SuSE 9.3 - APT update - problems with fonts antialiasing
Hi, I know that this list is not for such questions. But excuse me, cant find list that could help me. I think problem is with freetype2 package. After this package has been updated I have antialiasing problem. When I downgrade to previous freetype2 version problems still stay with small fonts. Or could it be some other problems? Maybe someone has correct freetype2 package? Please help. Audrius
AV
I know that this list is not for such questions. But excuse me, cant find list that could help me. I think problem is with freetype2 package. After this package has been updated I have antialiasing problem. When I downgrade to previous freetype2 version problems still stay with small fonts. Or could it be some other problems? Maybe someone has correct freetype2 package?
From where did you get the freetype2 and fontconfig packages? Which versions? And what are the last changelog entries?
Please check the changelogs with
rpm -q --changelog freetype2
rpm -q --changelog fontconfig
--
Mike FABIAN
Mike FABIAN wrote:
AV
さんは書きました: I know that this list is not for such questions. But excuse me, cant find list that could help me. I think problem is with freetype2 package. After this package has been updated I have antialiasing problem. When I downgrade to previous freetype2 version problems still stay with small fonts. Or could it be some other problems? Maybe someone has correct freetype2 package?
From where did you get the freetype2 and fontconfig packages?
APT upgrade Apt list file # # Repository created by: aptate (version 0.69.2) # At: Tue Apr 26 06:09:56 MEST 2005 # More info about aptate at: http://apt4rpm.sourceforge.net # rpm ftp://ftp.gwdg.de/pub/linux/suse/apt SuSE/9.3-i386 packman packman-i686 rpmkeys base update kde x-ati mozilla samba3 suser-rbos suser-jengelh suser-oc2pus suser-guru suser-gbv usr-local-bin suser-scorot suser-jogley suse-people suse-projects security # rpm-src ftp://ftp.gwdg.de/pub/linux/suse/apt SuSE/9.3-i386 packman packman-i686 rpmkeys base update-drpm update-prpm update kde x-ati mozilla samba3 suser-rbos suser-jengelh suser-oc2pus suser-guru suser-gbv usr-local-bin suser-scorot suser-jogley kernel-of-the-day suse-people suse-projects security-prpm security
Which versions?
Now I have freetype2-2.1.10-2.1 fontconfig-2.3.2.20050721-1.1
And what are the last changelog entries?
Please check the changelogs with
rpm -q --changelog freetype2
* Tr Lie 20 2005 - mfabian@suse.de - Bugzilla #97202: apply workaround to avoid crashing the Xserver. I need to disable FT_OPTIMIZE_MEMORY again to apply that workaround. * An Lie 19 2005 - mfabian@suse.de - enable FT_OPTIMIZE_MEMORY. - enable the byte code interpreter again. * An Lie 12 2005 - mfabian@suse.de - update to 2.1.10. + fixes serious bug introduced in 2.1.8 which caused many distortions for TrueType fonts + amount of heap memory used is drastically reduced For more details see /usr/share/doc/packages/freetype2/CHANGES. - disable freetype-autohint-cjkfonts.patch for the moment, the auto-hinter has been replaced with a new module called the 'auto-fitter' which is "prepared better to support non-latin1 scripts in next releases". Currently the rendering quality of CJK fonts seems to have suffered though compared to 2.1.9 with the freetype-autohint-cjkfonts.patch.
