In contrast to OpenType shaping, Graphite shaping does not specify a predefined set of shaping models or a set of supported scripts.

Instead, each Graphite font contains a complete set of rules that implement the required shaping model for the intended script. These rules include finite-state machines to match sequences of codepoints to the shaping operations to perform.

Graphite shaping can perform the same shaping operations used in OpenType shaping, as well as other functions that have not been defined for OpenType shaping.