X-Fonter 14.0

Character Map Printout

The Character Map report prints a grid of every character in a selected range — either the full 256-character ASCII/ANSI set or a chosen Unicode block — rendered in the font being printed. Each cell shows the glyph alongside its decimal code point, making it easy to look up values and confirm coverage at a glance without a computer in hand.

What the Report Contains

Each page of a Character Map printout shows:

Font name — printed at the top of the page so multi-font print jobs remain clearly labelled
Character range — the Unicode block name or ASCII range covered on that page
Character grid — every character in the range laid out in rows, each cell showing the glyph rendered in the font and its decimal code point below it
Unsupported characters — cells where the font has no glyph appear empty or show a fallback box, making gaps in coverage immediately visible

When printing multiple fonts, each font gets its own page or set of pages. The report for each font covers the same character range, which makes side-by-side comparison of coverage straightforward when you fan out the pages.

ASCII vs. Unicode Maps

In the print dialog you can choose between an ASCII map and a Unicode map:

The ASCII map covers all 256 characters in the ANSI range (code points 0–255) and fits comfortably on one or two pages depending on cell size. It is the right choice when you need a complete single-page character reference for a font used in standard Western European text.
The Unicode map lets you choose a specific Unicode block — Basic Latin, Latin Extended, Greek, Cyrillic, Arabic, Mathematical Operators, and many others — or enter a custom code point range. This is the right choice when you need to verify a font's coverage for a specific script or symbol set beyond the ASCII range.

Tip: Printing a Unicode character map for a specific script block is a reliable way to produce a coverage reference you can share with a client or proofreader who needs to confirm that all the required characters are present in the chosen font — without them needing access to X-Fonter.

Practical Uses

The Character Map printout is most useful when you need a portable, offline character reference. Common scenarios include:

Confirming language coverage before committing to a font for a multilingual project — print the relevant Unicode block and mark any missing characters
Providing a font reference to a typesetter or proofreader who does not have the font installed — the printed grid shows them exactly which characters are available and what their code points are
Archiving font coverage documentation alongside a delivered project, so the character set used is on record even if the font files are later moved or updated
Checking symbol fonts and dingbat fonts — these often have no standard alphabetical characters, so the character map is the only practical way to see what glyphs the font actually contains

Tip: For symbol or dingbat fonts, print the full ASCII range first to get a complete picture of all available glyphs. The decimal code points printed in each cell can then be used as keyboard reference values (e.g. holding Alt and typing the code on the numeric keypad in Windows applications).

Producing This Report

Select Character Map as the report type in the print dialog, then choose your ASCII or Unicode range. For full configuration instructions see Printing Fonts. To check the grid layout before printing, use Print Preview — zooming to 100% is recommended to verify that cell sizes are legible before sending a large job to print.

Character Map Printout

What the Report Contains

ASCII vs. Unicode Maps

Practical Uses

Producing This Report

Related Topics