Fonts in Precise Puppy are thin and hard to read

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Robin2 · #1 Post by **Robin2** » Sat 17 Jan 2015, 18:31

I have only discovered Puppy very recently and I was very impressed with how easy it was to get it working on an old Asus EEE.

I am considering using it on my regular netbook in place of Xubuntu (which I have been using for a few years).

However the way fonts are rendered looks like being a deal breaker. I have prepared a small image showing the Puppy page in Firefox. The sample on the left is from Puppy and on the right from Xubuntu. To my eyes the Xubuntu text is much thicker and easier to read. The same problem arises everywhere in Puppy - not just in Firefox. Reading the screen for any length of time is very tiring.

I added the Microsoft Arial font to Puppy but it is also shown in the same thin style.

Is there any way to make Puppy show all its fonts in the more solid style that Xubuntu uses?

...R

#2 Post by **Flash** » Sat 17 Jan 2015, 19:38

I'm not familiar with Firefox but most browsers allow you to set the font that will be used to display web pages completely independent of the operating system. In SeaMonkey, for instance, I can play around with fonts by going to Edit -> Preferences -> Appearance -> Fonts.

Robin2 · #3 Post by **Robin2** » Sat 17 Jan 2015, 19:44

Sorry - I seem to have made a mistake in the original title (now corrected).

This is not a Firefox problem - it exists in every piece of software I have tried in Puppy.

And selecting different fonts changes the shape of the characters but they are all still very thin (and tiring for my eyes) compared with how they appear in Xubuntu.

...R

rokytnji · #4 Post by **rokytnji** » Sat 17 Jan 2015, 19:55

Maybe?

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=70952

Maybe Not? Not sure myself.

Just for Info. In seamonkey I use

http://barisderin.com/?p=286

I just change everything into bold using it.
http://postmyimage.com/img2/477_Sc.png

I guess you are having a hard time finding the bold settings in Puppy. I know in Tahr. I made the text on Icons bold by right click on icons and picking options>fonts and finding bold in there.

Global font changing in puppy I have not tackled yet.

Fossil · #5 Post by **Fossil** » Sat 17 Jan 2015, 20:01

Robin2. Welcome to the forum. There was a very similar topic to this one just a week or so ago.
http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=97223 As Flash said, it is easy to make a special font selection in your browser by going to Edit, Preferences, Fonts, and by setting those fonts you feel best suited with, and stipulating minimum size.
Incidentally, Which Puppy variant are you using? Size of monitor - resolution? Is it the Asus EEE graphics card?
Sorry, just caught your addendum. Every piece of software? Have you tried setting the global font size?

april · #6 Post by **april** » Sat 17 Jan 2015, 20:39

Desktop-.set global font size first then I find I have to look at each application and select the "Bold" option . It can be difficult but if you find the "preferences " file for each App its usually in there.

mikeb · #7 Post by **mikeb** » Sat 17 Jan 2015, 20:40

hmm looks a bit like antialiasing or pixel/subpixel hinting....or the lack of it to be more exact.
Not sure how thats handled in puppy since xfce4 does it for me.

Mike

yerc1 · #8 Post by **yerc1** » Sat 17 Jan 2015, 20:41

Robin2 wrote:This is not a Firefox problem - it exists in every piece of software I have tried in Puppy.

And selecting different fonts changes the shape of the characters but they are all still very thin (and tiring for my eyes) compared with how they appear in Xubuntu.

...R

It appears (and I can be wrong) most puppy users prefer thin font rendering.
I prefer my fonts to be rendered wider.
The way I do it is to turn on antialiasing, and while I'm there I also tick hinting which I set to zero (you can try a higher number that suits your preference).
You need to restart x-server after the change.

In Tahr 6, the option is in Font Manager.
My favorite puppies - Saluki, Carolinas, and X-Slackos - have them elsewhere and so with other derivatives.

This change has a global effect (i.e. applies to menus, fonts within apps, etc)

Edit: mikeb was quicker on the Submit button

mikeb · #9 Post by **mikeb** » Sat 17 Jan 2015, 20:42

great minds eh...well it took years to get non bitmap font usage added so I guess thin is the current vogue

mike

don570 · #10 Post by **don570** » Sat 17 Jan 2015, 20:49

Barry K is using a bigger point size in April64

http://ftp.nluug.nl/os/Linux/distr/quir ... pril-6.92/
____________________________________________

rokytnji · #11 Post by **rokytnji** » Sat 17 Jan 2015, 21:22

Now the OP has me wondering. No apply button. Plus. Hitting close after changes and restarting Xserver just reverts back to previous settings?

Edit: Fixed via Menu>Desktop>CHTheme GTK/QT theme chooser

I have everything else tweaked in OK though in Browser and Icons text.

