TTF to AFM Converter

Extract Adobe Font Metrics from TrueType fonts online for free

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Precise Metric Extraction

Captures every character width, kerning pair, and bounding box from your TTF — delivering accurate AFM data for professional typesetting.

Instant Processing

TTF to AFM conversion is lightweight and finishes in seconds. Metric extraction requires no heavy rendering, so results arrive quickly.

Fully Online Tool

Extract font metrics from TTF to AFM right in your browser — no need to install desktop font editors or command-line metric tools.

How to convert TTF to AFM

1

Select files from Computer, Google Drive, Dropbox, URL or by dragging it on the page.

2

Choose afm or any other format you need as a result (more than 200 formats supported)

3

Let the file convert and you can download your afm file right afterwards

About formats

TTF (TrueType Font) is a scalable outline font format developed by Apple Computer in the late 1980s and first shipped with Mac System 7 on May 13, 1991. Microsoft licensed the technology shortly after and included TrueType support in Windows 3.1 in 1992, establishing it as the dominant desktop font technology for over a decade. TrueType describes glyph shapes using quadratic Bezier splines — simpler mathematically than the cubic Bezier curves in PostScript fonts — stored alongside a powerful instruction set (the "hinting" language) that controls exactly how outlines are rasterized at each pixel size. This instruction-based hinting gives type designers pixel-level control over rendering at small sizes on low-resolution screens, producing exceptionally crisp text. The format stores all font data — outlines, metrics, kerning, naming, and hinting — in a single file organized as a directory of tagged data tables. One advantage is universal platform support: TTF files render natively on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, and virtually every operating system and web browser without conversion or plugins. The byte-code hinting system is another distinctive strength, enabling screen rendering quality that remained superior to competing technologies until high-DPI displays reduced the importance of pixel-level optimization. TrueType's table-based architecture also proved remarkably extensible, serving as the structural foundation for the OpenType specification that added advanced typographic features and PostScript outline support on top of the TrueType container.
Developer: Apple Computer
Initial release: May 13, 1991
AFM (Adobe Font Metrics) is a plain-text metadata file format developed by Adobe Systems as a companion to PostScript Type 1 font outlines. Introduced alongside the PostScript language in 1984, AFM files provide the glyph-level metrics that applications need for text layout — individual character widths, bounding boxes, kerning pair adjustments, ligature substitutions, and global font dimensions like ascender height and cap height. The file is structured as a series of human-readable keyword-value pairs, making it easy to inspect and parse with simple text processing tools. AFM data is essential for accurate typesetting: without it, a layout engine knows the shapes of the glyphs but not how much space to allocate for each character or how to tighten spacing between specific letter combinations. One advantage is format transparency — because AFM is plain ASCII text, metric data can be audited, compared, and version-controlled without specialized software. The separation of metrics from outlines is another architectural strength, allowing a single AFM file to serve multiple rendering environments (screen, print, PDF) without duplicating glyph data. The current specification, Version 4.1 published in 1998, extended the format with composite character definitions and writing direction support. While modern OpenType fonts bundle metrics internally, AFM remains relevant in PostScript workflows, PDF generation pipelines, and legacy publishing systems that depend on Type 1 fonts.
Developer: Adobe Systems
Initial release: 1984

Frequently Asked Questions

Why convert TTF to AFM?

AFM provides standalone metric data (character widths, kerning pairs, bounding boxes) needed by PostScript-based layout engines and typesetting systems.

What programs use AFM metric data?

TeX/LaTeX systems, Adobe InDesign, Scribus, and various PostScript RIPs rely on AFM for precise character spacing and page composition.

Does the AFM file contain glyph outlines?

No. AFM is a metrics-only format — it stores widths, kerning, and spacing but not the actual glyph shapes. You need a separate font file for rendering.

Is the metric data extracted accurately?

Yes. Convertio reads the TTF metric tables directly, ensuring character widths and kerning values are faithfully transferred to the AFM output.

Can I use this service for free?

Convertio offers free TTF to AFM conversion — upload your font and download the metrics file without any cost or account creation.

TTF to AFM Quality Rating

4.7 (327 votes)
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