Fonts

phpdftk supports every font kind in ISO 32000-2: the 14 standard Type 1 fonts that every viewer ships, custom TrueType and Type 1 fonts with automatic subsetting, Type 0 composite (CID) fonts for full Unicode coverage, and Type 3 fonts whose glyph procedures are PDF content streams.

Standard Type 1 fonts

The 14 standard fonts — Helvetica, Times, Courier in their weights — are always available, embedded in zero bytes, and perfect for body text when you don’t need a custom typeface.

use Phpdftk\Pdf\Core\Font\StandardFont;
use Phpdftk\Pdf\Core\Font\Type1Font;
use Phpdftk\Pdf\Writer\PdfWriter;

$writer = new PdfWriter();
$page = $writer->addPage();

// The 14 standard Type1 fonts are always available — every PDF viewer ships them.
// They cost zero bytes in the file and are perfect for prose, code, and tabular data
// when you don't need a custom typeface.
$specimens = [
    [StandardFont::Helvetica,        'Helvetica - the workhorse sans-serif'],
    [StandardFont::HelveticaBold,    'Helvetica-Bold - a bolder workhorse'],
    [StandardFont::HelveticaOblique, 'Helvetica-Oblique - italicised'],
    [StandardFont::TimesRoman,       'Times-Roman - a serif for body copy'],
    [StandardFont::TimesBold,        'Times-Bold - a bolder serif'],
    [StandardFont::TimesItalic,      'Times-Italic - the cursive serif'],
    [StandardFont::Courier,          'Courier - monospace for code 0123456789'],
    [StandardFont::CourierBold,      'Courier-Bold - bolder monospace'],
];

$y = 740;
foreach ($specimens as [$face, $caption]) {
    $name = $writer->addFont(new Type1Font($face))->getResourceName();
    $cs = $writer->addContentStream($page);
    $cs->beginText()->setFont($name, 16)->moveTextPosition(72, $y)
        ->showText($caption)->endText();
    $y -= 36;
}

$writer->save('type1.pdf');

📄 View the sample PDF · View the full script on GitHub ↗

TrueType embedding & subsetting

TrueTypeFont::fromFile() parses a .ttf and registers it as a simple (non-composite) font. PdfWriter::addFont() embeds and subsets the program so only the WinAnsi-mapped glyphs you actually use are written into the file.

use Phpdftk\Pdf\Core\Font\StandardFont;
use Phpdftk\Pdf\Core\Font\TrueTypeFont;
use Phpdftk\Pdf\Core\Font\Type1Font;
use Phpdftk\Pdf\Writer\PdfWriter;

// TrueTypeFont::fromFile() reads a .ttf, parses widths and metrics, and registers it as
// a simple (non-composite) PDF font. Calling addFont() embeds and subsets the program
// so only the glyphs needed for WinAnsi-encoded text are written into the file.
$writer = new PdfWriter();
$page = $writer->addPage();
$caption = $writer->addFont(new Type1Font(StandardFont::HelveticaBold))->getResourceName();

$fontPath = __DIR__ . '/../../../vendor/mpdf/mpdf/ttfonts/DejaVuSerif.ttf';
$dejavu = TrueTypeFont::fromFile($fontPath);
$dejavuName = $writer->addFont($dejavu)->getResourceName();

$cs = $writer->addContentStream($page);
$cs->beginText()->setFont($caption, 22)->moveTextPosition(72, 740)
    ->showText('TrueType embedding & subsetting')->endText();

$lines = [
    [700, 'DejaVu Serif at 28pt — the font program is embedded.', 28],
    [650, 'Only the WinAnsi-mapped glyphs you use are written.',    18],
    [620, 'Smaller files than a full font, identical fidelity.',     18],
    [580, '"Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing."',  14],
    [560, 'The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.',           14],
    [540, '0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 - $ % & @ # ! ? * +',                 14],
];

foreach ($lines as [$y, $text, $size]) {
    $cs->beginText()->setFont($dejavuName, $size)->moveTextPosition(72, $y)
        ->showText($text)->endText();
}

$writer->save('truetype-subset.pdf');

📄 View the sample PDF · View the full script on GitHub ↗

Type 0 (CID) fonts for Unicode

For non-WinAnsi text — CJK, Cyrillic, Greek, mathematical symbols — use addCompositeFont(). The font is embedded as a Type 0 CID font with a ToUnicode CMap, automatically subset to the codepoints you provide.

use Phpdftk\FontParser\TrueTypeParser;
use Phpdftk\Pdf\Core\Font\StandardFont;
use Phpdftk\Pdf\Core\Font\Type1Font;
use Phpdftk\Pdf\Writer\PdfWriter;

// Type 0 (composite) fonts let you write any Unicode character a TTF font supports
// — no encoding tricks, no WinAnsi limitations. The font is automatically subset
// so only the glyphs you actually use are embedded.
$writer = new PdfWriter();
$page = $writer->addPage();
$caption = $writer->addFont(new Type1Font(StandardFont::HelveticaBold))->getResourceName();

$fontPath = __DIR__ . '/../../../vendor/mpdf/mpdf/ttfonts/DejaVuSans.ttf';
$ttData = (new TrueTypeParser($fontPath))->parse();

$samples = [
    'Latin Extended:  café · résumé · naïve · jalapeño · København',
    'Cyrillic:        Привет, мир! Я люблю PDFs.',
    'Greek:           Καλημέρα κόσμε — αβγδεζηθ',
    'Mathematical:    ∑ x²  ≤  ∫ f(x) dx  ·  π ≈ 3.14159  ·  ∞ ≠ 0',
    'Symbols:         © ® ™ § ¶ † ‡ • ‰ ‹ › « »  ←↑→↓ ↔',
];

