BFONT File

What are BFONT files and how to open them

Are you having problems opening a BFONT file or are you simply curious about its contents? We're here to explain the properties of these files and provide you with software that can open or handle your BFONT files.

What is a BFONT file?

A .BFONT file is a FrameMaker Bitmapped Screen Font file.

FrameMaker Bitmapped Screen Font is a binary font format used by UNIX versions of Adobe FrameMaker to render screen text when scalable or Type 1 fonts are unavailable or impractical. These files supply pre-rasterized display glyphs at fixed sizes so that text appears crisp on low-resolution displays.

FrameMaker writes these files when installing custom fonts on UNIX systems; copy any corresponding .bfont file into the bitmap font directory (for example, $FMHOME/fminit/fontdir/bitmap) so FrameMaker / FrameViewer can load them for on-screen display. GIF or scalable fonts serve printing or exporting workflows, but .bfont is specifically for screen rendering.

Each file begins with a header string identifying the format: it starts with ASCII bytes spelling "<MakerScreenFont 1.x", followed by version numbers (for example "1.01") to indicate the specific screen font version.

How to open BFONT files

Important: Different programs may use files with the BFONT file extension for different purposes, so unless you are sure which format your BFONT file is, you may need to try a few different programs.

We have not yet verified any programs for Windows that work with this specific file format. If you know one, please use the 'Suggest a program' link below. Thanks!

Last updated: August 23, 2026

Help us help others

File.org helps thousands of users every day, and we would love to hear from you if you have additional information about BFONT file formats, example files, or compatible programs. Please use the links below or email us at submit@file.org to discuss further.