:How can I fix this ?
:
:Thanks
:morse
First, tell Netscape to always use your fonts, overriding
document-specified fonts.
If that doesn't help, check /etc/X11/XF86Config, find the FontPath
listings. Rearrange them so that the 100dpi fonts appear before the
75dpi fonts in the list. Restart X.
What follows is Doug Holland's document titled "XFree86 Font
Deuglification HOWTO". I've lost the original link to this document,
so I hope the list will forgive the obnoxious use of bandwidth to send
the text herein.
Peace -d
---------------------------
XFree86 Font Deuglification HOW-TOXFree86 Font Deuglification Mini HOW-TO
Doug Holland, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Copyright © 1999, Doug Holland
Revision 0.12, last modified June 10, 1999
How to fix ugly and unreadable X Window font problems.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
1.1 Change Log
1.2 A Plea for Help
2. The XF86Config file
2.1 Setting the FontPath
3. X server command line options
4. TrueType fonts (one of the few things Windows is good for)
4.1 xfstt
4.1.1 Installation
4.1.2 Adjusting the default font size.
5. KDE
5.1 Applying KDE font & colors to non KDE apps.
6. Adjusting fonts in specific applications.
6.1 Netscape Navigator/Communicator
6.2 WordPerfect
6.3 StarOffice
7. Credits
8. Legalities
1. Introduction
One of the most annoying sets of problems I have had to deal with is the
abysmal default fonts and font settings of X (I'm talking specifically
about XFree86, other versions of X may be better.) Many programs use fixed
width default fonts when a variable width font would be more appropriate.
Other programs use fonts that are ridiculously tiny and unreadable. The
fonts that are bundled with XFree86 are barely adequate for the job. It
does come with a halfway decent courier font, but its Times and Helvetica
fonts are simple bitmap fonts that pixelize when they are scaled. Yuck!
This HOW-TO attempts to show how to adjust various font settings, install
new fonts, and do other things that will greatly improve the appearance
and readability of fonts on the X Window Desktop. This is done by
adjusting the FontPath in the XF86Config file, by adding switches to X
server command line in startx or xdm, by adding new fonts, by installing
the TrueType font server xfstt, and by using a feature in the K Desktop
Environment 1.1 that automagically adjusts font settings in many
applications, including non-KDE apps to set their fonts and colors to
match KDE's style settings.
Comments, corrections, additions and critiques are always welcome. You can
reach me at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
1.1 Change Log
0.1: Feb. 21, 1999: First release.
0.11: Feb. 27, 1999: Added copyright info to protect my butt.
0.12: Jun. 10, 1999: Added A Plea for Help.
1.2 A Plea for Help:
I would like to be able to distribute this document more widely on the
net. I've registered this HOW-TO with several web directories and search
engines, including the Open Directory Project, Yahoo, Alta-Vista, Google
and a bunch of others. However, I still get comments stating that the Font
Deuglification HOW-TO is difficult to find on the net. That's where I need
your help. I would like this HOW-TO on as many search engines and
directories as possible, and I would like to get in some popular Linux web
sites such as Freshmeat and the Linux Documentation Project. I would
really love it if this HOW-TO became a part of the official Linux
Documentation Project HOW-TO collection - it would bring Deuglification to
as many people as possible, but I haven't been able to contact the HOW-TO
maintainer. Any assistance or advice would be most appreciated.
I now return you to your regularly scheduled Deuglification. ;)
2. The XF86Config file
The first place to look when seeking to cure font problems is the
XF86Config file. (/usr/X11/lib/X11/XF86Config or /etc/X11/XF86Config are
the usual locations.) If you haven't guessed already, the most important
part of this file relating to fonts is the FontPath. Before we get into
that, this would be a good time to check the other parts of your X
configuration. Bad monitor settings can be even more of a headache than
bad fonts, so make sure your refresh rate is as high as your monitor can
handle (85 Hz is great, 75 Hz is OK, 60 Hz is painful.)
2.1 Setting the FontPath
Use your favorite text editor and edit XF86Config. Near the top of the
file, you should see something like this:
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc/"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Type1/"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Speedo/"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/"
The FontPath tells X where to find the fonts it uses to render text on
your display. Order is important -- when an X application asks X to render
some text, the X server usually has some leeway to choose the font that is
used. The X server then goes through the FontPath and grabs the first font
it sees that matches the X client's criteria, and then renders.
The default FontPath typically puts 75dpi fonts before the 100dpi fonts.
If you have a high resolution display, this means very tiny fonts. The
first tweak you'll use is to switch the 75dpi & 100dpi FontPath lines.
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc/"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Type1/"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Speedo/"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/"
Next, specify that you prefer to use unscaled bitmap fonts. If you've ever
used Netscape or any other program that displays titles using big fonts,
you'll notice that those fonts are pixelized. This is very ugly and needs
to be fixed. So add :unscaled to the ends of the misc, 100dpi & 75dpi
fonts. You can even use both unscaled and scaled fonts if you want, just
put the unscaled FontPath lines first to tell X you prefer unscaled fonts
if possible.
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Type1"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Speedo"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi"
After making these changes, restart X. Doesn't the desktop look better
already?
3. X server command line options
The next thing you need to do is adjust the command line options for the X
server. You'll want to use the -dpi switch which specifies the display
resolution in dots per inch. As a lot of systems use high resolution
displays these days, chances are they'll be working at 100 dpi.
If you start X from the console command prompt, type
startx -dpi 100.
