This manual, written by Protesilaos Stavrou, describes the customization
options for fontaine (or fontaine.el), and provides every other piece of
information pertinent to it.
The documentation furnished herein corresponds to stable version {{{stable-version}}}, released on {{{release-date}}}. Any reference to a newer feature which does not yet form part of the latest tagged commit, is explicitly marked as such.
Current development target is {{{development-version}}}.
- Package name (GNU ELPA):
fontaine - Official manual: https://protesilaos.com/emacs/fontaine
- Change log: https://protesilaos.com/emacs/fontaine-changelog
- Git repositories:
- Mailing list: https://lists.sr.ht/~protesilaos/fontaine
- Backronym: Fonts, Ornaments, and Neat Typography Are Irrelevant in Non-graphical Emacs.
Copyright (C) 2022-2023 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover Texts being “A GNU Manual,” and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled “GNU Free Documentation License.”
(a) The FSF’s Back-Cover Text is: “You have the freedom to copy and modify this GNU manual.”
Fontaine lets the user specify presets of font configurations and set
them on demand on graphical Emacs frames. The user option
fontaine-presets holds all such presets.
Presets consist of a list of properties that govern the family,
weight, height, and slant of the faces listed in the value of the
variable fontaine-faces.
Each preset is identified by a user-defined symbol as the car of a
property list. It looks like this (check the default value of
fontaine-presets for how everything is pieced together):
(regular
;; I keep all properties for didactic purposes, but most can be
;; omitted. See the fontaine manual for the technicalities:
;; <https://protesilaos.com/emacs/fontaine>.
:default-family "Monospace"
:default-weight regular
:default-slant normal
:default-width normal
:default-height 100
:fixed-pitch-family nil
:fixed-pitch-weight nil
:fixed-pitch-slant nil
:fixed-pitch-width nil
:fixed-pitch-height 1.0
:fixed-pitch-serif-family nil
:fixed-pitch-serif-weight nil
:fixed-pitch-serif-slant nil
:fixed-pitch-serif-width nil
:fixed-pitch-serif-height 1.0
:variable-pitch-family "Sans"
:variable-pitch-weight nil
:variable-pitch-slant nil
:variable-pitch-width nil
:variable-pitch-height 1.0
:mode-line-active-family nil
:mode-line-active-weight nil
:mode-line-active-slant nil
:mode-line-active-width nil
:mode-line-active-height 1.0
:mode-line-inactive-family nil
:mode-line-inactive-weight nil
:mode-line-inactive-slant nil
:mode-line-inactive-width nil
:mode-line-inactive-height 1.0
:header-line-family nil
:header-line-weight nil
:header-line-slant nil
:header-line-width nil
:header-line-height 1.0
:line-number-family nil
:line-number-weight nil
:line-number-slant nil
:line-number-width nil
:line-number-height 1.0
:tab-bar-family nil
:tab-bar-weight nil
:tab-bar-slant nil
:tab-bar-width nil
:tab-bar-height 1.0
:tab-line-family nil
:tab-line-weight nil
:tab-line-slant nil
:tab-line-width nil
:tab-line-height 1.0
:bold-family nil
:bold-slant nil
:bold-weight bold
:bold-width nil
:bold-height 1.0
:italic-family nil
:italic-weight nil
:italic-slant italic
:italic-width nil
:italic-height 1.0
:line-spacing nil)Multiple presets form an alist (a list of lists), like this:
'((regular
:default-family "Monospace"
;; More properties here
)
(medium
:default-family "Iosevka Comfy Wide")
;; More presets here
)The doc string of fontaine-presets explains all properties in detail
and documents some important caveats or information about font settings
in Emacs.
Shared and implicit fallback values for presets.
The command fontaine-set-preset applies the desired preset. If
called interactively, it produces a minibuffer prompt with completion
among the available presets. When called from Lisp, it requires a
PRESET argument, such as:
(fontaine-set-preset 'regular)The default behaviour of fontaine-set-preset is to change fonts across
all graphical frames. The user can, however, limit the changes to a
given frame. For interactive use, this is done by invoking the command
with a universal prefix argument (C-u by default), which changes fonts
only in the current frame. When used in Lisp, the FRAME argument can be
a frame object (satisfies framep) or a non-nil value: the former
applies the effects to the given object, while the latter means the
current frame and thus is the same as interactively supplying the prefix
argument.
As a final step, fontaine-set-preset calls the fontaine-set-preset-hook.
The latest value of fontaine-set-preset is stored in a file whose
location is defined in fontaine-latest-state-file (normally part of
the .emacs.d directory). Saving is done by the function
fontaine-store-latest-preset, which should be assigned to a hook
(e.g. kill-emacs-hook). To restore that value, the user can call the
function fontaine-restore-latest-preset (such as by adding it to their
init file).
