font problems

tlawren · 2011-01-13 01:33:11

Greetings, and thanks to anyone that responds.

I'm currently experiencing horrible fonts on my new Arch install. There is probably a simple fix to my problem, but I can't seem to make headway into finding it. I've tried to work through the Font Configuration Wiki page, but I feel like I keep running in circles. I've also searched the forums, but I haven't found a post that makes sense to me yet.

What I've done so far...
1. Install freetype2-infinality and download the local.conf file to /etc/font -- This kind of made things a little worse
2. Install libXft -- No change
3. Install openoffice-uglyfix-freetype2-infinality -- Definitely no change. The fonts in Open Office are so bad I can't even use it. The glow like rainbows!
4. Install firefox-pgo -- No change

I will admit that I haven't really tried to tweak local.conf yet, but then again, I don't even know where to begin with it. I've also read some things about creating a file called .Xresources, but I haven't found anything about how to go about doing it.

If anyone can help me, I will greatly appreciate it.

thestinger · 2011-01-13 01:42:45

This will fix openoffice/libreoffice:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Fo … ig_support

Can you describe exactly what's wrong with your fonts or what you want them to look like?

Also, what fonts do you have installed? The wiki explains that the infinality local.conf is set to use fonts like Arial, Times New Roman, Consolas and Segoe by default, and it's assumed you have the newest versions of the fonts from a Windows install - not the old ones in the ttf-ms-fonts or ttf-vista-fonts packages.

By default, the infinality patches will make them very smooth (blurry) and readable, a lot more so than Windows 7. If you want the fonts less blurry, you'll have to change the default settings.

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Fo … Infinality

Last edited by thestinger (2011-01-13 01:44:13)

tlawren · 2011-01-13 02:03:13

I've installed ttf-ms-fonts and ttf-vista-fonts, so I guess I don't have the newest versions. I've also installed ttf-google-webfonts and Dejavu fonts, but I don't know if that is important.

My fonts are just kind of blurry. The desktop fonts on GNOME were fine at first, but they got blurry after I installed infinality. The fonts in firefox were blurry and somewhat colory both before and after infinality, especially if the page was light and the fonts dark. Open Office fonts are just horrid!

What I'm shooting for is sharp, crisp fonts. I read a lot on the internet, write documents, and code, so I want (need) fonts that don't kill my eyes. At work, I run Windows 7 and Fedora and I really like the font rendering in Windows 7. Something like that would be great.

If I were to start tweaking my local.conf file, should I expect to make a lot of changes? The reason I ask is because I really don't understand the structure of the file, so I don't know where to begin tweaking it.

thestinger · 2011-01-13 02:42:50

To solve the blurriness you can probably just leave the local.conf alone and change the environment variables in /etc/profile.d/infinality-settings.sh. The default lcd filter (strong gibson) is blurry so you should start by changing that to something else. You might like the extra sharp filter or freetype default filter.

The infinality local.conf has a lot of bloat (multiple profiles) so it might be hard to start from there. I basically use the default settings from it with all the other stuff stripped out. Here's a link to my config at the moment. It does the same thing as the infinality config: sane default settings, full truetype hinting for good fonts and slight autohinting for bad ones, along with some tweaks for specific fonts.

Last edited by thestinger (2011-01-13 02:54:50)

tlawren · 2011-01-13 03:54:47

I've set the FT_FILTER parameters to multiple values, but nothing seems to happen. Do I need to do something else after I edit the file?

Where can I get the latest Windows fonts?

thestinger · 2011-01-13 04:47:55

The stuff in profile.d is sourced by login shells. You can just source it manually and then launch stuff from that shell to try out new settings.

I recommend picking some nice open/free fonts and changing the local.conf defaults to those (there's a wiki page with fonts if you need some ideas). To get the latest MS fonts you have to own a copy of Windows 7 and copy all the ttf and ttc files from C:\Windows\Fonts to /usr/share/fonts/TTF in your arch install (preferably by making a PKGBUILD).

Last edited by thestinger (2011-01-13 04:48:24)

tlawren · 2011-01-13 12:19:17

I've tried manually sourcing the file, but I still see no change in the rendering. Maybe I'm missing something? I did the following.

change "15e-2 20e-2 30e-2 20e-2 15e-2" to "00e-2 35e-2 35e-2 35e-2 00e-2" and then run
$source infinality-settings.sh

but nothing.

