New font configuration. Are they better?

[bra|10n]

I went in search of 'Ubuntu font rendering' for Kubuntu and have applied a fix.
I use the Ubuntu font and I know it is slightly different (spacing a little wider= more natural) than before.

I'd like to do a comparison here.

Anyone using the Ubuntu font willing to post a screenshot of a page from the forums here?
cheers,

[bra|10n]

I think they are...



Larger image here

Link to config files here

If anyone wants to try this I'll happily run through the process with them.

[pnunn]

I'm willing to give it a go... I've downloaded the files, where to from here?

Peter.

[bra|10n]

Hi Peter,

Probably best to start with extracting freetype-infinality-2.4.9-20120403_02-x86_64.tar.bz2 in an empty folder and looking at the read me. Both downloads have a readme.

freetype-infinality.sh and infinality-settings.sh need to be put in /etc/profile_d. freetype-infinality-2.4.8-20111125_1.tar.bz2 can be extracted in /etc/fonts straight away.

Run 'xdpyinfo | grep resolution' in a konsole and set the output value in /etc/fonts/infinality.conf and /etc/profile_d/infinality-settings.sh. Leave all other options alone at this point.

In SystemSettings change font settings to match dpi and hinting (full). Do this for root also.

Run the following in a konsole and logout/login to apply changes.

. /etc/profile.d/infinality-settings.sh

Check .xsession-errors for listing of font errors. If there are it is likely due to the following line in freetype-infinality.sh (2 instances),

"/usr/lib64/libfreetype.so.6"

Change these to read,

"/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libfreetype.so.6"

There are many settings that can be tweaked but I find the defaults are sufficient improvement. You may have to up the font size to Ubuntu 10 for instance, where once it was 9.

Let me know how things work out.

[pnunn]

I'm a bit unclear about the patches, do I need to apply them first?

Peter.

[bra|10n]

I'm a bit unclear about the patches, do I need to apply them first?

Peter.

I understood from the background reading those scripts were part of the package anyway. I ignored them.

[pnunn]

I couldn't find any mention of resolution in any of the config files (must be blind) but pressed ahead anyway.

OK, I think the fonts are better, however, when I start a new terminal (as root particularly) I get


ERROR: ld.so: object '/usr/lib64/x86_64-linux-gnu/libfreetype.so.6' from LD_PRELOAD cannot be preloaded: ignored.

every time I try and do anything (such as tab complete etc) which is very annoying.

I have changed both instances of /usr/lib64... to /usr/lib/x86_64... but same issues still.

Should I have subdir's in the /etc/fonts directory or should I pull the files from the subdirs in the tar files into the top level directory?

Ta
Peter.

[bra|10n]

Should I have subdir's in the /etc/fonts directory or should I pull the files from the subdirs in the tar files into the top level directory?

No. If you copy freetype-infinality-2.4.8-20111125_1.tar.bz2 into /etc/fonts and extract it there all should be well. The readme has all this info and more.

After making the two path changes I dont have any errors here. Perhaps the above change will solve this. If not check the path changes you made again.

[pnunn]

Holdon.. should I be putting freetype-infinality into /etc/fonts? I thought was for /etc/profile.d and fontconfig-infinality was in /etc/fonts?

Peter.

[bra|10n]

Lets start fresh...

Extract freetype-infinality-2.4.9-20120403_02-x86_64.tar.bz2 into an empty folder.

Look for the following files,

infinality-settings.sh - Environment variables that need to be set.
This is the place to fine tune the rendering...
Suggested to save this file as:
/etc/profile.d/infinality-settings.sh

freetype-infinality.sh - This script will set the LD_PRELOAD environment
variable.
Suggested to save this file as:
/etc/profile.d/freetype-infinality.sh

So move infinality-settings.sh and freetype-infinality.sh into /etc/profile_d/.

Open freetype-infinality.sh and delete its contents and paste the following into the file;

PRELOAD=1; if [ -f /etc/sysconfig/fonts ]; then . /etc/sysconfig/fonts; fi; A1=`arch`; A2=x86_64; if [ "${A1:0:1}" = "${A2:0:1}" -a ! "$PRELOAD" = "0" ]; then ADDED=`/bin/echo $LD_PRELOAD | grep "/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libfreetype.so.6" | wc -l`; if [ "$ADDED" = "0" ]; then export LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libfreetype.so.6:$LD_PRELOAD ; fi; fi

Save and close.

Now copy fontconfig-infinality-1-20111223_2.tar.bz2 to /etc/fonts and extract the files. Now delete fontconfig-infinality-1-20111223_2.tar.bz2. Open /etc/fonts/infinality/infinality.conf in kate and set your dpi (line 34). Save and close.

Run the following in a terminal,

. /etc/profile.d/infinality-settings.sh

Logout and back in.

[pnunn]

Thats got it..

Anyone who doesn't do this has rocks in their head, the font rendering is SO much better. Thank you for your patience bra|10n.

One thing I did find is that I had to set the dpi to 96 (as I have it forced in my fonts) rather than the reported 144. I found I have an issue with the twin nvidia monitor setup in that if I don't force the font, when I connect the second monitor the fonts become huge for some reason (there fine on the laptop monitor alone).

Thanks again.

Peter.

[bra|10n]

You're welcome.
Glad you can see a noticable improvement.

While I haven't tried, reverting to the default font configuration should be just a matter of removing the installed infinality files I presume.

[SteveRiley]

Wow, what a difference. Good find!

[bra|10n]

The default setting is autohint=false. For those who wish to change this setting it can be found in /etc/fonts/infinality/infinality.conf.

[SteveRiley]

Yeah, saw that. I like how Infinality changes the appearances of fonts on my T520, with its 1920 x 1080 LCD. But on my X1, with its lower resolution 1366 x 768 panel, I prefer the default font appearance.

This is one of those things that is probably highly subjective, of course