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LXGW WenKai GB Documentation

repository·main·Indexed 23 days ago

https://github.com/lxgw/lxgwwenkaigb

An open-source Simplified Chinese font derived from Klee One, modified to follow mainland Chinese national standards (G-source glyphs) for character shapes and stroke orders. Licensed under SIL Open Font License 1.1, it supports the General Standard Chinese Character Table and GB 18030-2022 Level 2 coverage. The documentation covers installation, building from source via Python 3, design features, and detailed changelogs from v0.970 to v1.520.

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What's inside LXGW WenKai GB

  2. Understand the LXGW WenKai GB font design and standards

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    LXGW WenKai GB is an open-source Simplified Chinese font derived from FONTWORKS' Klee One. It is specifically designed to follow mainland Chinese character standards (G-source glyphs).

    Key Design Features:

    • Standard Compliance: It follows the glyph shapes and stroke orders of the General Standard Chinese Character Table (《通用规范汉字表》) and other national standards to better suit Chinese writing habits.
    • Glyph Adjustments: Unlike the original Klee One, it minimizes traditional printing features like 'straight dots' (直点) or 'broken strokes' (断笔) to align with standard Kaishu (楷体) styles.
    • Latin Characters: The lowercase 'l' uses a straight stroke (matching Pinyin writing habits), and the uppercase 'I' includes horizontal bars at both ends to distinguish it from the lowercase 'l'.
    • Character Coverage: Supports the General Standard Chinese Character Table (2013), Modern Chinese Common Character Table (1988), and GB/T 2312-1980. It meets the GB 18030-2022 Level 2 coverage requirements.
    • Unicode Variation Sequences (UVS): Supports UVS for selecting punctuation width and positioning.

  4. Changes in LXGW WenKai GB v1.320 (2024.02.09)

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    The v1.320 update for LXGW WenKai GB includes adjustments to existing characters, the addition of new characters to align with 'LXGW WenKai Lite', and further expansion of the character set using glyph generation from 'Source Han Serif CN'.

    Hanzi (Chinese Characters) Updates

    • Adjusted Characters: Specific characters have had their glyphs adjusted (e.g., 业, 巘, 幸, 澂, 磐, 籲, 讞, 輒, 逑, 饕).
    • New Characters: A large number of new characters have been added to match the coverage of 'LXGW WenKai Lite'.
    • Character Set Expansion: The font uses zi2zi-pytorch to generate glyphs from Source Han Serif CN. This covers the CJK Unified Ideographs Basic Block (20,992 characters) and Extension A Block (6,592 characters). The coverage meets the requirements for Level 2 implementation of GB 18030-2000 and GB 18030-2022.

    Other Character Updates

    • Kanbun Reading Marks: Adjustments made to reading marks.
    • Mathematical Operators: Adjustments made to mathematical operators.

  5. Upgrade to LXGW WenKai GB v1.500 or later

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    Starting from version 1.500, the Bold weight has been changed to Medium weight. Because this version contains significant changes, you must completely uninstall any previously installed versions of "LXGW WenKai GB" or "LXGW WenKai GB Light" before installing the new version. Do not perform an overwrite installation, as it may negatively affect font rendering.

  6. Build LXGW WenKai GB from source

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    To build the font from the repository source, use the make build command.

    Requirements:

    • A Unix-like operating system.
    • Python 3 installed.
    • The LxgwWenKai-shared submodule must be present in the repository.

    Run the following command in the root directory:

    make build

  7. Update LXGW WenKai GB to v1.520

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    Version 1.520 of LXGW WenKai GB includes significant character expansions and OpenType feature optimizations. Key updates include:

    • Hangul Syllables: Completion of 11,172 Unicode-defined Hangul syllables.
    • Hangul Compatibility Jamo: Added compatibility Jamo (e.g., ㅤㅥㅦㅧㅨㅩㅪㅫㅬㅭㅮㅯㅰㅱㅲㅳㅴㅵㅶㅷㅸㅹㅺㅻㅼㅽㅾㅿㆀㆁㆂㆃㆄㆅㆆㆇㆈㆉㆊㆋㆌㆍㆎ).
    • New Characters: Added U+211E (℞), U+21EA (⇪), and U+237B (⍻).
    • OpenType Optimization: Removed GDEF from features.fea; OpenType classes for all glyphs are now automatically defined.

  8. Download LXGW WenKai GB font

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    You can obtain the LXGW WenKai GB font files through several methods:

    1. Direct Download (Recommended)

    • GitHub Releases: Download the .ttf files directly from the Releases page.
    • Third-party Mirrors: Mirrors like Yueshuo E-Disk or Lanzou Cloud (password: e0zt) are typically updated within 48 hours of a new release.
    • Font Aggregators: Available on Maoken and Zijia.

    2. Build from Source

    If you are on a Unix-like system and have Python 3 installed, you can generate the font from the source code using make.

    Note: The source code depends on the LxgwWenKai-shared submodule.

    make build

  9. Warning regarding unauthorized font resale

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    Caution for Users:

    • Do not purchase this font from unauthorized sellers on platforms like Taobao or Xiaohongshu. These sellers are violating the OFL 1.1 license terms which prohibit the separate sale of font files.
    • Payments made to these sellers do not reach the author and do not provide you with updates or support.
    • If your organization's legal department requires traditional 'authorization certificates' and does not recognize the OFL 1.1 license, it is recommended to use other free commercial fonts or purchase commercial licenses instead.

  10. Explore other fonts in the LXGW series

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    The author provides several other fonts in the LXGW (霞鹜) ecosystem:

    LXGW WenKai (霞鹜文楷) Series

    Xi-Zhi-Shang-Ming (晰致尚铭) Series

    Other Fonts

  12. License and usage terms for LXGW WenKai GB

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    LXGW WenKai GB is licensed under the SIL Open Font License 1.1 (OFL). It is based on the Klee open-source project by Fontworks (now Monotype KK).

    Permitted Uses

    • Free for Personal and Commercial Use: You can use the font for any purpose without payment or notifying the author.
    • Distribution: You can freely share, install on systems, embed in software/apps, or bundle it with software for sale. When redistributing, you must include the full text of the OFL.txt file.
    • Modification: You are free to modify or create derivative fonts, provided they also comply with the SIL Open Font License 1.1.

    Restrictions and Requirements

    • No Standalone Sale: You are strictly prohibited from selling the font files (OTF/TTF) by themselves.
    • Reserved Font Names: When creating derivative fonts, you cannot use the following reserved names without explicit written permission from the author (@lxgw):
      • 霞鹜 (Xiáwù)
      • 落霞孤鹜 (Luòxiá Gūwù)
      • LXGW
    • Exceptions for Reserved Names:
      • Recompiling the font without modifying the source code.
      • Subsetting or converting formats (e.g., WOFF/WOFF2) solely for web font rendering (e.g., on Google Fonts or authorized platforms like ZSFT), provided they are not offered as downloadable desktop fonts.
    • No Endorsement: Derivative fonts may not be promoted or endorsed using the author's name (@lxgw) without written permission.
    • License Compatibility: The font cannot be distributed under any license other than OFL 1.1, and it cannot be mixed into a single font file with licenses that conflict with OFL (e.g., GNU GPL, IPA).