[SOLVED] Gnome & Firefox: Fonts are too small

void.pointer · 2009-01-31 08:29:29

Hi,

I am really used to using firefox in Windows XP where fonts are readable out-of-the-box. By this I mean I didn't have to fiddle with firefox when I installed it, the fonts looked great.

Now that I'm using Gnome, I see that firefox's fonts are really too small. The glyphs are smashed together too. How can I get the fonts to look decent in firefox? I'm not sure if this is an OS-level setting or a firefox-level setting.

Last edited by void.pointer (2009-02-04 04:57:55)

deej · 2009-01-31 09:02:47

If you have an LCD monitor, try this:

Copy & paste the code below into a file called

.fonts.conf

[NOTE: It's a hidden file ! ]
and save it in your home directory. Log out & in again and fire up The Fox !

<?xml version="1.0"?> 
<!DOCTYPE fontconfig SYSTEM "fonts.dtd"> 

<!-- the cathectic LCD tweaks, from linuxquestions.org, 
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/showthread.php?postid=1361098#post1361098 --> 

<fontconfig> 

<!-- Disable sub-pixel rendering. X detects it anyway, and if you set this as well, it just looks really horrible  --> 
<match target="font" > 
  <edit mode="assign" name="rgba" > 
   <const>none</const> 
  </edit> 
 </match> 
 <match target="font" > 
  <edit mode="assign" name="hinting"> 
   <bool>true</bool> 
  </edit> 
 </match> 
 <match target="font" > 
  <edit mode="assign" name="hintstyle"> 
   <const>hintfull</const> 
  </edit> 
 </match> 

<!-- The first part of the 'magic.' This makes the fonts start to look nice, but some of the shapes will be distorted, so hinting is 
needed still --> 
 <match target="font" > 
  <edit mode="assign" name="antialias"> 
   <bool>true</bool> 
  </edit> 
 </match> 

<!-- Autohinter is not turned on automatically. Only disable this if you have recompiled Freetype with the bytecode interpreter, which 
is run automatically. Although to be honest, Freetype are right, there isn't much difference between the two. Note that OpenOffice is 
built against the bytecode interpreter, so even if you have compiled it and override it with the autohinter, OOo will still use the 
bytecode interpreter --> 
 <match target="pattern" > 
  <edit mode="assign" name="autohint"> 
   <bool>true</bool> 
  </edit> 
 </match> 

<!-- Helvetica is a non true type font, and will look bad. This replaces it with whatever is the default sans-serif font --> 
 <match target="pattern" name="family" > 
  <test name="family" qual="any" > 
   <string>Helvetica</string> 
  </test> 
  <edit mode="assign" name="family" > 
   <string>sans-serif</string> 
  </edit> 
 </match> 
 <dir>~/.fonts</dir> 
</fontconfig>

All credit to LinuxQuestions for this conf file.

Deej

Rasi · 2009-01-31 13:42:09

while a custom .fonts.conf works wonderful for me in every WM, it simply doesnt work inside gnome... i have a .fonts.conf i use in awesome without any problems.

But until today it was impossible for me to get smooth fonts in gnome... its either ugly or blurry...

void.pointer · 2009-01-31 21:40:45

Thanks for the help.

I'm noticing absolutely no difference when I add the .fonts.conf file to my home directory. Is there another way?

skottish · 2009-01-31 23:23:35

Out of curiosity, what's the output of:

xdpyinfo | grep resolution

void.pointer · 2009-02-01 00:15:04

skottish wrote:

Out of curiosity, what's the output of:
xdpyinfo | grep resolution

$ xdpyinfo | grep resolution
resolution: 99x98 dots per inch

skottish · 2009-02-01 01:32:16

void.pointer wrote:

skottish wrote:
Out of curiosity, what's the output of:
xdpyinfo | grep resolution
$ xdpyinfo | grep resolution
resolution: 99x98 dots per inch

It looks good, so no help there. Sorry.

deej · 2009-02-01 10:07:04

I take it that you have tried the "Edit -> Preferences -> Fonts" [ or wherever it is in Firefox ],
to manually adjust your fonts ?

