How do I embed my own fonts in a WinForms app?

Question

I want to embed fonts in my WinForms application so that I don't have to worry about them being installed on the machine. I've searched a bit on the MSDN site and found a few hints about using native Windows API calls, for instance Michael Caplan's (sp?) tutorial linked to by Scott Hanselman. Now, do I really have to go through all that trouble? Can't I just use the resource part of my app?

If not I'll probably go the installing route. In that case, can I do that programmatically? By just copying the font file to the Windows\Fonts folder?

I am aware of licensing issues.

Solution 1

This is what worked for me in VS 2013, without having to use an unsafe block.

Embed the resource

1. Double-click Resources.resx, and in the toolbar for the designer click Add Resource/Add Existing File and select your .ttf file
2. In your solution explorer, right-click your .ttf file (now in a Resources folder) and go to Properties. Set the Build Action to "Embedded Resource"

Load the font into memory

1. Add using System.Drawing.Text; to your Form1.cs file

2. Add code above and inside your default constructor to create the font in memory (without using "unsafe" as other examples have shown). Below is my entire Form1.cs:

   using System;
   using System.Collections.Generic;
   using System.ComponentModel;
   using System.Data;
   using System.Drawing;
   using System.Linq;
   using System.Text;
   using System.Threading.Tasks;
   using System.Windows.Forms;
   using System.Reflection;
   
   using System.Drawing.Text;
   
   namespace WindowsFormsApplication1
   {
       public partial class Form1 : Form
       {
           [System.Runtime.InteropServices.DllImport("gdi32.dll")]
           private static extern IntPtr AddFontMemResourceEx(IntPtr pbFont, uint cbFont,
               IntPtr pdv, [System.Runtime.InteropServices.In] ref uint pcFonts);
   
           private PrivateFontCollection fonts = new PrivateFontCollection();
   
           Font myFont;
   
           public Form1()
           {
               InitializeComponent();
   
               byte[] fontData = Properties.Resources.MyFontName;
               IntPtr fontPtr = System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.AllocCoTaskMem(fontData.Length);
               System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.Copy(fontData, 0, fontPtr, fontData.Length);
               uint dummy = 0;
               fonts.AddMemoryFont(fontPtr, Properties.Resources.MyFontName.Length);
               AddFontMemResourceEx(fontPtr, (uint)Properties.Resources.MyFontName.Length, IntPtr.Zero, ref dummy);
               System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.FreeCoTaskMem(fontPtr);
   
               myFont = new Font(fonts.Families[0], 16.0F);
           }
       }
   }
   

Use your font

1. Add a label to your main form, and add a load event to set the font in Form1.cs:

   private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
   {
       label1.Font = myFont;
   }
   

Solution 2

// specify embedded resource name
string resource = "embedded_font.PAGAP___.TTF";

// receive resource stream
Stream fontStream = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetManifestResourceStream(resource);

// create an unsafe memory block for the font data
System.IntPtr data = Marshal.AllocCoTaskMem((int)fontStream.Length);

// create a buffer to read in to
byte[] fontdata = new byte[fontStream.Length];

// read the font data from the resource
fontStream.Read(fontdata, 0, (int)fontStream.Length);

// copy the bytes to the unsafe memory block
Marshal.Copy(fontdata, 0, data, (int)fontStream.Length);

// pass the font to the font collection
private_fonts.AddMemoryFont(data, (int)fontStream.Length);

// close the resource stream
fontStream.Close();

// free up the unsafe memory
Marshal.FreeCoTaskMem(data);

Solution 3

I dragged and dropped a randomly downloaded font into my resources and this worked. Uses a file though. I guess you can use this as well to install fonts ?

public Form1()
{
    string filename = @"C:\lady.gaga";
    File.WriteAllBytes(filename, Resources.KBREINDEERGAMES);
    PrivateFontCollection pfc = new PrivateFontCollection();
    pfc.AddFontFile(filename);

    Label label = new Label();
    label.AutoSize = true;
    label.Font = new Font(pfc.Families[0], 16);
    label.Text = "hello world";
    Controls.Add(label);
}

Solution 4

Can't I just use the resource part of my app?

Yes, but need to be native resources rather than .NET resources (i.e. using rc.exe, the native resource compiler).

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