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#1 2006-06-07 17:29:39

Chris|MD
Member
Registered: 2006-03-14
Posts: 36

Getting Fonts to look like...

Hello.
Im using my x7 @ 1152x864. Same resolution under Windows. Im not sure if the dpi settings are correct. xdpyinfo says 81 dpi are used. But i have no clue what dpi are used under windows.
I like unantialiased fonts and i use a crt.
Small fonts are really hard to read.
Thats what i get under linux:
[URL=http://img325.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dpilinux4qc.png]dpilinux4qc.th.png[/URL]
And this under win:
[URL=http://img272.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dpiwin9kb.jpg]dpiwin9kb.th.jpg[/URL]
The Screenshot is not by me but i hope this makes no difference. He uses a default installation and he set the resolution to 1152x864 for making the screenshot.
The browser is different. But i think it looks same under firefox.

So i red the xorgfonts topic in wiki. But i still dont know what to do to get such fonts.

What do i need to do to get the fonts look the same as under Windows? Readable small fonts, un-antialiased and without bugs like letters stacked upon each other.

And how would that look under Mac? I heard that Typographs like Macs. But what would a Typograph prefer? How do fonts render under a Mac?

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#2 2006-06-07 17:41:23

Moo-Crumpus
Member
From: Hessen / Germany
Registered: 2003-12-01
Posts: 1,487

Re: Getting Fonts to look like...

I like the linux one (everyone is trying to get his fonts configured by others, tststs ...).


Frumpus addict
[mu'.krum.pus], [frum.pus]

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#3 2006-06-07 18:00:53

codemac
Member
From: Cliche Tech Place
Registered: 2005-05-13
Posts: 794
Website

Re: Getting Fonts to look like...

cat /etc/fonts/local.conf

Read and fix accordingly.

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#4 2006-06-07 18:40:19

Chris|MD
Member
Registered: 2006-03-14
Posts: 36

Re: Getting Fonts to look like...

Well i only see the autohinter, the aa setting and subpixelrendering.
Well setting aa off works nicely but the fonts are still too small.
[edit] Oh no. It doesnt work. Mhhh. I set the Size to 120 so all Fonts which are smaller dont get anti aliased.
But there are no further Options to just deactivate aa completly.

I like the linux one

Maybe they are redable for you. But they arent for me.
The one on the Screenshot are okay but there are much smaller fonts which look like 6pt fonts unter windows.

Ive seen that Mac uses 72 dpi and Windows 96dpi
But is that true for the new generation of macs and windows?
So setting to 72 would be the best to get accurate pixelsizes.

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#5 2006-06-07 21:16:18

lanrat
Member
From: Poland
Registered: 2003-10-28
Posts: 1,274

Re: Getting Fonts to look like...

Yes, windows is using 96 dpi as default and it ignores the real dpi of your screen.

You can force xorg to always use 96 dpi too. For example start it with: startx -- -dpi 96.

If you really want to make it the linux way do this:

1. Take the ruller and measure your screen size X and Y in mm.
For example my screen size in mm (the visible part) is 331 x 207 (don't trust xorg ddc on this, measure it yourself). 1 inch = 25.4 mm. So it's 13,031496 inches x 8,1496063 inches. My screen resolution is 1280 x 800 (notebook lcd) which gives 98,22 dpi x 98,16 dpi ~ 98x98 dpi. Put this line in your /etc/X11/xorg.conf in the Monitor section:

Section "Monitor"
        Identifier      "NotebookLCD"
... other parameters
        DisplaySize     331 207
... other parameters
EndSection

When you restart xorg you should find in the logs something like this:

(**) I810(0): Virtual size is 1280x800 (pitch 2048)
(**) I810(0): *Built-in mode "1280x800"
(**) I810(0): Display dimensions: (331, 207) mm
(WW) I810(0): Probed monitor is 430x260 mm, using Displaysize 331x207 mm
(**) I810(0): DPI set to (98, 98)

You can cheat a little to have square dpi - I mean 98 x 98 is usually better than 98 x 90 or something like this.

2. In /etc/fonts/local.conf put these lines:

<match target="pattern" >
    <edit mode="assign" name="dpi" >
        <double>98</double>
    </edit>
</match>

3. In firefox menu edit/preferences content tab, advanced button (next to Default font size) set Display resolution = System setting.

The font size should be better now. You can of course change the minimum font size in firefox or opera if you want.

2006-06-13 - I've noticed that because I enabled HTML in this post phpbb stripped some of the code in 2 - it removed mode, name and target. It should be fine now.

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#6 2006-06-08 09:45:38

Chris|MD
Member
Registered: 2006-03-14
Posts: 36

Re: Getting Fonts to look like...

Yeah thats much better!
I set the xft dpi in Xdefaults but it only works with gtk applications i think. Was the wrong way.

But when i want to disable anti aliasing per .fonts.conf i get messed up fonts.
They dissapear in fine lines or look like a detonated tnt-cookie.
Will upload a screenshot later.

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#7 2006-06-13 02:44:52

mac57
Member
From: St. Somewhere
Registered: 2006-01-06
Posts: 302
Website

Re: Getting Fonts to look like...

I can comment on the Mac font rendering. I have just replaced a PC with a Mac as my prime engine for Photoshop and iTunes (when ARE these apps coming to Linux?????). Frankly, I think that fonts look better in Arch than they do on the Mac.

I noticed the fonts on the Mac right away, even at the Apple store when test driving. No where near as crisp and clear as what I have under Arch, and I really didn't do much to my font setup in Arch. Just one more thing that Arch has done right.

So far, in my experience, Windows takes first prize for clarity and consistency of fonts. Arch is a close second, but nothing I have ever seen looks as good as Windows in this regard. Unfortunately, you have to put up with Windows to get this look.  Think I'll stick with Arch and my new Mac; a worthwhile tradeoff.


Cast off the Microsoft shackles Jan 2005

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#8 2006-06-13 04:53:31

McQueen
Member
From: Arizona
Registered: 2006-03-20
Posts: 387

Re: Getting Fonts to look like...

mac57 wrote:

So far, in my experience, Windows takes first prize for clarity and consistency of fonts.

I used to say this as well, but I was recently working in XP after a looong absence and I have to say that even with cleartype the fonts in Arch just look more crisp and readable. I do have a few font tweaks but nothing major (just a few hints from this forum). Anyway, it's nice to see this feature continuing to develop so nicely.


/path/to/Truth

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