unicode-palette

Unicode character visualization tool - Generate grid-based character maps as SVG/PNG.

``bash
$ npx unicode-palette random Box_Drawing -s 5x5
╊┸┱┷╏
┋┥┐┑┳
╆╫┵╾┫
┽═╔╛┧
┖╈╨│┎

$ npx unicode-palette print 25E7-25FB
◧◨◩◪◫◬◭◮◯◰◱◲◳◴◵◶◷◸◹◺◻

$ npx unicode-palette print 0041-005A -c 8
ABCDEFGH
IJKLMNOP
QRSTUVWX
YZ
`

Unicode Block Data

This repository includes pre-generated Unicode block data (Unicode 16.0.0, 338 blocks) that can be used directly:

| File | Description |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------- |
| data/unicode-blocks.json | Full block data with ranges |
| data/unicode-blocks.csv | Tabular format for spreadsheets/analysis |
| data/unicode-blocks.schema.json | JSON Schema for validation |

Each block includes: name, display name, code point range, defined/unassigned counts, and character ranges.

`rb
require 'json'
block = JSON.parse(File.read('data/unicode-blocks.json'))['blocks'].find{|b| b['name']=='Bopomofo'}\
puts (0...20).map{|i| (block['blockStart']+i).chr('UTF-8')}.join


㄀㄁㄂㄃㄄ㄅㄆㄇㄈㄉㄊㄋㄌㄍㄎㄏㄐㄑㄒㄓ

Note: ㄀~㄄ are unassigned

filter out unassigned

puts block['ranges'].flat_map{|r| (r['start']..r['end']).to_a}.first(20).pack('U*')

ㄅㄆㄇㄈㄉㄊㄋㄌㄍㄎㄏㄐㄑㄒㄓㄔㄕㄖㄗㄘ

`

`sh
$ jq -r '.blocks[] | select(.name=="Tifinagh") | [range(.blockStart; .blockStart+20)] | implode' unicode-blocks.json
ⴰⴱⴲⴳⴴⴵⴶⴷⴸⴹⴺⴻⴼⴽⴾⴿⵀⵁⵂⵃ

jq -r '.blocks[] | select(.name=="Superscripts_And_Subscripts") | [.ranges[] | range(.start; .end+1)] | .[:20] | implode' data/unicode-blocks.json
⁰ⁱ⁴⁵⁶⁷⁸⁹⁺⁻⁼⁽⁾ⁿ₀₁₂₃₄₅
`


`js
const data = require('./data/unicode-blocks.json')
const block = data.blocks.find(b => b.name === 'Greek_And_Coptic')
const toChar = cp => String.fromCodePoint(cp)
const range = (n) => [...Array(n).keys()]

// Simple: from blockStart (may include unassigned holes)
range(20).map(i => toChar(block.blockStart + i)).join('')
// ͰͱͲͳʹ͵Ͷͷ͸͹ͺͻͼͽ;Ϳ΀΁΂΃

// Using ranges: only defined characters (no holes)
block.ranges.flatMap(r => range(r.end - r.start + 1)).slice(0, 20)
.map(i => toChar(r.start + i)).join('')
// ͰͱͲͳʹ͵Ͷͷͺͻͼͽ;Ϳ΄΅Ά·ΈΉ
`

Install

`bash
pnpm add unicode-palette
`

CLI

`bash


Print to console (default: U+0000-00FF)

unicode-palette print

Print specific range

unicode-palette print 3040-309F

Print by block name

unicode-palette print Hiragana

Output to file (auto-detect format by extension)

unicode-palette print 0000-00FF -o output.svg
unicode-palette print 0000-00FF -o output.png -f /path/to/font.otf

With options

unicode-palette print 0000-00FF -c 32 -b # 32 cols, with background colors

List available block names

unicode-palette print --list

Generate script tiles

unicode-palette tiles -o tiles.svg -c 8

Random characters from BMP

unicode-palette random -s 16x10

Random from specific block

unicode-palette random Hiragana -s 8x3

Print specific hex range (subset of block)

unicode-palette print 25E7-25FB # ◧◨◩◪◫◬◭◮◯◰◱◲◳◴◵◶◷◸◹◺◻◼◽◾◿
`

$3

`
$ unicode-palette print 3040-309F
ぁあぃいぅうぇえぉおかがきぎく
ぐけげこごさざしじすずせぜそぞた
だちぢっつづてでとどなにぬねのは
ばぱひびぴふぶぷへべぺほぼぽまみ
むめもゃやゅゆょよらりるれろゎわ
ゐゑをんゔゕゖ ゙゚゛゜ゝゞゟ

