[SOLVED] Fonts Issue after Current Update on 20101114

Jack128 · 11-15-2010, 11:28 PM

Hello,
I just upgraded my Current64 box, and now I got strange
Sans Serif fonts, Devaju Sans seems to be the same, if
I change it on the KDE settings. The really strange thing
is, I had run latest X.Org-Testing from Robby, so the font-
versions are equal. I run KDE 4.5.3, alienbob's build, and
Multilib current stage.

Thanks for any kind of infos. =)
Regards, Jack.

Daedra · 11-15-2010, 11:34 PM

Maybe the update changed your font DPI? edit /usr/bin/startx and add the line defaultserverargs="-dpi 96" and see if that fixes the problem.

stormtracknole · 11-16-2010, 12:28 AM

Try reverting back to the previous freetype package and see if that helps.

55020 · 11-16-2010, 06:24 AM

Don't revert the freetype package. The general idea of reverting the freetype package is to go back to autohints, but you can tell the new freetype package to autohint with just --

Code:

cd /etc/fonts/conf.d
ln -s ../fonts.avail/10-autohint.conf .

You probably also want to do this, particularly if you previously installed webcore-fonts from SBo --

Code:

rm 60-liberation.conf

It'll all take effect when you restart X. Either log out and log in again, or reboot if you're uncertain :-)

stormtracknole · 11-16-2010, 06:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 55020

Don't revert the freetype package. The general idea of reverting the freetype package is to go back to autohints, but you can tell the new freetype package to autohint with just --

Code:

cd /etc/fonts/conf.d
ln -s ../fonts.avail/10-autohint.conf .

You probably also want to do this, particularly if you previously installed webcore-fonts from SBo --

Code:

rm 60-liberation.conf

It'll all take effect when you restart X. Either log out and log in again, or reboot if you're uncertain :-)

Good info!! I will have to try that also since I reverted freetype as a temporary solution.

bender647 · 11-16-2010, 06:58 AM

It's amazing what an effect autohinting has: I thought fontconfig was completely ignoring my font choices but they just looked like crap.

Adding the following stanza to my ~/.fonts.conf file restored autohinting. I copied this from /etc/fonts/conf.avail/10-autohint.conf (I prefer to make aesthetic changes in my own directory rather than force them on everybody).

Code:

<fontconfig>
<!--  Use the Autohinter --> 
  <match target="font">
    <edit name="autohint" mode="assign"><bool>true</bool></edit>
  </match>
</fontconfig>

Jack128 · 11-16-2010, 08:26 AM

Big thanks to everyone, for the fast help. =)
55020's solution worked quite well, now
it's looking good, such as before the update.

Best regards,
Jack.

GazL · 11-16-2010, 09:59 AM

I've just been working through some of the options in XFCE's appearance settings which is a good way to see which fonts look good with various settings of anti-alias, hinting, and sub-pixel order. Some of the fonts really don't do well with some of the combinations you can set.

I used to use DejaVu Sans as I've always liked the way it looks, but it seems to be missing a 'regular' style now and I can't get a decent display with it no matter what combination of settings I use.

Liberation Sans 10, anti-aliased, slight hinting, subpixel-none seems to be working reasonably for me at the moment. If I turn hinting up to medium or high, bold text looks better but normal text gets a little too thin for my liking.

Now, I just need to see if I can adjust the fonts/conf.d to use similar settings outside of XFCE.

veeall · 12-09-2010, 01:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 55020

ln -s ../fonts.avail/10-autohint.conf .

The directory should probably be /etc/fonts/conf.avail/ - nevertheless downgrading freetype worked better here since it also reverted opera menu fonts to look normal.

Here are couple of screenshots. With the new freetype:
http://www.upload.ee/image/973444/pilt1.png

With freetype from slack 13.1:
http://www.upload.ee/image/973445/pilt2.png

IMHO, the last one is much better. At 96 dpi, when using font sizes above 8 pt, the new fonts doesn't look as horribly hinted as at 8 pt, though.

lemmens · 02-11-2011, 09:20 AM

Thanks a lot for this nice (auto) hint :-)

I installed Slack current and searched for a day why my (KDE) fonts suddenly looked so ugly. But when I stumbled upon this thread and just did the following (as root) :

cd /etc/fonts/conf.d
ln -s ../conf.avail/10-autohint.conf .

everything worked perfectly well again and my fonts are just as nice as before !

Kees L