An open-source pixel font covering Latin and CJK (Chinese, Japanese, Korean) characters, in a sans-serif gothic style.
4.8K+9 this week101HTMLMITWell maintainedUpdated yesterday
hicchicc/x8y12pxDenkiChip
A compact, bold Japanese pixel font with a 12px vertical metric, licensed under SIL OFL 1.1.
- Stars
- 147
- Forks
- 1
- Open issues
- 1
- Last commit
- 3 days ago
What is it?
DenkiChip is a Japanese pixel font built around a 2px thick stroke, designed for compactness and a heavy visual weight. Its glyphs use a 12px vertical metric, so the font works at very small display sizes, and the project notes that 9pt or 12px rendering on Windows can give dot-by-dot display.
The horizontal metrics are fixed per script: proportional Latin, 6px digits, 8px hiragana and katakana, and 10px kanji advance widths. The release includes JIS Level 1 kanji (2,965 glyphs) as of version 1.100. A separate ttf folder provides builds without embedded bitmaps for users who want outline-only rendering.
The project also includes a variant of the character 魔 in a simplified form, available through a stylistic set and a private-use code point for game engines and DTP software.
Key features
- 01Bold 2px-stroke pixel design with a 12px vertical metric.
- 02Fixed advance widths for Latin, digits, kana and kanji.
- 03Includes 2,965 JIS Level 1 kanji glyphs.
- 04Provides a build without embedded bitmaps for outline rendering.
- 05Offers an alternate simplified form of 魔 via a stylistic set or private-use code point.
Use cases
- Small-size UI labels or HUD text in games and retro-style projects.
- Pixel-art posters and graphic design that need Japanese text.
- Customizing or extending a pixel font by starting from the no-bitmap TTFs.
Quick start
- 1
Get the font files from the fonts folder in the repository
- 2
For a version without embedded bitmaps, use the TTF files in fonts/ttf_no-bitmap
Things to know
- The 12px vertical metric leaves little room for scaling, so it suits only its intended small sizes.
- Kanji coverage is limited to the JIS Level 1 set of 2,965 glyphs.
- Bitmap display at native size depends on the platform and font size settings, such as 9pt or 12px on Windows.
Topics
FAQ
- What is x8y12pxDenkiChip?
- A compact, bold Japanese pixel font with a 12px vertical metric, licensed under SIL OFL 1.1. DenkiChip is a Japanese pixel font built around a 2px thick stroke, designed for compactness and a heavy visual weight. Its glyphs use a 12px vertical metric, so the font works at very small display sizes, and the project notes that 9pt or 12px rendering on Windows can give dot-by-dot display.
- Is x8y12pxDenkiChip free to use? What license does it have?
- x8y12pxDenkiChip is open source under the OFL-1.1 license. Check the license terms before using it in commercial products.
- Is x8y12pxDenkiChip still maintained?
- Actively maintained. The last commit to x8y12pxDenkiChip was on Nov 5, 2026.
- What can I use x8y12pxDenkiChip for?
- Small-size UI labels or HUD text in games and retro-style projects. Pixel-art posters and graphic design that need Japanese text. Customizing or extending a pixel font by starting from the no-bitmap TTFs.
- How do I install x8y12pxDenkiChip?
- Get the font files from the fonts folder in the repository For a version without embedded bitmaps, use the TTF files in fonts/ttf_no-bitmap
- Where can I get x8y12pxDenkiChip?
- The source code and installation instructions are on GitHub: https://github.com/hicchicc/x8y12pxDenkiChip
Summary generated by AI from the project's README. GitHub stats refresh daily.
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