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Getting started

This page provides a minimal introduction to installing and running Fontshow end-to-end.

Installation

Fontshow can be installed via pip.

Standard installation

pip install fontshow

Editable / development installation

For contributors or local development:

git clone https://github.com/marco0560/Fontshow.git
cd Fontshow
python3 scripts/bootstrap_dev_environment.py

This bootstrap command creates .venv, installs the editable project with development dependencies, applies repo-local Git configuration, and runs the standard validation checks.

If you also want the documentation toolchain, run:

python3 scripts/bootstrap_dev_environment.py --with-docs

The source package lives under src/fontshow/.

Quick pipeline

A typical workflow consists of four steps:

fontshow preflight
fontshow dump-fonts
fontshow parse-inventory
fontshow create-catalog

Each step consumes the output of the previous one and produces a well-defined artifact.

If you want an explicit validation pass between parsing and catalog generation, run fontshow validate-inventory <inventory.json> on the parsed inventory before create-catalog.

Output files

By default:

  • dump-fonts produces a raw inventory JSON file
  • parse-inventory produces an enriched inventory JSON file
  • validate-inventory validates an existing inventory and does not create a new output file
  • create-catalog produces output artifacts (e.g. PDF catalog)

Output file names and locations can be customized via command options. Use --help on each command for details.

LaTeX requirements

Catalog generation relies on LaTeX.

Notes:

  • A full TeX distribution (e.g. TeX Live) is recommended
  • lualatex must be available in the execution environment
  • Compilation must occur on the same system where fonts were discovered, so that font paths remain valid

If LaTeX is missing, preflight will report the limitation and catalog generation may fail.

Next steps

  • See cli.md for a complete CLI overview
  • See pipeline.md for a detailed explanation of each stage
  • See tools/ pages for command-specific documentation