rpm -q --changelog fontconfig
* Pn Lie 22 2005 - mfabian@suse.de - Bugzilla #64424: "Bytecodeinterpreter in freetype2 - wieso ausgeschaltet?" The byte code interpreter is enabled now at build time in our freetype2 package. Setup the defaults in /etc/fonts to use black and white rendering (antialias=false) and the byte code interpreter (autohint=false) for a few fonts which are known to have high quality byte code instructions. Set antialias=true and autohint=true as the default for all other fonts. * Kt Lie 21 2005 - mfabian@suse.de - update to 2.3.2.20050721. - Bugzilla #52167: "fc-list reports inconsistent spacing values for some fonts": add a patch to improve the detection of monospaced fonts: ignore glyphs with advance=0 when detecting monospaced fonts and add a special exception for "Luxi Mono" and "Nimbus Mono L". * Tr Lie 20 2005 - mfabian@suse.de - Bugzilla #94110: add more directories to the default font path. * An Lie 12 2005 - mfabian@suse.de - update to 2.3.2.20050712 + remove ka.orth.patch, now included. * Tr Bir 29 2005 - sbrabec@suse.cz - Added expat to fontconfig-devel to make the .la checker easier. * Pn Geg 20 2005 - mfabian@suse.de - Fix ka.orth (Georgian), it apparently requires too many characters which are not really used for Georgian. - Add BPG fonts (for Georgian) to the preference lists. * Kt Kov 17 2005 - mfabian@suse.de - add Sazanami and IPA fonts to suse-generic-names.conf. * Pn Kov 11 2005 - mfabian@suse.de - Bugzilla #66498 again: the last change wasn't a good idea after all. The design of the embedded bitmaps is quite bad in some sizes, especially the Japanese katakana look extremely ugly. Therefore it is better not to use the embedded bitmaps during the installation. I added a special /etc/fonts/local.conf.instsys file which should be copied to /etc/fonts/local.conf only for the installation and which is not used in the installed system. * Kt Kov 03 2005 - mfabian@suse.de - Bugzilla #66498: use embedded bitmaps for Korean and Japanese as well, not only for Chinese as before to get readable Japanese and Chinese during the installation. The Latin fonts we currently use during the installation are smaller as before. With the Gnu Unifont currently used for CJK, this leads to clipping problems because this bitmap font cannot scale to a smaller size. When using TrueType fonts like FZSongTi for CJK, the clipping problems disappear because the font can scale down. But in such a tiny size, Japanese or Chinese is almost unreadable with Anti-Aliasing. It's better readable with the embedded bitmaps. * Pr Vas 21 2005 - mfabian@suse.de - re-enable bitmap fonts. * Pn Vas 18 2005 - mfabian@suse.de - update to 2.2.99.20050218. * An Vas 01 2005 - meissner@suse.de - package now adds -fno-strict-aliasing by itself. - added sentinel valist markup for 2 functions. * Kt Sau 13 2005 - mfabian@suse.de - add entries for preferred fonts for Farsi (Persian): Terafik -> sans-serif, monospaced, Nazil -> serif.
AV
rpm -q --changelog fontconfig
* Pn Lie 22 2005 - mfabian@suse.de
- Bugzilla #64424: "Bytecodeinterpreter in freetype2 - wieso ausgeschaltet?" The byte code interpreter is enabled now at build time in our freetype2 package. Setup the defaults in /etc/fonts to use black and white rendering (antialias=false) and the byte code interpreter (autohint=false) for a few fonts which are known to have high quality byte code instructions. Set antialias=true and autohint=true as the default for all other fonts.
That is the relevant changelog entry.
If you look into /etc/fonts/suse-pre-user.conf you will find something
like this,
<match target="font">
<test name="family">
<string>Andale Mono</string>
<string>Arial</string>
<string>Comic Sans MS</string>
<string>Georgia</string>
<string>Impact</string>
<string>Trebuchet MS</string>
<string>Verdana</string>
<string>Courier New</string>
<string>Times New Roman</string>
<string>Tahoma</string>
<string>Webdings</string>
<string>Albany AMT</string>
<string>Thorndale AMT</string>
<string>Cumberland AMT</string>
</test>
<test name="pixelsize" compare="less_eq">
<double>18</double>
</test>
<edit name="autohint">
<bool>false</bool>
</edit>
<edit name="antialias">
<bool>false</bool>
</edit>
</match>
I.e. a short list of fonts which are known to have good byte code are
rendered by default in black and white (no antialiasing) and without
the autohinter (i.e. using the byte code interpreter) for sizes below
18 pixels.
This gives a bitmap look and feel if you have the agfa-fonts package
and/or the Microsoft Webfonts installed.
