{
    "mode": "man",
    "parameter": "mkfontscale",
    "section": "1",
    "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/mkfontscale/1/json",
    "generated": "2026-08-31T21:38:30Z",
    "synopsis": "mkfontscale  [ -b ] [ -s ] [ -o filename ] [ -x suffix ] [ -a encoding ] ... [ -f fuzz ] [ -l\n] [ -e directory ] [ -p prefix ] [ -r prefix ] [ -n prefix ] [ -u | -U ] [ -v ] [ -- ] [  di‐\nrectory ] ...",
    "sections": {
        "NAME": {
            "content": "mkfontscale - create an index of scalable font files for X\n",
            "subsections": []
        },
        "SYNOPSIS": {
            "content": "mkfontscale  [ -b ] [ -s ] [ -o filename ] [ -x suffix ] [ -a encoding ] ... [ -f fuzz ] [ -l\n] [ -e directory ] [ -p prefix ] [ -r prefix ] [ -n prefix ] [ -u | -U ] [ -v ] [ -- ] [  di‐\nrectory ] ...\n",
            "subsections": []
        },
        "DESCRIPTION": {
            "content": "For  each  directory argument, mkfontscale reads all of the scalable font files in the direc‐\ntory.  For every font file found, an X11 font name (XLFD) is generated, and  is  written  to‐\ngether with the file name to a file fonts.scale in the directory.\n\nThe  resulting  fonts.scale  file should be checked and possibly manually edited before being\nused as input for the mkfontdir(1) program.\n",
            "subsections": []
        },
        "OPTIONS": {
            "content": "",
            "subsections": [
                {
                    "name": "-b",
                    "content": "",
                    "flag": "-b"
                },
                {
                    "name": "-s      -b",
                    "content": "has the side effect of enabling the reading of fonts.scale files.\n",
                    "flag": "-b"
                },
                {
                    "name": "-o _",
                    "content": "send  program output to filename; default is fonts.scale if bitmap fonts are not being\nread, and fonts.dir if they are.  If filename is relative, it is created in the direc‐\ntory being processed.  If it is the special value -, output  is  written  to  standard\noutput.\n",
                    "flag": "-o"
                },
                {
                    "name": "-x _",
                    "content": "exclude all files with the specified suffix.\n",
                    "flag": "-x"
                },
                {
                    "name": "-a _",
                    "content": "add encoding to the list of encodings searched for.\n",
                    "flag": "-a"
                },
                {
                    "name": "-f _",
                    "content": "set the fraction of characters that may be missing in large encodings to fuzz percent.\nDefaults to 2%.\n",
                    "flag": "-f"
                },
                {
                    "name": "-l",
                    "content": "(BDF and PCF).  By default, it is assumed that the implementation  can  reencode  Uni‐\ncode-encoded legacy fonts.\n",
                    "flag": "-l"
                },
                {
                    "name": "-e",
                    "content": "ing  files, the list of which is then written to an \"encodings.dir\" file in every font\ndirectory.\n",
                    "flag": "-e"
                },
                {
                    "name": "-p",
                    "content": "written  to  the \"encodings.dir\" file.  The prefix is prepended literally: if a `/' is\nrequired between the prefix and the path names, it must be supplied explicitly as part\nof the prefix.\n",
                    "flag": "-p"
                },
                {
                    "name": "-r",
                    "content": "ings.dir\" file.  The default is to convert relative encoding directories  to  absolute\ndirectories  by  prepending the current directory.  The positioning of this options is\nsignificant, as this option only applies to subsequent -e options.\n",
                    "flag": "-r"
                },
                {
                    "name": "-n",
                    "content": "generating encoding directories only.\n",
                    "flag": "-n"
                },
                {
                    "name": "-u, -U",
                    "content": "",
                    "flag": "-U"
                },
                {
                    "name": "-v",
                    "content": "--     end of options.\n",
                    "flag": "-v"
                }
            ]
        },
        "SEE ALSO": {
            "content": "X(7), Xserver(1), mkfontdir(1), ttmkfdir(1), xfs(1), xset(1)\n",
            "subsections": []
        },
        "NOTES": {