The command fontaine-toggle-preset can toggle between the last two
valid presets, as set by fontaine-set-preset. If it cannot find two
different presets, then it prompts using minibuffer completion. As a
final step, it calls the fontaine-set-preset-hook.
For users of the no-littering package, fontaine-latest-state-file is
not stored in their .emacs.d, but in a standard directory instead:
https://github.com/emacscollective/no-littering.
As for the name of this package, it is the French word for “fountain” which, in turn, is what the font or source is. However, I will not blame you if you can only interpret it as a descriptive acronym: FONTs Are Irrelevant in Non-graphical Emacs (because that is actually true).
Inherit the properties of another named preset.
The user option fontaine-presets may look like this (though check its
default value before you make any edits):
;; NOTE this example does not include all the properties that
;; `fontaine-presets' accepts.
(setq fontaine-presets
'((regular
:default-family "Hack"
:default-weight normal
:default-height 100
:fixed-pitch-family "Fira Code"
:fixed-pitch-weight nil ; falls back to :default-weight
:fixed-pitch-height 1.0
:variable-pitch-family "Noto Sans"
:variable-pitch-weight normal
:variable-pitch-height 1.0
:bold-family nil ; use whatever the underlying face has
:bold-weight bold
:italic-family "Source Code Pro"
:italic-slant italic
:line-spacing 1)
(large
:default-family "Iosevka"
:default-weight normal
:default-height 150
:fixed-pitch-family nil ; falls back to :default-family
:fixed-pitch-weight nil ; falls back to :default-weight
:fixed-pitch-height 1.0
:variable-pitch-family "FiraGO"
:variable-pitch-weight normal
:variable-pitch-height 1.05
:bold-family nil ; use whatever the underlying face has
:bold-weight bold
:italic-family nil ; use whatever the underlying face has
:italic-slant italic
:line-spacing 1)))Notice that not all properties need to be specified, as they have reasonable fallback values. The above can be written thus (removed lines are left empty for didactic purposes):
(setq fontaine-presets
'((regular
:default-family "Hack"
:default-height 100
:fixed-pitch-family "Fira Code"
:variable-pitch-family "Noto Sans"
:italic-family "Source Code Pro"
:line-spacing 1)
(large
:default-family "Iosevka"
:default-height 150
:variable-pitch-family "FiraGO"
:line-spacing 1)))Without the empty lines, we have this, which yields the same results as the first example:
(setq fontaine-presets
'((regular
:default-family "Hack"
:default-height 100
:fixed-pitch-family "Fira Code"
:variable-pitch-family "Noto Sans"
:italic-family "Source Code Pro"
:line-spacing 1)
(large
:default-family "Iosevka"
:default-height 150
:variable-pitch-family "FiraGO"
:line-spacing 1)))We call the properties of the removed lines “implicit fallback values”.
This already shows us that the value of fontaine-presets does not need
to be extensive. To further improve its conciseness, it accepts a
special preset that provides a list of “shared fallback properties”: the
t preset. This one is used to define properties that are common to
multiple presets, such as the regular and large we have illustrated
thus far. Here is how verbose presets can be expressed succinctly:
;; NOTE this example does not include all the properties that
;; `fontaine-presets' accepts.
;; Notice the duplication of properties and how we will avoid it.
(setq fontaine-presets
'((regular
:default-family "Iosevka Comfy"
:default-weight normal
:default-height 100
:fixed-pitch-family nil ; falls back to :default-family
:fixed-pitch-weight nil ; falls back to :default-weight
:fixed-pitch-height 1.0
:variable-pitch-family "FiraGO"
:variable-pitch-weight normal
:variable-pitch-height 1.05
:bold-family nil ; use whatever the underlying face has
:bold-weight bold
:italic-family nil
:italic-slant italic
:line-spacing nil)
(medium
:default-family "Iosevka Comfy"
:default-weight semilight
:default-height 140
:fixed-pitch-family nil ; falls back to :default-family
:fixed-pitch-weight nil ; falls back to :default-weight
:fixed-pitch-height 1.0
:variable-pitch-family "FiraGO"
:variable-pitch-weight normal
:variable-pitch-height 1.05
:bold-family nil ; use whatever the underlying face has
:bold-weight bold
:italic-family nil
:italic-slant italic
:line-spacing nil)
(large
:default-family "Iosevka Comfy"
:default-weight semilight
:default-height 180
:fixed-pitch-family nil ; falls back to :default-family
:fixed-pitch-weight nil ; falls back to :default-weight
:fixed-pitch-height 1.0
:variable-pitch-family "FiraGO"
:variable-pitch-weight normal
:variable-pitch-height 1.05
:bold-family nil ; use whatever the underlying face has
:bold-weight extrabold
:italic-family nil
:italic-slant italic
:line-spacing nil)))
(setq fontaine-presets
'((regular
:default-height 100)
(medium
:default-weight semilight
:default-height 140)
(large
:default-weight semilight
:default-height 180
:bold-weight extrabold)
(t ; our shared fallback properties