Deej

void.pointer · 2009-02-01 16:49:26

deej wrote:

I take it that you have tried the "Edit -> Preferences -> Fonts" [ or wherever it is in Firefox ],
to manually adjust your fonts ?
Deej

I did just now. I set the "Minimum Font Size" to be a little bigger and now the fonts in GMail aren't so small. However, it seems like the wrong font is being used entirely. On Windows I like the font that GMail uses in Firefox, and I'm not sure what font that is. Perhaps I need to install more fonts onto my system for Gnome? Are there any font packages I can install through pacman?

defrysk · 2009-02-01 16:56:00

whenever you get on a page with too small fonts, just press ctrl and move your mouse-wheel up

deej · 2009-02-01 16:57:41

You can try:

pacman -S ttf-bitstream-vera ttf-ms-fonts ttf-dejavu ttf-freefont artwizfonts ttf-cheapskate

that should give you a fair selection !

Deej

defrysk · 2009-02-01 17:01:04

and ttf-liberation of course!

skottish · 2009-02-01 17:10:35

void.pointer wrote:

deej wrote:
I take it that you have tried the "Edit -> Preferences -> Fonts" [ or wherever it is in Firefox ],
to manually adjust your fonts ?
Deej
I did just now. I set the "Minimum Font Size" to be a little bigger and now the fonts in GMail aren't so small. However, it seems like the wrong font is being used entirely. On Windows I like the font that GMail uses in Firefox, and I'm not sure what font that is. Perhaps I need to install more fonts onto my system for Gnome? Are there any font packages I can install through pacman?

There's the check box on the 'Fonts' dialog under the 'Advanced' section that says "Allow pages to choose their own fonts, instead of my selections above". If that's selected and you don't have the fonts that the page is looking for, or the fonts are bitmap fonts and simply look like crap on Linux, the page won't render correctly. You can un-check that box to have more control.

void.pointer · 2009-02-04 04:57:45

I installed all of the suggested fonts above (with the exception of "artwizfonts" because pacman could not find that) and all fonts work wonderfully now! Thanks so much guys.

deej · 2009-02-04 12:28:40

My fault; it's 'artwiz-fonts'

Deej

void.pointer · 2009-02-04 15:48:30

That worked deej. Thank you again!

Arch Linux

#1 2009-01-31 08:29:29

[SOLVED] Gnome & Firefox: Fonts are too small

#2 2009-01-31 09:02:47

Re: [SOLVED] Gnome & Firefox: Fonts are too small

#3 2009-01-31 13:42:09

Re: [SOLVED] Gnome & Firefox: Fonts are too small

#4 2009-01-31 21:40:45

Re: [SOLVED] Gnome & Firefox: Fonts are too small

#5 2009-01-31 23:23:35

Re: [SOLVED] Gnome & Firefox: Fonts are too small

#6 2009-02-01 00:15:04

Re: [SOLVED] Gnome & Firefox: Fonts are too small

#7 2009-02-01 01:32:16

Re: [SOLVED] Gnome & Firefox: Fonts are too small

#8 2009-02-01 10:07:04

Re: [SOLVED] Gnome & Firefox: Fonts are too small

#9 2009-02-01 16:49:26

Re: [SOLVED] Gnome & Firefox: Fonts are too small

#10 2009-02-01 16:56:00

Re: [SOLVED] Gnome & Firefox: Fonts are too small

#11 2009-02-01 16:57:41

Re: [SOLVED] Gnome & Firefox: Fonts are too small

#12 2009-02-01 17:01:04

Re: [SOLVED] Gnome & Firefox: Fonts are too small

#13 2009-02-01 17:10:35

Re: [SOLVED] Gnome & Firefox: Fonts are too small

#14 2009-02-04 04:57:45

Re: [SOLVED] Gnome & Firefox: Fonts are too small

#15 2009-02-04 12:28:40

Re: [SOLVED] Gnome & Firefox: Fonts are too small

#16 2009-02-04 15:48:30

Re: [SOLVED] Gnome & Firefox: Fonts are too small

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