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Pango-CRITICAL errors when using Canvas on Windows #2492
Description
When using node-canvas on Windows, I consistently encounter Pango-CRITICAL errors referencing pango_font_description_get_family: assertion 'desc != NULL' failed. These errors appear immediately upon calling canvas.getContext('2d'), even in minimal code examples that don't explicitly work with text or fonts. While my code continues to function despite these errors, they flood the console output.
I've tried :
- Following the manual windows installation instructions guide
- Manually registering fonts
- Using system fonts and custom fonts (I have no use for fonts whatsoever but thought it might help make the error disappear)
Nothing worked so far.
Reproduction Steps
This minimal example reproduces the issue:
import { Image, createCanvas } from 'canvas';
import * as fs from 'fs';
const imagePath = './src/images/test.jpg';
const image = new Image();
image.src = fs.readFileSync(imagePath);
const canvas = createCanvas(image.width, image.height);
// The following line triggers Pango-CRITICAL errors:
const ctx = canvas.getContext('2d');Error Output
(process:47272): Pango-CRITICAL **: 17:39:18.415: pango_font_description_get_family: assertion 'desc != NULL' failed
(process:47272): Pango-CRITICAL **: 17:39:18.416: pango_font_description_get_family: assertion 'desc != NULL' failed
(process:47272): Pango-CRITICAL **: 17:39:18.416: pango_font_description_get_family: assertion 'desc != NULL' failed
(process:47272): Pango-CRITICAL **: 17:39:18.416: pango_font_description_get_family: assertion 'desc != NULL' failed
(process:47272): Pango-CRITICAL **: 17:39:18.416: pango_font_description_get_family: assertion 'desc != NULL' failed
(process:47272): Pango-CRITICAL **: 17:39:18.416: pango_font_description_get_family: assertion 'desc != NULL' failed
(process:47272): Pango-CRITICAL **: 17:39:18.416: pango_font_description_get_family: assertion 'desc != NULL' failed
(process:47272): Pango-CRITICAL **: 17:39:18.416: pango_font_description_get_family: assertion 'desc != NULL' failed
Environment
- Canvas: v3.1.0
- Node.js: v23.0.0
- OS: Windows 24H2 (OS Build 26100.3194)
Activity
fuchsundvogel commentedon Mar 24, 2025
Bump. Same problem here.
chearon commentedon Aug 16, 2026
Fixed by #2602