:default-family "Iosevka Comfy"
:default-weight normal
;; :default-height 100
:fixed-pitch-family nil ; falls back to :default-family
:fixed-pitch-weight nil ; falls back to :default-weight
:fixed-pitch-height 1.0
:variable-pitch-family "FiraGO"
:variable-pitch-weight normal
:variable-pitch-height 1.05
:bold-family nil ; use whatever the underlying face has
:bold-weight bold
:italic-family nil
:italic-slant italic
:line-spacing nil)))The t preset does not need to explicitly cover all properties. It can
rely on the aforementioned “implicit fallback values” to further reduce
its verbosity (though the user can always write all properties if they
intend to change their values). We then have this transformation:
;; The verbose form
(setq fontaine-presets
'((regular
:default-height 100)
(medium
:default-weight semilight
:default-height 140)
(large
:default-weight semilight
:default-height 180
:bold-weight extrabold)
(t ; our shared fallback properties
:default-family "Iosevka Comfy"
:default-weight normal
;; :default-height 100
:fixed-pitch-family nil ; falls back to :default-family
:fixed-pitch-weight nil ; falls back to :default-weight
:fixed-pitch-height 1.0
:variable-pitch-family "FiraGO"
:variable-pitch-weight normal
:variable-pitch-height 1.05
:bold-family nil ; use whatever the underlying face has
:bold-weight bold
:italic-family nil
:italic-slant italic
:line-spacing nil)))
;; The concise one which relies on "implicit fallback values"
(setq fontaine-presets
'((regular
:default-height 100)
(medium
:default-weight semilight
:default-height 140)
(large
:default-weight semilight
:default-height 180
:bold-weight extrabold)
(t ; our shared fallback properties
:default-family "Iosevka Comfy"
:default-weight normal
:variable-pitch-family "FiraGO"
:variable-pitch-height 1.05)))Shared and implicit fallback values for presets.
When defining multiple presets, we may need to duplicate properties
and then make tweaks to individual values. Suppose we want to have
two distinct presets for presentations: one is for coding related
demonstrations and the other for prose. Both must have some common
styles, but must define distinct font families each of which is
suitable for the given task. In this case, we do not want to fall
back to the generic t preset (per the default behaviour) and we also
do not wish to duplicate properties manually, potentially making
mistakes in the process. Fontaine thus provides a method of
inheriting a named preset’s properties by using the :inherit
property with a value that references the name of another preset
(technically, the car of that list). Here is the idea:
(setq fontaine-presets
'((regular
:default-height 100)
(code-demo
:default-family "Source Code Pro"
:default-weight semilight
:default-height 170
:variable-pitch-family "Sans"
:bold-weight extrabold)
(prose-demo
:inherit code-demo ; copy the `code-demo' properties
:default-family "Sans"
:variable-pitch-family "Serif"
:default-height 220)
(t
:default-family "Monospace"
;; more generic fallback properties here...
)))In this scenario, the regular preset gets all its properties from
the t preset. We omit them here in the interest of brevity (see the
default value of fontaine-presets and its documentation for the
details). In turn, the code-demo specifies more properties and
falls back to t for any property not explicitly referenced therein.
Finally, the prose-demo copies everything in code-demo, overrides
every property it specifies, and falls back to t for every other
property.
In the interest of simplicity, Fontaine does not support recursive inheritance. If there is a compelling need for it, we can add it in future versions.
The package is available as fontaine. Simply do:
M-x package-refresh-contents M-x package-install
And search for it.
GNU ELPA provides the latest stable release. Those who prefer to follow the development process in order to report bugs or suggest changes, can use the version of the package from the GNU-devel ELPA archive. Read: https://protesilaos.com/codelog/2022-05-13-emacs-elpa-devel/.
Assuming your Emacs files are found in ~/.emacs.d/, execute the
following commands in a shell prompt:
cd ~/.emacs.d
# Create a directory for manually-installed packages
mkdir manual-packages
# Go to the new directory
cd manual-packages
# Clone this repo, naming it "fontaine"
git clone https://github.com/protesilaos/fontaine fontaineFinally, in your init.el (or equivalent) evaluate this:
;; Make Elisp files in that directory available to the user.
(add-to-list 'load-path "~/.emacs.d/manual-packages/fontaine")Everything is in place to set up the package.
Remember to read the relevant doc strings.
(require 'fontaine)
(setq fontaine-latest-state-file
(locate-user-emacs-file "fontaine-latest-state.eld"))
;; Iosevka Comfy is my highly customised build of Iosevka with
;; monospaced and duospaced (quasi-proportional) variants as well as
;; support or no support for ligatures:
;; <https://github.com/protesilaos/iosevka-comfy>.
