GlyphGL is a lightweight, header-only text rendering library designed for OpenGL applications. It provides efficient TrueType and OpenType font rendering with atlas-based texturing, supporting modern OpenGL contexts with comprehensive text styling capabilities.
Core Capabilities:
- Header-only design with no external dependencies
- Comprehensive font support including TrueType and OpenType formats
- Efficient atlas-based texture packing for optimal GPU memory usage
- Modern OpenGL 3.3+ compatibility with cross-platform support
Text Rendering Features:
- Unicode text rendering with configurable character sets
- Signed Distance Field (SDF) rendering for crisp text at any scale
- Sub-pixel positioning for precise text layout
- Automatic font hinting and anti-aliasing
Visual Effects and Styling:
- Text styling options including bold, italic, and underline
- Custom shader effects such as rainbow and glow animations
- Configurable text color, scale, and opacity
- Real-time animated text effects with time-based uniforms
Performance and Optimization:
- Minimal compilation mode for reduced memory footprint
- Configurable atlas dimensions (default: 2048×2048)
- Adjustable vertex buffer size for different application requirements
- Efficient glyph caching and texture management
Development Features:
- Debug logging capabilities for development workflows
- Dynamic projection matrix updates for responsive applications
- Simple API with comprehensive error handling
- Support for multiple windowing systems (GLFW, GLUT, WinAPI, X11)
- Clone the repository:
git clone https://github.com/DareksCoffee/GlyphGL.git- Include the header in your project:
#include <glyph.h>- Link against OpenGL and your preferred windowing system
#include <GLFW/glfw3.h>
#include <glyph.h>
int main()
{
// Initialize windowing system
glfwInit();
glfwWindowHint(GLFW_CONTEXT_VERSION_MAJOR, 3);
glfwWindowHint(GLFW_CONTEXT_VERSION_MINOR, 3);
GLFWwindow* window = glfwCreateWindow(800, 600, "GlyphGL Example", NULL, NULL);
glfwMakeContextCurrent(window);
// Create text renderer
glyph_renderer_t renderer = glyph_renderer_create("font.ttf", 64.0f,
NULL, GLYPH_UTF8, NULL, 0);
glyph_renderer_set_projection(&renderer, 800, 600);
// Enable blending for smooth text
glEnable(GL_BLEND);
glBlendFunc(GL_SRC_ALPHA, GL_ONE_MINUS_SRC_ALPHA);
while(!glfwWindowShouldClose(window))
{
glClearColor(0.1f, 0.1f, 0.1f, 1.0f);
glClear(GL_COLOR_BUFFER_BIT);
// Render text
glyph_renderer_draw_text(&renderer, "Hello, GlyphGL!",
50.0f, 300.0f, 1.0f, 1.0f, 1.0f, 1.0f, GLYPH_NONE);
glfwSwapBuffers(window);
glfwPollEvents();
}
glyph_renderer_free(&renderer);
glfwTerminate();
return 0;
}Text Effects:
// Apply bold and italic styling
glyph_renderer_draw_text(&renderer, "Styled Text", x, y, scale, r, g, b, GLYPHGL_BOLD | GLYPHGL_ITALIC);
// Use Signed Distance Field rendering
glyph_renderer_t sdf_renderer = glyph_renderer_create("font.ttf", 64.0f,
NULL, GLYPH_UTF8, NULL, 1);Custom Shader Effects:
// Create and apply custom effect
glyph_effect_t rainbow_effect = glyph_effect_create_rainbow();
glyph_renderer_t effect_renderer = glyph_renderer_create("font.ttf", 64.0f,
NULL, GLYPH_UTF8, &rainbow_effect, 0);The following libraries are used in the provided demos and examples:
Graphics and Window Management:
- GLFW 3.x - Window creation and input handling
- OpenGL - Graphics rendering
- GLUT - Alternative window management (legacy)
Platform-Specific:
- Windows API (WinAPI) - Native Windows application development
- X11 - Unix/Linux window system interface
Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit issues and pull requests.
This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details or the license headers in the source files.