Is it possible to get my fonts and graphics more like Ubuntu.

tlawren · 2011-06-11 18:49:56

Is it possible to get decent graphics in Arch? I've tried all sorts of things and I never seem to get things the way I want. At work, I use Ubuntu 11.04 with GNOME fallback and I really like the fonts under the stock setup, but I can't seem to get Arch to do the same. In fact, I nearly can't stand reading pdf files (something I do a lot of for work) in Arch, because they are rendered so poorly. It is as if the whites are two white and the blacks too black, and there is a yellow like haze around the fonts. It is nearly painful to look at for extended periods! My hardware at home is comparable (if not better) to my hardware at work, so it doesn't make sense for it to be that way.

If I've got an ATI Radeon HD 4670 card, should I use the proprietary driver or generic driver? Or, does it not even matter?

I've installed and messed with the infinality font patches, but I can't seem to get anything good with them either. (I posted about font problems a while back, but I've upgraded a lot of hardware since then.) I've looked at the ubuntu font packages, but everything I see states that they are outdated.

I like Arch, because it is light and snappy compared to Ubuntu, so I don't want to switch OS'es.

Coacher · 2011-06-11 19:14:36

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Fo … ion#Ubuntu

tlawren · 2011-06-11 23:28:18

I installed the ubuntu packages and I like the results, but I still don't like the way pdfs look. Is there a way for me to change how pdfs are rendered? Also, can switching to the Catalyst drive yield any improvements?

lukaszan · 2011-06-11 23:44:22

tlawren wrote:

Also, can switching to the Catalyst drive yield any improvements?

Actually it might do. I have got HD4250 card with DVI output and for the short time I was using Arch's radeon driver, the fonts in gedit had sort of a 'rainbowy' glare. With proprietary driver the quality is perfect.

Coacher · 2011-06-12 01:42:35

What pdf viewer do you use?
If it is okular you can try installing this https://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?ID=26641

tlawren · 2011-06-12 10:55:55

Right now, I'm using Evince.

Coacher · 2011-06-12 11:39:22

Hmm, looks like evince uses poppler too, and poppler compiled with cairo support for now(as it looks from dependencies).
Maybe you can do some tuning in evince(cant tell you more exactly since I dont have it.)

Add: you are seeing difference in the same PDFs?

Last edited by Coacher (2011-06-12 11:59:25)

tlawren · 2011-06-12 20:54:35

Yes and no. There are noticeable differences in pdfs using Envice between my work machine (Ubuntu 11.04) and my home machine (Arch). On my Arch box at home, pdfs are just blurrier.

It may just be the difference in my hardware. At work, I use Dell E2010H monitor with an Nvidia card and at home I use a Dell P2211H with a Radeon care. The LED backlight in my home monitor is a lot brighter than my monitor at work. It could be that I am just being extremely pick and fighting a non-battle. I download and read pdfs for work a lot, so I guess my pickiness is understandable.

brebs · 2011-06-12 21:28:31

I took a quick look at the Ubuntu packages for evince and poppler, and couldn't see an obvious reason for improvement over stock.

Poppler's font rendering is known to be bad (and difficult to fix).

The quality of individual monitors is one of many variables that can make a huge difference to the perceived quality of fonts.

The radeon vs ATI proprietary driver shouldn't make any difference, unless the open-source driver is royally broken, and I can't recall anyone else calling such brokenness plausible - it would be blatantly obvious to every user of it, surely.

electric_indigo · 2011-06-12 21:57:22

Try experimenting with the symlinks in /etc/fonts/conf.d. For example, remove all the “sub-pixel” and “unhint” symlinks. It worked for me when I had ugly fonts in Qt apps and firefox, maybe it will work in this case.

bohoomil · 2011-06-12 23:21:55

Install Acrobat Reader and enjoy your pdfs again.

Arch Linux

#1 2011-06-11 18:49:56

Is it possible to get my fonts and graphics more like Ubuntu.

#2 2011-06-11 19:14:36

Re: Is it possible to get my fonts and graphics more like Ubuntu.

#3 2011-06-11 23:28:18

Re: Is it possible to get my fonts and graphics more like Ubuntu.

#4 2011-06-11 23:44:22

Re: Is it possible to get my fonts and graphics more like Ubuntu.

#5 2011-06-12 01:42:35

Re: Is it possible to get my fonts and graphics more like Ubuntu.

#6 2011-06-12 10:55:55

Re: Is it possible to get my fonts and graphics more like Ubuntu.

#7 2011-06-12 11:39:22

Re: Is it possible to get my fonts and graphics more like Ubuntu.

#8 2011-06-12 20:54:35

Re: Is it possible to get my fonts and graphics more like Ubuntu.

#9 2011-06-12 21:28:31

Re: Is it possible to get my fonts and graphics more like Ubuntu.

#10 2011-06-12 21:57:22

Re: Is it possible to get my fonts and graphics more like Ubuntu.

#11 2011-06-12 23:21:55

Re: Is it possible to get my fonts and graphics more like Ubuntu.

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