(setq fontaine-presets
'((small
:default-family "Iosevka Comfy Motion"
:default-height 80
:variable-pitch-family "Iosevka Comfy Duo")
(regular) ; like this it uses all the fallback values and is named `regular'
(medium
:default-weight semilight
:default-height 115
:bold-weight extrabold)
(large
:inherit medium
:default-height 150)
(presentation
:default-height 180)
(t
;; I keep all properties for didactic purposes, but most can be
;; omitted. See the fontaine manual for the technicalities:
;; <https://protesilaos.com/emacs/fontaine>.
:default-family "Iosevka Comfy"
:default-weight regular
:default-height 100
:fixed-pitch-family nil ; falls back to :default-family
:fixed-pitch-weight nil ; falls back to :default-weight
:fixed-pitch-height 1.0
:fixed-pitch-serif-family nil ; falls back to :default-family
:fixed-pitch-serif-weight nil ; falls back to :default-weight
:fixed-pitch-serif-height 1.0
:variable-pitch-family "Iosevka Comfy Motion Duo"
:variable-pitch-weight nil
:variable-pitch-height 1.0
:mode-line-active-family nil ; falls back to :default-family
:mode-line-active-weight nil ; falls back to :default-weight
:mode-line-active-height 0.9
:mode-line-inactive-family nil ; falls back to :default-family
:mode-line-inactive-weight nil ; falls back to :default-weight
:mode-line-inactive-height 0.9
:header-line-family nil ; falls back to :default-family
:header-line-weight nil ; falls back to :default-weight
:header-line-height 0.9
:line-number-family nil ; falls back to :default-family
:line-number-weight nil ; falls back to :default-weight
:line-number-height 0.9
:tab-bar-family nil ; falls back to :default-family
:tab-bar-weight nil ; falls back to :default-weight
:tab-bar-height 1.0
:tab-line-family nil ; falls back to :default-family
:tab-line-weight nil ; falls back to :default-weight
:tab-line-height 1.0
:bold-family nil ; use whatever the underlying face has
:bold-weight bold
:italic-family nil
:italic-slant italic
:line-spacing nil)))
;; Set the last preset or fall back to desired style from `fontaine-presets'
;; (the `regular' in this case).
(fontaine-set-preset (or (fontaine-restore-latest-preset) 'regular))
;; Persist the latest font preset when closing/starting Emacs and
;; while switching between themes.
(fontaine-mode 1)
;; fontaine does not define any key bindings. This is just a sample that
;; respects the key binding conventions. Evaluate:
;;
;; (info "(elisp) Key Binding Conventions")
(define-key global-map (kbd "C-c f") #'fontaine-set-preset)[ Since version 2.0.0, there exists the fontaine-mode which does
this automatically. ]
Themes re-apply face definitions when they are loaded. This is
necessary to render the theme. For certain faces, such as bold and
italic, it means that their font family may be reset (depending on the
particularities of the theme).
To avoid such a potential problem, we can arrange to restore the
current font preset which was applied by fontaine-set-preset.
Fontaine provides the command fontaine-apply-current-preset. It can
either be called interactively after loading a theme or be assigned to
a hook that is ran at the post load-theme phase.
- Theme-agnostic hook for Emacs 29 or higher
- Theme-agnostic hook before Emacs 29
[ Since version 2.0.0, there exists the fontaine-mode which does
this automatically. ]
Emacs 29 provides the enable-theme-functions, which we can use to
persist or restore a font preset thus (Persist font configurations on theme switch):
(add-hook 'enable-theme-functions #'fontaine-apply-current-preset)[ Since version 2.0.0, there exists the fontaine-mode which does
this automatically. ]
For versions of Emacs before 29, there is no built-in theme-agnostic solution to persisting or restoring a font preset (Theme-agnostic hook for Emacs 29 or higher).
Themes have to specify a hook that is called by their relevant commands at the post-theme-load phase. This can also be done in a generic way:
;; Set up the `after-enable-theme-hook'
(defvar after-enable-theme-hook nil
"Normal hook run after enabling a theme.")
(defun run-after-enable-theme-hook (&rest _args)
"Run `after-enable-theme-hook'."
(run-hooks 'after-enable-theme-hook))
(advice-add 'enable-theme :after #'run-after-enable-theme-hook)And then simply use that hook:
(add-hook 'after-enable-theme-hook #'fontaine-apply-current-preset)Fontaine is meant to be a collective effort. Every bit of help matters.
- Author/maintainer
- Protesilaos Stavrou.
- Contributions to the code or manual
- Christopher League, Eli Zaretskii, Florent Teissier, Jorge Gomez, Terry F. Torrey.
- Ideas and user feedback
- Adam Porter (alphapapa), Ashlin Eldridge, Joe Higton, Ted Reed.