            "content": "The format of the fonts.scale, fonts.dir and encodings.dir files is documented in the mkfont‐\ndir(1) manual page.\n\nMkfontscale will overwrite any fonts.scale file even if it has been hand-edited.\n\nmkfontscale -b -s -l is equivalent to mkfontdir.\n",
            "subsections": []
        },
        "AUTHOR": {
            "content": "The  version  of mkfontscale included in this X.Org Foundation release was originally written\nby Juliusz Chroboczek <jch@freedesktop.org> for the XFree86 project.   The  functionality  of\nthis program was inspired by the ttmkfdir utility by Joerg Pommnitz.\n\nX Version 11                              mkfontscale 1.1.3                           MKFONTSCALE(1)",
            "subsections": []
        }
    },
    "summary": "mkfontscale - create an index of scalable font files for X",
    "flags": [
        {
            "flag": "-b",
            "long": null,
            "arg": null,
            "description": ""
        },
        {
            "flag": "-b",
            "long": null,
            "arg": null,
            "description": "has the side effect of enabling the reading of fonts.scale files."
        },
        {
            "flag": "-o",
            "long": null,
            "arg": null,
            "description": "send program output to filename; default is fonts.scale if bitmap fonts are not being read, and fonts.dir if they are. If filename is relative, it is created in the direc‐ tory being processed. If it is the special value -, output is written to standard output."
        },
        {
            "flag": "-x",
            "long": null,
            "arg": null,
            "description": "exclude all files with the specified suffix."
        },
        {
            "flag": "-a",
            "long": null,
            "arg": null,
            "description": "add encoding to the list of encodings searched for."
        },
        {
            "flag": "-f",
            "long": null,
            "arg": null,
            "description": "set the fraction of characters that may be missing in large encodings to fuzz percent. Defaults to 2%."
        },
        {
            "flag": "-l",
            "long": null,
            "arg": null,
            "description": "(BDF and PCF). By default, it is assumed that the implementation can reencode Uni‐ code-encoded legacy fonts."
        },
        {
            "flag": "-e",
            "long": null,
            "arg": null,
            "description": "ing files, the list of which is then written to an \"encodings.dir\" file in every font directory."
        },
        {
            "flag": "-p",
            "long": null,
            "arg": null,
            "description": "written to the \"encodings.dir\" file. The prefix is prepended literally: if a `/' is required between the prefix and the path names, it must be supplied explicitly as part of the prefix."
        },
        {
            "flag": "-r",
            "long": null,
            "arg": null,
            "description": "ings.dir\" file. The default is to convert relative encoding directories to absolute directories by prepending the current directory. The positioning of this options is significant, as this option only applies to subsequent -e options."
        },
        {
            "flag": "-n",
            "long": null,
            "arg": null,
            "description": "generating encoding directories only."
        },
        {
            "flag": "-U",
            "long": null,
            "arg": null,
            "description": ""
        },
        {
            "flag": "-v",
            "long": null,
            "arg": null,
            "description": "-- end of options."
        }
    ],
    "examples": [],
    "see_also": [
        {
            "name": "X",
            "section": "7",
            "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/X/7/json"
        },
        {
            "name": "Xserver",
            "section": "1",
            "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/Xserver/1/json"
        },
        {
            "name": "mkfontdir",
            "section": "1",
            "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/mkfontdir/1/json"
        },
        {
            "name": "ttmkfdir",
            "section": "1",
            "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/ttmkfdir/1/json"
        },
        {
            "name": "xfs",
            "section": "1",
            "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/xfs/1/json"
        },
        {
            "name": "xset",
            "section": "1",
            "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/xset/1/json"
        }
    ]
}