the ultimate font generator

average.rb

#!/bin/ruby

`mkdir mean-letters`
`mkdir final-letters`
('a'..'z').each do |letter|
    puts "layering #{letter}"
    `convert letters/#{letter}/* -evaluate-sequence mean mean-letters/#{letter}.png`
    `convert mean-letters/#{letter}.png -threshold 65% final-letters/#{letter}.png`
end

generate.rb

#!/bin/ruby

`mkdir letters`
def font_list
    `fc-list`.lines.map{|l|l[/(.+): (.+):(.+)$/,1]}
end
letter_threads = []
('a'..'z').each do |letter|
    letter_threads << Thread.new(letter) do |letter|
        `mkdir letters/#{letter}`
        font_list.each_with_index do |font_path, font_index|
            puts "#{letter} #{(100*font_index/font_list.length).floor}%    rendering #{font_path}"
            font_name = font_path.split(?/).last
            `convert -background white -fill black -font "#{font_path}" -pointsize 256 -size 400x400 -gravity center label:#{letter} "letters/#{letter}/#{font_name}.png"`
        end
    end
end

letter_threads.map{|thread|thread.join}