I will see try to get the latest Windows fonts off my work computer today.

I also just noticed something weird about the font rendering in gmail. The following image should explain what I'm seeing.

The Archive button is to big.

I also copied your local.conf file and substituted it for mine, and it did improve things.

Last edited by tlawren (2011-01-13 12:35:34)

Mr. Alex · 2011-01-13 13:32:04

Tlawren, try creating ~/.fonts.conf with http://pastebin.com/tVqr1R3P
Install ttf-dejavu & ttf-liberation.
This config makes fonts look like this:

http://i.imgur.com/4EI2g.png

Just download the picture to see it in 100% scale (if it's not a 100% in the page).

-- mod edit: read the Forum Etiquette and only post thumbnails http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/For … s_and_Code [jwr] --

Last edited by Mr. Alex (2011-01-13 15:24:08)

JHeaton · 2011-01-13 14:37:45

I went through this and found that the Infinality stuff didn't work for me, so I can't really help with configuration for that in particular, but I can offer you some tips on how I managed to sort out the issue of horrible fonts on my computer. I ended up resorting to the Cleartype-patched packages and they're better for me; YMMV. You might also want to try playing with the fontconfig* and cairo* packages. What I eventually installed were:

cairo-cleartype
fontconfig-lcd
freetype2-cleartype
libxft-lcd
ttf-ms-fonts
ttf-google-webfonts
ttf-dejavu
ttf-bitstream-vera

Then I symlinked the following from /etc/fonts/conf.avail to /etc/fonts/conf.d:

10-autohint.conf
10-sub-pixel-rgb.conf

Now, this worked for me and appeals to my tastes but it may not for you. I use xulrunner-system-cairo to get around the ugly fonts issue in Firefox. The thing I found with Infinality is that no matter what I changed in the config files for it, I could never get anything to look 'nice' to my eyes. The closest I managed was the Apple settings, but even that was dire on my machine. I currently don't run with ~/.fonts.conf and everything seems to look rather nice to me, so it may be worth a try. This is basically what it looks like.

Mr. Alex · 2011-01-13 14:51:06

Just my opinion, but you have nasty smoothing on that screenshot.

JHeaton · 2011-01-13 15:06:47

Mr. Alex wrote:

Just my opinion, but you have nasty smoothing on that screenshot.

It's not perfect, I know, but it's plenty better than the jagged and blurred messes that came before it. Once I got to the point where it stopped hurting my eyes, I stopped making changes.

Mr. Alex · 2011-01-13 15:23:18

I didn't install anything related to fonts' rendering on my Arch system, just ttf-dejavu and ttf-liberation fonts plus ~/.fonts.conf configuration and smoothing is great! How come topic starter has this problem?

anonymous_user · 2011-01-13 20:34:47

@Mr. Alex - it can be due to different monitors, different DPI settings, and simply different preferences. Some people prefer smoother fonts while others may like crisp or sharp fonts.

tlawren · 2011-01-14 03:44:16

Does anyone know why I could have seen no changes when I changed the infinality config file? I say "could have seen no changes," because they may been happening and I just couldn't tell. I've never had to tweak with Linux fonts before, so this is all new to me.

I guess I should consider that I might currently have good font rendering on my machine, but I am just being picky. I don't recall any of my past systems with the same monitor as having fuzzy/blurry/hazy fonts though, but I'm not 100% certain. At work, I use Dell monitors (1 21.5" E-series and 1 17" U-Series) while at home I use a 4-5 year old Samsung SyncMaster 226 BW. My work machine which dual boots Windows 7 and Fedora 12 have great fonts ans displays. I would love to get the same rendering and overall display as my Windows 7 work machine.

thestinger · 2011-01-14 03:48:11

When you sourced the file, the environment variables would just be in the shell you sourced it from and processes run from there - you'll have to run a test program like firefox from the shell as you make changes.

As long as you don't use a broken display manager (gdm), the env variables will be sourced when you reboot.

You should also make sure your DPI is set to your monitor's actual DPI and not just to some arbitrary number like 96.

