It seems that call (load-char face char :ft-load-monochrome) was not sufficient, contrary to my (under)undestanding of FreeType docs. Instead, two calls (load-char face char :ft-load-default) ... (render-glyph glyph :ft-render-mode-mono) made what I wanted. If anyone knows FreeType expert, please ask him about this. Sincerely yours, Dmitri