// Collect every codepoint actually used across all samples so the embedded font
// is subset to exactly those glyphs.
$allText = implode(' ', $samples);
$codepoints = array_values(array_unique(array_map('mb_ord', mb_str_split($allText))));

$dejavu = $writer->addCompositeFont($ttData, $codepoints);
$dejavuName = $dejavu->getResourceName();

// Post-subset Unicode → GID map from the font handle. Subsetting renumbers
// the kept glyphs, so the original $ttData->fullUnicodeToGid points at
// the wrong slots in the embedded font.
$unicodeToGid = $dejavu->getUnicodeToGidMap();

$encodeHex = static function (string $text, array $unicodeToGid): string {
    $hex = '';
    foreach (mb_str_split($text) as $char) {
        $gid = $unicodeToGid[mb_ord($char)] ?? 0;
        $hex .= sprintf('%04X', $gid);
    }
    return $hex;
};

$cs = $writer->addContentStream($page);
$cs->beginText()->setFont($caption, 22)->moveTextPosition(72, 740)
    ->showText('Unicode via Type 0 (CID) fonts')->endText();

$y = 690;
foreach ($samples as $line) {
    $cs->beginText()->setFont($dejavuName, 14)->moveTextPosition(72, $y)
        ->showTextHex($encodeHex($line, $unicodeToGid))->endText();
    $y -= 40;
}

$writer->save('unicode-cid.pdf');

📄 View the sample PDF · View the full script on GitHub ↗

Type 3 custom glyphs

A Type3Font lets you ship arbitrary PDF content streams as glyphs — perfect for pictograms, dingbats, or any vector mark that should behave like text and scale to any size.

use Phpdftk\Pdf\Core\Content\ContentStream;
use Phpdftk\Pdf\Core\Font\Encoding;
use Phpdftk\Pdf\Core\Font\StandardFont;
use Phpdftk\Pdf\Core\Font\Type1Font;
use Phpdftk\Pdf\Core\Font\Type3Font;
use Phpdftk\Pdf\Core\PdfArray;
use Phpdftk\Pdf\Core\PdfDictionary;
use Phpdftk\Pdf\Core\PdfName;
use Phpdftk\Pdf\Core\PdfNumber;
use Phpdftk\Pdf\Writer\PdfWriter;

// A Type 3 font lets you ship arbitrary PDF content streams as glyphs — perfect for
// pictograms, custom dingbats, or any vector mark that should behave like text.
$writer = new PdfWriter();
$page = $writer->addPage();
$caption = $writer->addFont(new Type1Font(StandardFont::HelveticaBold))->getResourceName();

// Glyph 'square' — a filled square spanning the 700×700 glyph space.
$squareProc = new ContentStream();
$squareProc
    ->setGlyphWidthAndBoundingBox(700, 0, 0, 0, 700, 700)
    ->rectangle(100, 100, 500, 500)
    ->fill();

// Glyph 'triangle' — a filled equilateral-ish triangle.
$triangleProc = new ContentStream();
$triangleProc
    ->setGlyphWidthAndBoundingBox(700, 0, 0, 0, 700, 700)
    ->moveTo(350, 650)
    ->lineTo(50, 100)
    ->lineTo(650, 100)
    ->closePath()
    ->fill();

// Glyph 'star' — a five-point star, painted with a single subpath.
$starProc = new ContentStream();
$starProc
    ->setGlyphWidthAndBoundingBox(700, 0, 0, 0, 700, 700)
    ->moveTo(350, 660)
    ->lineTo(431, 446)
    ->lineTo(660, 437)
    ->lineTo(478, 297)
    ->lineTo(553, 80)
    ->lineTo(350, 200)
    ->lineTo(147, 80)
    ->lineTo(222, 297)
    ->lineTo(40, 437)
    ->lineTo(269, 446)
    ->closePath()
    ->fill();

$squareRef   = $writer->register($squareProc);
$triangleRef = $writer->register($triangleProc);
$starRef     = $writer->register($starProc);

// Encoding: map ASCII 'A','B','C' to the three glyph names.
$encoding = new Encoding();
$encoding->differences = new PdfArray([
    new PdfNumber(65),
    new PdfName('square'),
    new PdfName('triangle'),
    new PdfName('star'),
]);
$encodingRef = $writer->register($encoding);

$font = new Type3Font('DemoType3');
$font->fontBBox = new PdfArray([
    new PdfNumber(0), new PdfNumber(0), new PdfNumber(700), new PdfNumber(700),
]);
$font->firstChar = 65;
$font->lastChar  = 67;
$font->widths = new PdfArray([
    new PdfNumber(700), new PdfNumber(700), new PdfNumber(700),
]);
$font->encoding = $encodingRef;
$font->addCharProc('square',   $squareRef);
$font->addCharProc('triangle', $triangleRef);
$font->addCharProc('star',     $starRef);
$font->resources = new PdfDictionary(['ProcSet' => new PdfArray([new PdfName('PDF')])]);

$customName = $writer->addFont($font)->getResourceName();

$cs = $writer->addContentStream($page);
$cs->beginText()->setFont($caption, 22)->moveTextPosition(72, 740)
    ->showText('Type 3 custom glyphs')->endText();

$cs->beginText()->setFont($caption, 11)->moveTextPosition(72, 700)
    ->showText('A, B and C have been remapped to a square, triangle and star.')
    ->endText();

// Paint "ABC" at 96pt.
$cs->beginText()->setFont($customName, 96)->moveTextPosition(72, 540)
    ->showText('ABC')->endText();

// Mixed with regular text on the next line.
$cs->beginText()->setFont($customName, 32)->moveTextPosition(72, 460)
    ->showText('AAA BBB CCC')->endText();

$writer->save('type3-custom.pdf');

📄 View the sample PDF · View the full script on GitHub ↗