Bastardica: Mix fonts into OpenType 'bastard' hybrids
Original: Show HN: Make cursed fonts like Times New Bastard
Why This Matters
Brings OpenType font manipulation to a no-install, browser-native workflow — lowering the barrier for type experimentation.
Bastardica is a browser-based tool that lets users blend multiple fonts into a single OpenType file by swapping glyphs at set intervals. No uploads required — processing runs locally via Pyodide and fontTools. Output formats include TTF, OTF, and WOFF2.
Bastardica is a free web tool that generates hybrid 'bastard' fonts by substituting glyphs from one or more mix-in fonts into a base font at user-defined strides — for example, replacing every 5th character with glyphs from a second typeface. The swap is implemented as an OpenType ligature contextual substitution, which means browsers and most design tools enable it automatically without extra configuration.
All processing happens client-side using Pyodide (Python in the browser) and the fontTools library, so no font data leaves the user's machine. Users can upload their own fonts or pull from free sources like Google Fonts or Velvetyne. The tool includes Y-offset and scale controls to align mixed glyphs visually, and recommends using prime numbers for strides when blending three or more fonts to minimize glyph collisions.
On licensing: mixing two fonts creates a derivative work, so the site flags that users should check source font licenses before any commercial use. Bastardica itself adds no conditions. The project cites Times New Bastard and Easy Pete as its inspirations.