Last edited by thestinger (2011-01-14 03:50:00)

tlawren · 2011-01-15 18:16:23

What do you mean by "a broken display manager (gdm)"? Is there something wrong with gdm? I run gdm, because I run GNOME.

thestinger · 2011-01-15 18:36:19

GDM doesn't run a login shell or source the shell startup files, so environment variables aren't set - infinality-settings.sh probably won't work. I think you can create a ~/.xprofile that it will source and then source the files from there, but that's a dirty workaround.

The variables will be set when you start a shell in terminal (if you use a login shell), but not for other applications.

Last edited by thestinger (2011-01-15 18:37:56)

tlawren · 2011-01-15 18:39:12

Would changing DMs be a better move?

thestinger · 2011-01-15 18:42:52

No, just ~/.xprofile.

Try creating the file with this in it:

. /etc/profile

Last edited by thestinger (2011-01-15 18:44:17)

tlawren · 2011-01-19 00:32:30

I'm finally getting fonts that are not blurry (or at least not as blurry as they were), but they aren't perfect yet. I'm going to have to play with them until I can get them to my liking. I'm at least to the point that I can read my screen without getting a headache.

Thanks to all those that responded with help!

tlawren · 2011-01-19 23:06:10

I like the fonts and font settings on my Fedora 12 box at work. It is a new install, so no tweaks or changes have been made to it. Is there a way to transfer the settings (config files) from it to my home machine? The only file I can see to transfer is /etc/fonts/fonts.conf. I know I will likely have to tweak somethings, but it might prove to be a good place to start.

Anikom15 · 2011-01-19 23:22:58

For best results, I like setting fontconfig's autohinting to slight and use the dejavu fonts. I also set the DPI properly, and I don't like sub-pixel hinting.

jocheem67 · 2011-03-13 09:03:17

Being a newbie, I might just add that infinality is not the easiest method. Perhaps the ubuntu patched filters are easier to implement? However there's nothing wrong with a steep learningcurve.

My solution, being a relative n00b:
ubuntu-patched filters as per wiki/aur
firefox beta/rc using heftig's repository
setting the fonts within firefox to arial
using gnome, just using the gnome 'appearance' applet to set the dpi to 96 and jsut fiddling a bit with the settings provided there...
using ~/.Xresources to help libre-office a bit

It's a bit of a tweaking quest. I learned in general using arch to keep it as simple as possible. Learning comes more naturally then , without too much frustration. That's just my two cents of course.....:)

bohoomil · 2011-03-13 22:27:56

Personally, I haven't found Infinality's approach satisfactory, but the reason may have been the combination of my hardware capabilities and my taste (and I'm somehow a font maniac to be honest). For some reason Ubuntu's solution is not my cup of tea either. What I use -- and I'm more than happy with it -- are the following:

-- freetype2-lcd_ (IMHO the best one),
-- libxft-lcd,
-- cairo with enabled xcb (recompiled from extra),
-- fontconfig-lcd (which makes for a single entry in /etc/fonts),
-- quite a few custom tweaks in fonts.conf which seems necessary to make things work as they should,
-- 96 dpi set where necessary (just in case...),
-- openoffice-uglyfix-freetype2 (for backward compatibility with the rest of the world's output),

And that's it. Fonts are razor-sharp, not blurry at all, and for the very first time I get what I want. However, I spent quite a time testing all the variations that are available in Arch and around, but with Arch it's easy because there's almost everything ever made either in official repos or in Aur.

And last but not least: I think that the final touch -- those above mentioned custom tweaks in fonts.conf -- are probably the most necessary...

Last edited by bohoomil (2011-03-13 22:31:59)

SanskritFritz · 2011-03-13 23:03:26

bohoomil wrote:

-- quite a few custom tweaks in fonts.conf which seems necessary to make things work as they should,
And last but not least: I think that the final touch -- those above mentioned custom tweaks in fonts.conf -- are probably the most necessary...

I would love to see those tweaks. Please, yould you share?

Arch Linux

#1 2011-01-13 01:33:11

font problems

#2 2011-01-13 01:42:45

Re: font problems

#3 2011-01-13 02:03:13

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