Style labels with glyphs - Amazon Location Service
Use casesSupported fonts in APIUnderstand the requestUnderstand the response

Style labels with glyphs

Glyphs are binary files containing encoded Unicode characters, which are used by a map renderer to display labels. Amazon Location Service enables the retrieval of specific glyphs from a font stack for use in map rendering through the GetGlyphs API.

For more information, see GetGlyphs in the Amazon Location Service API Reference.

Use cases

  • Rendering custom text on maps with specific fonts and styles.

  • Fetching glyphs for localized map text rendering.

  • Using Unicode character ranges to display map labels and symbols.

  • Optimizing map font rendering based on font stacks and glyph ranges.

Supported fonts in API

The following fonts are supported in the API:

  • Amazon Ember Bold

  • Amazon Ember Bold Italic

  • Amazon Ember Bold,Noto Sans Bold

  • Amazon Ember Bold,Noto Sans Bold,Noto Sans Arabic Bold

  • Amazon Ember Condensed RC BdItalic

  • Amazon Ember Condensed RC Bold

  • Amazon Ember Condensed RC Bold Italic

  • Amazon Ember Condensed RC Bold,Noto Sans Bold

  • Amazon Ember Condensed RC Bold,Noto Sans Bold,Noto Sans Arabic Condensed Bold

  • Amazon Ember Condensed RC Light

  • Amazon Ember Condensed RC Light Italic

  • Amazon Ember Condensed RC LtItalic

  • Amazon Ember Condensed RC Regular

  • Amazon Ember Condensed RC Regular Italic

  • Amazon Ember Condensed RC Regular,Noto Sans Regular

  • Amazon Ember Condensed RC Regular,Noto Sans Regular,Noto Sans Arabic Condensed Regular

  • Amazon Ember Condensed RC RgItalic

  • Amazon Ember Condensed RC ThItalic

  • Amazon Ember Condensed RC Thin

  • Amazon Ember Condensed RC Thin Italic

  • Amazon Ember Heavy

  • Amazon Ember Heavy Italic

  • Amazon Ember Light

  • Amazon Ember Light Italic

  • Amazon Ember Medium

  • Amazon Ember Medium Italic

  • Amazon Ember Medium,Noto Sans Medium

  • Amazon Ember Medium,Noto Sans Medium,Noto Sans Arabic Medium

  • Amazon Ember Regular

  • Amazon Ember Regular Italic

  • Amazon Ember Regular Italic,Noto Sans Italic

  • Amazon Ember Regular Italic,Noto Sans Italic,Noto Sans Arabic Regular

  • Amazon Ember Regular,Noto Sans Regular

  • Amazon Ember Regular,Noto Sans Regular,Noto Sans Arabic Regular

  • Amazon Ember Thin

  • Amazon Ember Thin Italic

  • AmazonEmberCdRC_Bd

  • AmazonEmberCdRC_BdIt

  • AmazonEmberCdRC_Lt

  • AmazonEmberCdRC_LtIt

  • AmazonEmberCdRC_Rg

  • AmazonEmberCdRC_RgIt

  • AmazonEmberCdRC_Th

  • AmazonEmberCdRC_ThIt

  • AmazonEmber_Bd

  • AmazonEmber_BdIt

  • AmazonEmber_He

  • AmazonEmber_HeIt

  • AmazonEmber_Lt

  • AmazonEmber_LtIt

  • AmazonEmber_Md

  • AmazonEmber_MdIt

  • AmazonEmber_Rg

  • AmazonEmber_RgIt

  • AmazonEmber_Th

  • AmazonEmber_ThIt

  • Noto Sans Black

  • Noto Sans Black Italic

  • Noto Sans Bold

  • Noto Sans Bold Italic

  • Noto Sans Extra Bold

  • Noto Sans Extra Bold Italic

  • Noto Sans Extra Light

  • Noto Sans Extra Light Italic

  • Noto Sans Italic

  • Noto Sans Light

  • Noto Sans Light Italic

  • Noto Sans Medium

  • Noto Sans Medium Italic

  • Noto Sans Regular

  • Noto Sans Semi Bold

  • Noto Sans Semi Bold Italic

  • Noto Sans Thin

  • Noto Sans Thin Italic

  • NotoSans-Bold

  • NotoSans-Italic

  • NotoSans-Medium

  • NotoSans-Regular

  • Open Sans Regular,Arial Unicode MS Regular

Understand the request

The request accepts two required URI parameters, FontStack and FontUnicodeRange, which determine the font and the Unicode range for glyphs. The FontStack parameter specifies which font to use, while the FontUnicodeRange defines the character range to fetch. The request does not include a body, focusing only on the URI parameters for its functionality.

  • FontStack: Specifies the name of the font stack to retrieve. Example: "Amazon Ember Bold, Noto Sans Bold".

  • FontUnicodeRange: A Unicode range of characters to download glyphs for. The range must be multiples of 256. Example: "0-255".

Understand the response

The response returns glyph data as a binary blob, along with HTTP headers for caching, content type, ETag, and pricing information. The glyph data is returned as a binary blob to be rendered on maps, and the headers provide additional metadata for handling the response effectively.

  • CacheControl: Instructs the client on caching configurations for the response.

  • ContentType: Specifies the format of the response body, indicating the type of glyph data returned.

  • ETag: An identifier for the glyph's version, used for cache validation.

  • PricingBucket: Indicates the pricing tier associated with the request.

  • Blob: The glyph data returned as a binary blob, used to render map text.