The quality of the black and white rendering for these fonts is very
good, as good as good bitmap fonts. But only if you use a freetype
package which has the byte code interpreter enabled.
The latest freetype2 package you got with your update has
the byte code interpreter enabled. By downgrading it you
got a freetype2 package without the byte code interpreter
again, which means the black and white rendering will be very
bad even for fonts with good byte code.
I was asked to set the defaults like this by a few people who dislike
the antialiasing very much, so much that they claim it is unusable.
These users prefer a bitmap look and feel, which can be achieved
with the above settings.
But apparently most users (me included) prefer the anti-aliasing,
even when high quality black and white rendering is possible.
Therefore I disabled the above rule by default again by setting the
pixelsize limit to '0'. Users who want ot enable it can copy that rule
into their ~/.fonts.conf and use a non-zero pixelsize.
If you want to make sure that you are always using the autohinter
and always using anti-aliasing, you can put the following
into your ~/.fonts.conf:
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE fontconfig SYSTEM "/etc/fonts/fonts.dtd">
<fontconfig>
<match target="font">
<edit name="autohint">
<bool>true</bool>
</edit>
<edit name="antialias">
<bool>true</bool>
</edit>
</match>
</fontconfig>
As I wrote above, I disabled this black and white rendering again and
the relevant part of /etc/fonts/suse-pre-user.conf now looks like this
in the current development version of SuSE Linux 10.0:
<!-- ************************************************************ -->
<!-- Hinting and antialiasing -->
<!-- ************************************************************ -->
<!--
Fonts which have high quality byte code interpreter instructions
can look very good in small sizes when rendered in black and white
(antialias=false) using the byte code interpreter (autohint=false).
The results look as good as high quality bitmap fonts.
On the other hand, most Fonts do not have good byte code interpreter
instructions and look *very* ugly when rendered like this.
I.e. for most fonts autohint=true and antialias=true gives best
results.
For fonts which do have good byte code instructions, it seems
to be a matter of taste. Most users apparently do not like the
bitmaps no matter how good they are and prefer to render
these fonts with anti-aliasing as well.
When rendering fonts which do have good byte code with anti-aliasing
(antialias=true), the byte code apparently doesn't help much, to
the contrary, it produces strange rendering artifacts.
Therefore it is usually better to always use the autohinter (autohint=true)
when rendering with anti-aliasing.
-->
<!--
Using the autohinter and anti-aliasing.
This is a good default for most fonts.
-->
<match target="font">
<edit name="autohint">
<bool>true</bool>
</edit>
<edit name="antialias">
<bool>true</bool>
</edit>
</match>
<!--
The following rule sets up black and white rendering with
the byte code interpreter for a small list of fonts which
are known to have good byte code and give bitmap quality
results at small sizes.
The pixelsize limit is set to '0' though, which effectively
disables this rule by default because most users don't like
that bitmap look and feel.
If you like a bitmap look and feel of your desktop,
copy this rule into your ~/.fonts.conf file and replace the '0'
with non-zero pixelsize limit. Using '18' as the pixelsize
limit is a good choice if you have the fonts in this list installed
and like a bitmap look and feel.
-->
<match target="font">
<test name="family">
<string>Andale Mono</string>
<string>Arial</string>
<string>Comic Sans MS</string>
<string>Georgia</string>
<string>Impact</string>
<string>Trebuchet MS</string>
<string>Verdana</string>
<string>Courier New</string>
<string>Times New Roman</string>
<string>Tahoma</string>
<string>Webdings</string>
<string>Albany AMT</string>
<string>Thorndale AMT</string>
<string>Cumberland AMT</string>
</test>
<test name="pixelsize" compare="less_eq">
<double>0</double> <!-- use a non-zero pixel size to enable this rule -->
</test>
<edit name="autohint">
<bool>false</bool>
</edit>
<edit name="antialias">
<bool>false</bool>
</edit>
</match>
--
Mike FABIAN
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AV
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Mike FABIAN