Linux Scripting:

Script to convert TTF or OTF fonts to WOFF2

Summary

Convert TrueType Font (TTF) and OpenType Font (OTF) files to Web Open Font Format 2 (WOFF2) using a simple script. This guide explains the process and provides installation and usage instructions for the script, which works for single or multiple font files.

Published:

2025-02-22

Updated:

2025-02-22

Reading time:

00:00

Author:

Jonas Jared Jacek

Tags:

linux, scripting, web development

License:

CC BY-SA 4.0

Permalink:

Script to convert TTF/OTF fonts to WOFF2

Differences between TTF, OTF, and WOFF2 fonts #

TrueType Font (TTF) and OpenType Font (OTF) are common font formats used for desktop applications and operating systems. However, for web development, Web Open Font Format 2 (WOFF2) is preferred because it provides better compression, reducing font file sizes and improving website performance.

Unlike TTF and OTF fonts, which need to be installed on the user’s computer to be used in applications, WOFF2 fonts are embedded directly in web pages. This means that users do not need to have the font installed locally, as their web browser loads and renders the font automatically from the website, ensuring consistent typography across different devices and platforms. This gives web designers a lot more freedom in creating great user experiences.

Installing the woff2 dependency #

Before running the script, you need to install the woff2 tool, which provides the necessary compression and decompression utilities.

You can install woff2 by following these steps:

Manual installation #

Clone and build from Google’s repository.

Linux package managers #

Alternatively, use the packages provided by some distributions:

• Debian/Ubuntu:

  sudo apt install woff2
  

• Fedora:

  sudo dnf install woff2
  

• Arch Linux:

  sudo pacman -S woff2
  

Convert single TTF and OTF files to WOFF2 #

Once woff2 is installed, you can use the following commands to convert single files:

If you have installed woff2 manually, ensure the binaries from the build process are in your $PATH.

• To compress a single TTF or OTF file to WOFF:

  woff2_compress myfont.ttf
  # or
  woff2_compress myfont.otf
  

• To decompress a WOFF2 file back to TTF:

  woff2_decompress myfont.woff2
  

Script to convert all TTF and OTF files to WOFF2 #

The following shell script iterates over all TrueType Font (TTF) and OpenType Font (OTF) files in the current directory and converts them to WOFF2 format:

#!/bin/sh
# Iterate over existing .otf and .ttf font files in ./
for file in ./*.ttf ./*.otf ; do

  # Get file name and store it in $font
  font=`basename "$file"`

  # Print name of currently processed file to standard output (stdout)
  echo "$font"
  
  # Compress $font with woff2_compress - the result will be stored in ./
  woff2_compress "$font"

done
exit

Explanation of the script #

1. The script starts by iterating over all .ttf and .otf files in the current directory (./).
2. It extracts the filename using the basename command and stores it in the font variable.
3. The script prints the name of each file being processed to the terminal.
4. The woff2_compress command is run on each file to generate a WOFF2 font file.
5. The script repeats this process for all .ttf and .otf files before exiting.

How to use the script #

1. Copy and paste the script into a new file, for example, convert_fonts.sh.
2. Give the script execution permissions:

   chmod +x convert_fonts.sh
   

3. Run the script in the directory containing your .ttf and .otf font files:

   ./convert_fonts.sh
   

4. The newly created WOFF2 files will appear in the same directory.

Happy hacking!

Further readings #

Sources and recommended, further resources on the topic:

• W3C: WOFF File Format 2.0
• Google WOFF2 compression reference code
• Ubuntu Linux WOFF2 package
• Arch Linux WOFF2 package
• Fedora Linux WOFF2 package

Author

Jonas Jared Jacek (J15k)

Jonas works as project manager, web designer, and web developer since 2001. On top of that, he is a Linux system administrator with a broad interest in things related to programming, architecture, and design. See: https://www.j15k.com/

<p xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#" xmlns:dct="http://purl.org/dc/terms/"><a property="dct:title" rel="cc:attributionURL" href="https://www.ditig.com/script-to-convert-ttf-otf-fonts-to-woff2">Script to convert TTF or OTF fonts to WOFF2</a> by <a rel="cc:attributionURL dct:creator" property="cc:attributionName" href="https://www.j15k.com/">Jonas Jared Jacek</a> is licensed under <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" target="_blank" rel="license noopener noreferrer">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>.</p>