diff --git a/src/clj_figlet/core.clj b/src/clj_figlet/core.clj
index d825548..bb85b95 100644
--- a/src/clj_figlet/core.clj
+++ b/src/clj_figlet/core.clj
@@ -2,6 +2,12 @@
   (:import (java.io File))
   (:require [clojure.string :as str]))
 
+; ascii 32 through 126 inclusive
+(def num-basic-chars (- 127 32))
+
+; ascii 196, 214, 220, 228, 246, 252 and 223
+(def num-ext-chars 7)
+
 (defn- parse-flf-header [header-line]
   (let [parts  (str/split header-line #" ")
         params (->> parts
@@ -18,11 +24,37 @@
      :full-layout   (get params 6)
      :codetag-count (get params 7)}))
 
+(defn- parse-basic-chars [header char-lines]
+  )
+
+(defn- parse-ext-chars [header char-lines]
+  )
+
+(defn- parse-other-chars [header char-lines]
+  )
+
 (defn load-flf [file]
   (let [flf-file (slurp file)]
     (if-not (= "flf2a" (subs flf-file 0 5))
       (throw (new Exception (str "Not a valid flf font file: " file))))
-    (let [lines      (str/split (slurp file) #"\n")
-          header     (parse-flf-header (first lines))
-          char-lines (drop (inc (:num-comments header)) lines)]
-      )))
+    (let [lines                (str/split (slurp file) #"\n")
+          header               (parse-flf-header (first lines))
+          char-height          (:height header)
+          char-lines           (drop (inc (:num-comments header)) lines)
+          basic-chars          (->> char-lines
+                                    (take (* char-height num-basic-chars))
+                                    (partition char-height))
+          num-basic-char-lines (* (count basic-chars) char-height)
+          ext-chars            (->> char-lines
+                                    (drop num-basic-char-lines)
+                                    (take (* char-height num-ext-chars))
+                                    (partition char-height))
+          num-ext-char-lines   (* (count ext-chars) char-height)
+          other-chars          (->> char-lines
+                                    (drop (+ num-basic-char-lines num-ext-char-lines))
+                                    (partition (inc char-height)))]
+      {:header      header
+       :basic-chars (parse-basic-chars header basic-chars)
+       :ext-chars   (parse-ext-chars header ext-chars)
+       :other-chars (parse-other-chars header other-chars)})))
+