The first line of an extended Big Font file is the same as the regular Big Font file.
This is the format for the remaining lines of the file:

*0,5,font-name character-height, 0, modes, character-width,0
            . 
            . 
            . 
*shape-number,defbytes,shape-name
            . 
code,0,primitive#,basepoint-x,basepoint-y,width,height, 
            . 
            . 
code,0,primitive#,basepoint-x,basepoint-y,width,height, 
            . 
terminator

The following list describes the fields of a Big Font definition file:

character height

Used along with character width to indicate the number of units that define the font
characters.

character width

Used along with character height to indicate the number of units that define the font
characters. The character-height and character-width values are used to scale the primitives of the font. In this context, primitives
are the points, lines, polygons, or character strings of the font geometrically oriented
in 2D space. A Kanji character consists of several primitives used repeatedly in different
scales and combinations.

modes

The modes byte should be 0 for a horizontally oriented font and 2 for a dual-orientation (horizontal
or vertical) font. The special 00E (14) command code is honored only when modes is set to 2.

shape-number

Character code.

defbytes

Byte size. It is always 2 bytes, consisting of a hexadecimal or a combination of decimal
and hexadecimal codes.

shape-name

Character name.

code

Shape description special code. It is always 7 so that it can use the subshape feature.

primitive#

Reference to the subshape number. It is always 2 bytes.

basepoint-x

X origin of the primitive.

basepoint-y

Y origin of the primitive.

width

Scale of the width of the primitive.

height

Scale of the height of the primitive.

terminator

End-of-file indicator for the shape definition. It is always 0.

To arrive at the scale factor, the program scales down the primitive to a square unit
and then multiplies it by the height and width to get the shape of the character.
Character codes (shape numbers) in the Big Font shape definition file can have values
up to 65535. The following table describes the fields of the extended Big Font file.

The following figure is an example of a 16 x 16 dot matrix that you could use to
design an extended Big Font, such as a Kanji character. In the example, the distance
between each dot is one unit. The callout points to a square unit.

A square matrix for a Kanji character

The following figure shows examples of Kanji characters. Each character occupies an
Mأ—N matrix (matrices don’t have to be square), similar to the one shown in the previous
figure. The numbers above each figure are the associated shape numbers.

Examples of Kanji characters

The following figure shows Kanji primitives.

Examples of Kanji primitives

Example: Shape Definition File for an Extended Big Font

*BIGFONT 50,1,080,09e
*0,5,Extended Font
15,0,2,15,0
*08D91,31,unspecified
2,0e,8,-7,-15,
7,0,08cfb,0,0,16,16,7,0,08bca,2,3,12,9,
2,8,18,0,2,0e,8,-11,-3,0
*08CD8,31,unspecified
2,0e,8,-7,-15,
7,0,08be0,0,0,8,16,7,0,08cc3,8,0,8,16,
2,8,18,0,2,0e,8,-11,-3,0
*08ADF,31,unspecified
2,0e,8,-7,-15,
7,0,089a4,0,0,8,16,7,0,08cb3,8,0,8,16,
2,8,18,0,2,0e,8,-11,-3,0
*08CE8,39,unspecified
2,0e,8,-7,-15,
7,0,089a4,0,1,5,14,7,0,08cc3,5,2,5,14,7,0,08c8e,9,0,7,
16,2,8,18,0,2,0e,8,-11,-3,0
*089A4,39,primitive
2,0e,8,-7,-15,2,8,1,14,1,0c0,
2,8,-11,-6,1,0a0,2,8,-12,-7,1,
0e0,2,8,-7,13,1,0dc,2,8,11,-1,
2,0e,8,-11,-3,0
*08BCA,41,primitive
2,0e,8,-7,-15,2,8,1,14,1,0c0,
2,8,-11,-6,1,0a0,2,8,-12,-8,1,
0e0,2,0e5,1,0ec,2,063,1,8,
2,-3,2,06f,2,0e,8,-11,-3,0
*08BE0,81,primitive
2,0e,8,-7,-15,2,8,3,9,1,080,
2,8,-10,-4,1,0c0,2,8,-13,-5,1,
0e0,2,8,-7,9,1,09c,2,8,-1,14,
1,8,-6,-5,2,8,8,5,1,8,6,-5,
2,8,-11,-6,1,8,1,-3,2,8,7,3,
1,8,-1,-3,2,8,-3,15,1,01a,2,
012,1,01e,2,8,10,-14,2,0e,8,
-11,-3,0
*08C8E,44,primitive
2,0e,8,-7,-15,2,8,3,15,1,090,0fc,038,
2,8,-6,11,1,090,2,8,-9,-5,1,
090,2,096,1,0ac,8,-1,-3,01a,01a,2,8,
18,0,2,0e,8,-11,-3,0
*08CB3,61,primitive
2,0e,8,-7,-15,2,042,1,02b,02a,018,2,
0d0,1,012,034,2,069,1,01e,040,2,8,
-8,6,1,02b,2,8,4,5,1,08c,2,8,
-3,8,1,03c,2,8,-5,3,1,0e0,2,8,
-12,5,1,0a0,2,8,6,-14,2,0e,8,
-11,-3,0
*08CC3,34,primitive
2,0e,8,-7,-15,2,0c1,1,06c,0a8,064,0a0,2,8,
-5,9,1,09c,2,8,-7,5,1,0e0,2,8,
4,-11,2,0e,8,-11,-3,0
*08CFB,22,primitive
2,0e,8,-7,-15,2,0d2,1,0cc,0c8,0c4,0c0,2,8,
5,-13,2,0e,8,-11,-3,0