finally i got fonts beautiful

ancient_archer · 2011-08-30 23:23:35

Hey guys!

In fact, fonts in default settings were looking ugly to me and that was in fact the only thing that put me off using Arch on my notebook. Now, I discovered how to render them nice.
For everyone who had problems to get fonts as smooth and nice as in Ubuntu, it is really simple:

1. install ttf-dejavu from pacman and ttf-ms-fonts from Yaourt, preferably ttf-ubuntu-font-family from Yaourt too
2. install these packages from Yaourt: freetype2-ubuntu fontconfig-ubuntu libxft-ubuntu cairo-ubuntu
3. In Gnome shell, set the hinting to slight and antialiasing to rgba (you must first install gnome-tweak-tool from Yaourt) and in KDE set antialiasing set it to RGB too
4. In Gnome shell, set default font to Ubuntu or Sans via Gnome tweak tool (IMHO, Cantarell doesn't look good). In KDE, I suggest using Ubuntu 10 font especially for menu.
5. If installing Vista fonts (yaourt -S ttf-vista-fonts), then add these lines to /etc/fonts/fonts.conf and ~/.fonts.conf:

<match target="font">
        <edit name="embeddedbitmap" mode="assign">
            <bool>false</bool>
        </edit>
    </match>

Now, fonts should look beautiful.
PS: If installing Tahoma, it may alter font settings in Opera, so if u don't like it, don't install it or use workarounds.

Last edited by ancient_archer (2011-09-01 09:36:22)

Inxsible · 2011-08-31 00:27:35

This type of post is better suited in the appropriate wiki page. Threads tend to get lost in the horde. Wiki pages are easily accessible. I would request you to add the information to the appropriate wiki page if it doesn't already exist.

ancient_archer · 2011-08-31 19:16:37

Well, there is an entry in a Wiki article (Font configuration) about the configs https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Font_Configuration
I just wanted to point out that no other additional configuration is available except for setting the antialiasing to rgb and hinting to slight.
First, when I tried to configurate fonts like this some time ago, I edited fonts.conf according to some forum threads here and it was not good.
So the Wiki article is there. If you want, you may set this thread as sticky.

Last edited by ancient_archer (2011-09-01 10:03:35)

graysky · 2011-08-31 21:20:09

Odd, I can see no difference with sub-pixel order settings of, none, rgb or bgr. I guess it depends on your display.

EDIT: Yep, xfce appearance app says "Font quality on a TFT or LCD can be greatly improved by choosing the correct subpixel order of the screen." So perhaps not universally true, but good to know!

Last edited by graysky (2011-08-31 21:21:35)

ancient_archer · 2011-09-01 10:03:08

I think it depends on the type of monitor you have. On CRT displays, I can hardly see any difference. On LCD displays however, I can especially in KDE see the difference between various subpixel renderings. In some subpixel renderings, the fonts don't look good, they are blueish or yellowish. On the others, they look fine.

Arch Linux

#1 2011-08-30 23:23:35

finally i got fonts beautiful

#2 2011-08-31 00:27:35

Re: finally i got fonts beautiful

#3 2011-08-31 19:16:37

Re: finally i got fonts beautiful

#4 2011-08-31 21:20:09

Re: finally i got fonts beautiful

#5 2011-09-01 10:03:08

Re: finally i got fonts beautiful

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