with red at the top
`CAIRO_SUBPIXEL_ORDER_VBGR` | Subpixel elements are arranged vertically with blue at the top

### cairo_font_options_set_subpixel_order ()

    void                cairo_font_options_set_subpixel_order
                                                            (cairo_font_options_t *options,
                                                             cairo_subpixel_order_t subpixel_order);

Sets the subpixel order for the font options object. The subpixel order specifies the order of color elements within each pixel on the display device when rendering with an antialiasing mode of `CAIRO_ANTIALIAS_SUBPIXEL`. See the documentation for cairo_subpixel_order_t for full details.

`options` : | a cairo_font_options_t
`subpixel_order` : | the new subpixel order

### cairo_font_options_get_subpixel_order ()

    cairo_subpixel_order_t  cairo_font_options_get_subpixel_order
                                                            (const cairo_font_options_t *options);

Gets the subpixel order for the font options object. See the documentation for cairo_subpixel_order_t for full details.

`options` : | a cairo_font_options_t
Returns : | the subpixel order for the font options object

### enum cairo_hint_style_t

    typedef enum _cairo_hint_style {
        CAIRO_HINT_STYLE_DEFAULT,
        CAIRO_HINT_STYLE_NONE,
        CAIRO_HINT_STYLE_SLIGHT,
        CAIRO_HINT_STYLE_MEDIUM,
        CAIRO_HINT_STYLE_FULL
    } cairo_hint_style_t;

Specifies the type of hinting to do on font outlines. Hinting is the process of fitting outlines to the pixel grid in order to improve the appearance of the result. Since hinting outlines involves distorting them, it also reduces the faithfulness to the original outline shapes. Not all of the outline hinting styles are supported by all font backends.

New entries may be added in future versions.

`CAIRO_HINT_STYLE_DEFAULT` | Use the default hint style for font backend and target device
`CAIRO_HINT_STYLE_NONE` | Do not hint outlines
`CAIRO_HINT_STYLE_SLIGHT` | Hint outlines slightly to improve contrast while retaining good fidelity to the original shapes.
`CAIRO_HINT_STYLE_MEDIUM` | Hint outlines with medium strength giving a compromise between fidelity to the original shapes and contrast
`CAIRO_HINT_STYLE_FULL` | Hint outlines to maximize contrast

### cairo_font_options_set_hint_style ()

    void                cairo_font_options_set_hint_style   (cairo_font_options_t *options,
                                                             cairo_hint_style_t hint_style);

Sets the hint style for font outlines for the font options object. This controls whether to fit font outlines to the pixel grid, and if so, whether to optimize for fidelity or contrast. See the documentation for cairo_hint_style_t for full details.

`options` : | a cairo_font_options_t
`hint_style` : | the new hint style

### cairo_font_options_get_hint_style ()

    cairo_hint_style_t  cairo_font_options_get_hint_style   (const cairo_font_options_t *options);

Gets the hint style for font outlines for the font options object. See the documentation for cairo_hint_style_t for full details.

`options` : | a cairo_font_options_t
Returns : | the hint style for the font options object

### enum cairo_hint_metrics_t

    typedef enum _cairo_hint_metrics {
        CAIRO_HINT_METRICS_DEFAULT,
        CAIRO_HINT_METRICS_OFF,
        CAIRO_HINT_METRICS_ON
    } cairo_hint_metrics_t;

Specifies whether to hint font metrics; hinting font metrics means quantizing them so that they are integer values in device space. Doing this improves the consistency of letter and line spacing, however it also means that text will be laid out differently at different zoom factors.

`CAIRO_HINT_METRICS_DEFAULT` | Hint metrics in the default manner for the font backend and target device
`CAIRO_HINT_METRICS_OFF` | Do not hint font metrics
`CAIRO_HINT_METRICS_ON` | Hint font metrics

### cairo_font_options_set_hint_metrics ()

    void                cairo_font_options_set_hint_metrics (cairo_font_options_t *options,
                                                             cairo_hint_metrics_t hint_metrics);

Sets the metrics hinting mode for the font options object. This controls whether metrics are quantized to integer values in device units. See the documentation for cairo_hint_metrics_t for full details.

`options` : | a cairo_font_options_t
`hint_metrics` : | the new metrics hinting mode

### cairo_font_options_get_hint_metrics ()

    cairo_hint_metrics_t  cairo_font_options_get_hint_metrics
                                                            (const cairo_font_options_t *options);

Gets the metrics hinting mode for the font options object. See the documentation for cairo_hint_metrics_t for full details.

`options` : | a cairo_font_options_t
Returns : | the metrics hinting mode for the font options object

## See Also

- cairo_scaled_font_t