$ unicode-palette print Hiragana -c 10
ぁあぃいぅうぇえぉ
おかがきぎくぐけげこ
ごさざしじすずせぜそ
ぞただちぢっつづてで
とどなにぬねのはばぱ
ひびぴふぶぷへべぺほ
ぼぽまみむめもゃやゅ
ゆょよらりるれろゎわ
ゐゑをんゔゕゖ ゙

$ unicode-palette random Katakana -s 10x3
ゲモッヅザホナヸバィ
クゴ゠ボカパヶシラチ
セニズコーヤゥハビゼ

$ unicode-palette random Greek_And_Coptic -s 12x2
ϷϰΖλͺζσϦϩϭϔϖ
ͽΌϲΘϕυʹώϞϸϚϋ

$ unicode-palette random Cyrillic -s 12x2
РӨљңѽнҠЃҗҍцҹ
ӹ҂їӋѮҬҌѡүБяҽ

$ unicode-palette random Arabic -s 12x2
؋ٱثڔ۳يٕڨۈگۅؒ
ۙضؔؾۚ۷ُڏڢ؟ٍخ

$ unicode-palette random Hebrew -s 12x2
ְ֣ה֮׳֘ב֢װֿעּ
ׁׅכח֖שךרץׇ֥֚

$ unicode-palette random Devanagari -s 12x2
कक़टऺध॑१ऽॡएॺ८
स७ह२९ॾ॰ॎजॲऱऎ

$ unicode-palette random Thai -s 12x2
๎ฝบมฤ๑ฐโฯฏใๆ
้ชฬดุไ็๖ธสเถ

$ unicode-palette random Hangul_Syllables -s 12x2
펴쉒곦뫪쯵꾦걔댵젉큥퉆붂
풧쎖쩔쉞속븈걭뎇덣횽꼃빜

$ unicode-palette random CJK_Unified_Ideographs -s 12x2
廂芓鯙蜿鬯瀒燙韔琧蕖皳邴
瓜鐺茯弆堇巿敪雀砠藫鈶稶

$ unicode-palette random Ethiopic -s 12x2
ኁጞቝኧሮጬኩጐኢቆዝሣ
ቧ፮ዅዀጇጡሲደሊሬሀጶ

$ unicode-palette random Georgian -s 12x2
სႯႻႲქႳჀႽႥჽჲც
ႠႡႿჳჵპმჇნკშუ
`

Font Setup (for PNG output)

A font file is required for PNG output. GNU Unifont is recommended for consistent Unicode character display.

`bash


Download GNU Unifont

bash scripts/setup-font.sh

Or download manually from:

https://unifoundry.com/pub/unifont/

`

Usage with PNG output:

`bash
unicode-palette print 0000-00FF -o output.png -f ./fonts/unifont.otf
`

Note: SVG output does not require a local font file (font is embedded via URL).

Architecture

`
data/
unicode-blocks.json # Single source of truth (338 blocks with ranges)
unicode-blocks.csv # CSV export
unicode-blocks.schema.json # JSON Schema
src/
index.ts # Main exports (browser compatible)
node.ts # Node.js exports (file I/O + canvas)
cli/ # CLI commands
core/ # Unicode blocks, category detection
render/ # SVG/character generation
node-io/ # File I/O, PNG generation
`

API

`typescript
import {
generateSvgString,
generateScriptTilesSvg,
UNICODE_BLOCKS,
BMP_BLOCKS,
type GridOptions,
} from 'unicode-palette'

// Generate SVG string
const svg = generateSvgString({
cols: 64,
rows: 104,
cellSize: 16,
})

// Script tiles (4x1 per block)
const tiles = generateScriptTilesSvg({
cellSize: 32,
cols: 8,
})

// Access Unicode blocks
console.log(UNICODE_BLOCKS.length) // 338
console.log(BMP_BLOCKS.length) // 164
`

$3

`typescript
import {
renderSvgToFile,
renderScriptTilesToFile,
renderPngToFile,
} from 'unicode-palette/node'

renderSvgToFile('./output/unicode.svg')
renderScriptTilesToFile('./output/tiles.svg')
renderPngToFile('./output/unicode.png')
`

Regenerate Block Data

Block data is generated from @unicode/unicode-16.0.0:

`bash
pnpm generate:data
``

References

- GNU Unifont
- @unicode/unicode-17.0.0
- ISO 15924 (Scripts)
- Unicode Character Database

Script Tiles Preview

!Script Tiles

License

MIT © anozon