Class

NSFont

NSFont objects represent fonts to an application, providing access to characteristics of the font and assistance in laying out glyphs relative to one another. Font objects are also used to establish the current font for drawing text directly into a graphics context, using the set() method.

Overview

You don’t create NSFont objects using the alloc and init methods. Instead, you use either init(descriptor:size:) or init(name:size:) to look up an available font and alter its size or matrix to your needs. These methods check for an existing font object with the specified characteristics, returning it if there is one. Otherwise, they look up the font data requested and create the appropriate object. NSFont also defines a number of methods for getting standard system fonts, such as systemFont(ofSize:), userFont(ofSize:), and messageFont(ofSize:). To request the default size for these standard fonts, pass a negative number or 0 as the font size. See The macOS Environment in macOS Human Interface Guidelines for more information about system fonts.

Symbols

Creating Arbitrary Fonts

init?(name: String, size: CGFloat)

Creates a font object for the specified font name and font size.

init?(descriptor: NSFontDescriptor, size: CGFloat)

Returns a font object for the specified font descriptor and font size.

init?(descriptor: NSFontDescriptor, textTransform: AffineTransform?)

Returns a font object for the specified font descriptor and text transform.

init?(name: String, matrix: UnsafePointer<CGFloat>)

Returns a font object for the specified font name and matrix.

Creating User Fonts

class func userFont(ofSize: CGFloat)

Returns the font used by default for documents and other text under the user’s control (that is, text whose font the user can normally change), in the specified size.

class func userFixedPitchFont(ofSize: CGFloat)

Returns the font used by default for documents and other text under the user’s control (that is, text whose font the user can normally change), when that font should be fixed-pitch, in the specified size.

Creating System Fonts

class func boldSystemFont(ofSize: CGFloat)

Returns the Aqua system font used for standard interface items that are rendered in boldface type in the specified size.

class func controlContentFont(ofSize: CGFloat)

Returns the font used for the content of controls in the specified size.

class func labelFont(ofSize: CGFloat)

Returns the font used for standard interface labels in the specified size.

class func menuFont(ofSize: CGFloat)

Returns the font used for menu items, in the specified size.

class func menuBarFont(ofSize: CGFloat)

Returns the font used for menu bar items, in the specified size.

class func messageFont(ofSize: CGFloat)

Returns the font used for standard interface items, such as button labels, menu items, and so on, in the specified size.

class func paletteFont(ofSize: CGFloat)

Returns the font used for palette window title bars, in the specified size.

class func systemFont(ofSize: CGFloat)

Returns the Aqua system font used for standard interface items, such as button labels, menu items, and so on, in the specified size.

class func titleBarFont(ofSize: CGFloat)

Returns the font used for window title bars, in the specified size.

class func toolTipsFont(ofSize: CGFloat)

Returns the font used for tool tips labels, in the specified size.

Using a Font to Draw

func set()

Sets this font as the font for the current graphics context.

func set(in: NSGraphicsContext)

Sets this font as the font for the specified graphics context.

Getting General Font Information

var coveredCharacterSet: CharacterSet

The character set containing all of the nominal characters that the font can render.

var fontDescriptor: NSFontDescriptor

The font descriptor object for the font.

var isFixedPitch: Bool

A Boolean value indicating whether all glyphs in the font have the same advancement.

var mostCompatibleStringEncoding: UInt

The string encoding that works best with the font.

var renderingMode: NSFontRenderingMode

The rendering mode of the font.

Getting Information About Glyphs

func glyph(withName: String)

Returns the named encoded glyph, or –1 if the receiver contains no such glyph.

Getting Metrics Information

class func labelFontSize()

Returns the size of the standard label font.

class func smallSystemFontSize()

Returns the size of the standard small system font.

class func systemFontSize()

Returns the size of the standard system font.

class func systemFontSize(for: NSControlSize)

Returns the font size used for the specified control size.

func advancement(forGlyph: NSGlyph)

Returns the nominal spacing for the given glyph—the distance the current point moves after showing the glyph—accounting for the receiver’s size.

var ascender: CGFloat

The top y-coordinate, offset from the baseline, of the font’s longest ascender.

var boundingRectForFont: NSRect

The font’s bounding rectangle, scaled to the font’s size.

func boundingRect(forGlyph: NSGlyph)

Returns the bounding rectangle for the specified glyph, scaled to the receiver’s size.

var capHeight: CGFloat

The cap height of the font.

var descender: CGFloat

The bottom y-coordinate, offset from the baseline, of the font’s longest descender.

func getAdvancements(NSSizeArray, forGlyphs: UnsafePointer<NSGlyph>, count: Int)

Returns an array of the advancements for the specified glyphs rendered by the receiver.

func getAdvancements(NSSizeArray, forPackedGlyphs: UnsafeRawPointer, length: Int)

Returns an array of the advancements for the specified packed glyphs and rendered by the receiver.

func getBoundingRects(NSRectArray, forGlyphs: UnsafePointer<NSGlyph>, count: Int)

Returns an array of the bounding rectangles for the specified glyphs rendered by the receiver.

var italicAngle: CGFloat

The number of degrees that the font is slanted counterclockwise from the vertical.

var leading: CGFloat

The leading value of the font.

var matrix: UnsafePointer<CGFloat>

The transformation matrix associated with the font.

var maximumAdvancement: NSSize

The maximum advance of any of the font’s glyphs.

var numberOfGlyphs: Int

The number of glyphs in the font.

var pointSize: CGFloat

The point size of the font.

var textTransform: AffineTransform

The current transformation matrix of the font.

var underlinePosition: CGFloat

The baseline offset to use when drawing underlines with the font.

var underlineThickness: CGFloat

The thickness to use when drawing underlines with the font.

var xHeight: CGFloat

The x-height of the font.

Getting Font Names

var displayName: String?

The name of the font, including family and face names, to use when displaying the font information to the user.

var familyName: String?

The family name of the font—for example, “Times” or “Helvetica.”

var fontName: String

The full name of the font, as used in PostScript language code—for example, “Times-Roman” or “Helvetica-Oblique.”

Setting User Fonts

class func setUser(NSFont?)

Sets the font used by default for documents and other text under the user’s control to the specified font.

class func setUserFixedPitch(NSFont?)

Sets the font used by default for documents and other text under the user’s control, when that font should be fixed-pitch, to the specified font.

Getting Corresponding Device Fonts

var printer: NSFont

The scalable PostScript font corresponding to current font.

var screen: NSFont

The bitmapped screen font for the current font.

func screenFont(with: NSFontRenderingMode)

Returns a bitmapped screen font, when sent to a font object representing a scalable PostScript font, with the specified rendering mode, matching the receiver in typeface and matrix (or size), or nil if such a font can’t be found.