If you use xdm for graphical logins, you'll want to edit your
/usr/X11/lib/X11/xdm/Xservers file, which will have the command line for
the Xserver in it. Mine has the line
:0 local /usr/X11R6/bin/X -dpi 100 -gamma 1.6
More information is in the X and Xserver man pages.
4. TrueType fonts (one of the few things Windows is good for)
Because the boys at Redmond are very concerned with the appearance of
their software (as opposed to the internal workings ;) they built TrueType
font support into Windows. Windows 95 and nearly every other variety of
Windows comes with Arial, Times New Roman, and Courier New, which are
roughly equivalant to Helvetica, Times and Courier. TrueType fonts are
scalable, so they look good in large sizes, and they are well hinted, so
they are readable at small sizes. Many windows applications come with
dozens of TrueType fonts. Don't microwave your Windows CD yet, you'll want
to get the fonts first.
4.1 xfstt
Unfortunately, XFree86 does not come with built in TrueType support, so
you'll have to add it yourself. The easiest way of doing this is with
xfstt, a free TrueType font server.
4.1.1 Installation
xfstt is very easy to install. First, you'll want to download the tarball
from the web. The most current version is at
http://metalab.unc.edu/pub/Linux/X11/fonts/Xfstt-0.9.10.tgz
Once you have the tarball, untar it.
tar -zxvf Xfstt-0.9.10.tgz
Then build it and install it. Read the INSTALL file for quick
instructions, but it's a no brainer. make; make install is all you have to
do. Once that's done, copy the TrueType fonts you've managed to get from
various sources to /usr/ttfonts, and you're ready to go. Start xfstt by
typing
xfstt --sync # updates xfstt's font database
xfstt & # runs xfstt in the background.
Then type
xset +fp unix/:7100 # tells X about xfstt.
or add
FontPath "unix/:7100"
to your XF86Config to tell X about the font service.
4.1.2 Adjusting the default font size.
If your TrueType fonts appear to be very tiny, the following commands
help.
Add the -dpi switch to your X server command line (see section 3 to do
this.)
Use the --res switch to tell xfstt to increase the default resolution. Use
the following command line.
xfstt --res 120
5. KDE
KDE is one of the best things that have happened to Linux and X in a long
time. It provides a consistent user interface that goes a long way towards
making Linux accessable to the average non-geek. More information about
KDE can be found at http://www.kde.org/. So why am I singing it's praises
here? This is because KDE 1.1 has a new feature that will make the fonts &
colors in your programs, including non-KDE applications consistent with
KDE's current style.
5.1 Applying KDE font & colors to non KDE apps.
This is very easy. Simply start up the KDE Control Center, go to Desktop,
and go to Style inside Desktop. In there, there will be a toggle switch
labled "Apply fonts and colors to non-KDE apps". Turn it on, click OK, and
your done! The next time you start up many X applications, they will use
the same colors and fonts that your KDE applications do. Some people may
like this feature better than others, but if you don't like it you can
always turn it off.
6. Adjusting fonts in specific applications:
6.1 Netscape Navigator/Communicator
Netscape Communicator is particularly susceptible to font problems. If
you're using the default FontPath, your fonts will be very tiny and very
ugly. The first thing you'll want to do is fix your XF86Config FontPath
(see section 2.) Using 100dpi fonts improves readability immensly. You'll
also want check your font settings under Edit/Preferences, under
Appearance/Fonts. To get rid of bitmap font pixelization, turn off the
option "Allow Scaling" on the font selection.
If you have xfstt, Netscape is perfectly capable of using TrueType fonts.
However, it doesn't handle xfstt's quirkiness very gracefully. In
Edit/Preferences, you can specify TrueType fonts as the variable and fixed
width fonts, however Netscape will not remember the size you've picked
after you closed it. If you haven't used the -dpi switch when starting the
X server or used the --res switch in xfstt, you'll get very tiny fonts.
Once I applied these two fixes, TrueType fonts work great.
6.2 WordPerfect
Coming soon.
6.3 StarOffice
Coming soon.
7. Credits
Created by Doug Holland
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
WWW: http://www.frii.com/~meldroc
Thanks go to:
Hilary, my girlfriend, who endured my long hours of geeking out in front
of the computer and for being the best friend I could ever have.
The folks at comp.os.linux.x who gave me a hand in figuring all of this
out in the first place.
The Linux community in general who made all of this possible in the
first place.
Microsoft and Apple: for providing the fonts that adorn my desktop.
8. Legalities
Copyright © 1999 by Doug Holland.
Unless otherwise stated, Linux HOWTO documents are copyrighted by their
respective authors. Linux HOWTO documents may be reproduced and
distributed in whole or in part, in any medium physical or electronic, as
long as this copyright notice is retained on all copies. Commercial
redistribution is allowed and encouraged; however, the author would like
to be notified of any such distributions.
All translations, derivative works, or aggregate works incorporating any
Linux HOWTO documents must be covered under this copyright notice. That
is, you may not produce a derivative work from a HOWTO and impose
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be granted under certain conditions; please contact the Linux HOWTO
coordinator for more information.
In short, we wish to promote dissemination of this information through as
many channels as possible. However, we do wish to retain copyright on the
HOWTO documents, and would very much like to be notified of any plans to
redistribute the HOWTOs, this one in particular! Web page authors are free
to link to this HOWTO without restriction, though the author would
appreciate an email informing him of this, just so he can boost his ego by
knowing who else reads and links to this document.
Many of the terms mentioned in this document are trade names. Unless
otherwise stated, all trademarks are property of their respective owners.
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