showfigfonts

Display available fonts

$ showfigfonts

$ showfigfonts [input_text]

showfigfonts [FIGfont-directory...]

FIGfont-directory
    One or more directories to search for FIGfont files. If no directories are specified, showfigfonts searches standard FIGlet font directories (e.g., /usr/share/figlet/fonts, /usr/local/share/figlet/fonts).

showfigfonts is a utility included with the FIGlet text banner program. Its primary function is to display a comprehensive list of available FIGfont fonts found on your system. For each font, it typically shows the font's filename and a small sample of text rendered using that font. This helps users quickly browse and select fonts for use with figlet without having to manually try each one. It's an invaluable tool for exploring the visual styles offered by different FIGfont files, making font selection efficient for creating ASCII art banners.

showfigfonts specifically lists fonts in the FIGfont format, which are designed for use with the figlet program. It does not list system-wide TrueType, OpenType, or other standard graphical fonts. Its utility is limited to the context of FIGlet and ASCII art generation.

For each font found, showfigfonts typically outputs the font's filename, followed by a short sample text (usually its own name or 'showfigfonts') rendered in that specific font. This visual representation is key to its usefulness, allowing immediate preview of the font's style.

Users often run showfigfonts to identify a suitable font and then pass its name (without the .flf extension) to the figlet command using the -f option. For example, after finding a font named 'slant.flf', one might use figlet -f slant "Hello World".

showfigfonts is an integral part of the FIGlet distribution, a program created by Glenn Chappell and Ian Chai in the early 1990s. It has been maintained and updated as part of the FIGlet utilities, providing a consistent way for users to manage and preview the specialized FIGfont files used for generating large text banners from ordinary screen characters. Its design reflects the need for a simple, command-line utility to complement FIGlet's functionality.

figlet(6), chkfont(6)