Font and display inconsistency between two users on same machine

[IlyaG-X]

I have two user accounts on this machine. This problem is particularly noticed when browsing the web in Google Chrome (though I'm not sure if this a Chrome-only problem, so I'm posting this here). My distro is Kubuntu, but all my user accounts were switched to Gnome after some time was spent using KDE.

Basically, I have the same font and display settings set up on both user accounts, but the fonts are not showing up the same. I'm not sure if at some point a long time ago I did something on one account that I never did on another to change something (maybe while using KDE?), but either way I can't seem to find any difference in any of the settings, yet the display is still different.

This is easier explained with screenshots.

1st user account:
http://i.imgur.com/iQ0up.png

2nd user account:
http://i.imgur.com/rTwxh.png

Note how the fonts appear bold and not bold, note the different appearance of the (c) character on the webpage, and note the size of the "Google" image is different.

For Chrome settings, both are set at 100% zoom, so this is not an issue of scale. Both user accounts are also set at 1600x900 resolution. Notice that the Google Chrome fonts are both set exactly the same, as are the Gnome system fonts.

Does anybody have a clue what I'm forgetting to check here? I believe the 2nd user account is the correct one, and the 1st one is wrong, since it clearly looks uglier.

[Snowhog]

Re: Font and display inconsistency between two users on same machine

I deleted your other 'duplicate' post. Duplicates are not acceptable here in KFN (or most other Forums). Pick a board to post in and post. If any Moderator feels it was posted in the wrong board, or would be better addressed in another, it will be moved for you.

When a font issue is seen on the same PC, in the same OS, on the same desktop environment, by different 'users', I'm strongly inclined to look at the affected font(s) and how they were installed. What you didn't tell us is what font(s) are affected. If the affected font(s) are not default fonts, but were 'added' to the OS, then in order for them to be available to 'all users' they would have to have been identified as 'System fonts' and not 'Personal fonts.'

Identify the affected font(s). While logged in as the user who doesn't have the problem, check the font to see if it is a 'System font' or a 'Personal font.' If it's 'Personal' then change it to 'System' and then logout and restart your PC, login as the other user and see if the problem goes away.

[IlyaG-X]

Re: Font and display inconsistency between two users on same machine

I know that the two user accounts are clearly showing a different font. What I don't know is which font is which, since they're showing up under identical font names, so this kind of identification would be quite tricky, unless you or someone else here can look at the characters and say, "It's so-and-so font in this screenshot, and so-and-so font in that one."

On the issue of "personal" fonts versus "system" fonts, I never knew there was such a distinction, so I have no idea how to check this. Any help on this would be appreciated, as well as on how to change the fonts from one classification to the other.

And on a final note, notice that the size of the Google logo is different, despite the fact that both user accounts use the same screen resolution, and there are no apparent settings differences. Would that be somehow tied into this same font problem, or is this a different issue?

[oblivion]

Re: Font and display inconsistency between two users on same machine

I know that the two user accounts are clearly showing a different font. What I don't know is which font is which, since they're showing up under identical font names, so this kind of identification would be quite tricky, unless you or someone else here can look at the characters and say, "It's so-and-so font in this screenshot, and so-and-so font in that one."

On the issue of "personal" fonts versus "system" fonts, I never knew there was such a distinction, so I have no idea how to check this. Any help on this would be appreciated, as well as on how to change the fonts from one classification to the other.

And on a final note, notice that the size of the Google logo is different, despite the fact that both user accounts use the same screen resolution, and there are no apparent settings differences. Would that be somehow tied into this same font problem, or is this a different issue?

Hi,

I'm not 100% sure, but from the screenshots you have provided, it seems that the font "auto hinting" levels are different for each user. Did you check the font autohinting settings? You can access it via the "Details..." button on the right bottom.

Regards.

[IlyaG-X]

Re: Font and display inconsistency between two users on same machine

Hi,

I'm not 100% sure, but from the screenshots you have provided, it seems that the font "auto hinting" levels are different for each user. Did you check the font autohinting settings? You can access it via the "Details..." button on the right bottom.

Regards.

Both are the same. Smoothing is set to "subpixel", hinting set to "slight", and resolution is 96 dpi on both user accounts.

[IlyaG-X]

Re: Font and display inconsistency between two users on same machine

After many months of Gnome usage (with many reboots, etc), I set the user account with this problem to log into KDE. Then I logged out and logged back in, this time using Gnome. This caused the problem I initially described to solve itself, and the fonts began to display exactly as they do on my other user account.

This is clearly a bug, not any kind of a settings issue. Unfortunately, because I have no idea why this happened in the first place, it would be useless for me to try to submit a worthwhile bug report, so this issue will probably remain not fixed. But if any other users with multiple accounts are reading this and experiencing this same unique situation, if you see font problems on Kubuntu after installing and switching to Gnome desktop, try to fix it by logging in with KDE, logging out, and then logging back in with Gnome. Worked for me.