Keisha · #12 Post by **Keisha** » Sat 17 Jan 2015, 21:33

In Quirky Unicorn there is a small utility for turning on anti-aliasing, hinting, and automatic hinting, it is in the main menu under Desktop-->Fontwizard.

If that doesn't do it,...I have found that it is possible to transplant-in the Infinality-Ultimate font rendering package, which originally appeared in Arch Linux. This gives Puppy far superior font rendering across all applications. But the process is not straightforward. In particular, since it swaps in a new version of libcairo, it messes up X in most Puppy versions. But by compiling it from scratch I have succeeded in installing it in both upup-3.9.9.1 and Quirky Unicorn.

If you tell me which Puppy you are using, maybe I can gin up a .pet package for you.

Also, what is the url of the page you display in your original post?

Robin2 · #13 Post by **Robin2** » Sat 17 Jan 2015, 21:38

Some improvement has been achieved.

I tried one of the fonts recommended by @rokytnji - that was certainly better

Then I added the code from this Thread to my /etc/fonts/local.conf and that made a bigger improvement for most of the text in menus and such - including the Firefox menus.

The text in Firefox iteself (including this edit) is still too small and thin.

Thanks for all the contributions. More ideas will be welcome.

And, sorry, but I should have said I am using Puppy Precise.

...R

mikeb · #14 Post by **mikeb** » Sat 17 Jan 2015, 21:46

Ugly firefox fonts...make sure this is uncommented in /etc/fonts/fonts.conf


<selectfont>
<rejectfont>
<pattern>
<patelt name="scalable"><bool>false</bool></patelt>
</pattern>
</rejectfont>
</selectfont>

with the right settings fonts are fat and smooth...no workarounds needed ... an on off topic for the last 8 years here...

mike

Keisha · #15 Post by **Keisha** » Sun 18 Jan 2015, 01:12

Robin2 wrote:...And, sorry, but I should have said I am using Puppy Precise....

That narrows it down somewhat, but I need exact identification. What is the name of the .iso you downloaded?

e.g.

precise-5.7.1-retro.iso
precise-5.7.1.iso

?

trapster · #16 Post by **trapster** » Sun 18 Jan 2015, 12:15

Older thread but,

'Sit Heel Speak' knows fonts

Robin2 · #17 Post by **Robin2** » Sun 18 Jan 2015, 12:28

I'm using Precise 5.7.1, not the Retro version.

I had the settings that @mikeb suggested - though mine was in /etc/fonts/local.conf
I have now commented them out and restarted X server and can see no difference.

I have been wondering what Firefox does if the expected font does not exist? There are far fewer fonts installed in my Puppy compared to Xubuntu.

Maybe there is some way to tell Firefox to act differently?

I have just checked and the same web pages are much easier to read using SeaMonkey - but it does not have firebug.

All of this "hard to read" issue was not helped by the fact that, by delault, Puppy does not operate my screen at full brightness. It took me a while to spot that (pun intended) and increase the brightness manually.

...R

Keisha · #18 Post by **Keisha** » Sun 18 Jan 2015, 12:29

trapster wrote:Older thread but,

'Sit Heel Speak' knows fonts

I met him at a local Linux Users Group ...mm, I guess between two and three years ago, and heard him tell another fellow to just ignore all the advice he had given on the Puppy Linux forum, because it's all outdated, and instead just go ahead and install Arch Linux and bohoomil's Infinality Ultimate fonting package.

Well, I haven't used Arch, but I have compiled Infinality Ultimate on both upup-3.9.9.1 and Quirky Unicorn and I must say, I can't imagine fonting being any better.

mikeb · #19 Post by **mikeb** » Sun 18 Jan 2015, 13:17

I had the settings that @mikeb suggested - though mine was in /etc/fonts/local.conf
I have now commented them out and restarted X server and can see no difference.

was just a check as sometimes its disabled ..it should be on.

Pretty sure its hinting and antialiasing thats the problem here.

By the way I sorted out puppy fonts when I started using slax/nimblex and noticed how good they were.... comparing the 2 got things sorted but my pups were usually better anyway since i used xfce4...they seemed to handle font handling better.
You don't need to add any fonts if its done right...even the old bitstream veras pup used to have could look nice.

Other thought is using vesa/xvesa may make make fonts look poor too.
In other words this problem could be one or more of several causes.

mike

Moat · #20 Post by **Moat** » Sun 18 Jan 2015, 15:13

Menu>Desktop>Fontwizard...?

Bob

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Fonts in Precise Puppy are thin and hard to read

Fonts in Precise Puppy are thin and hard to read

re: Fonts in Puppy are thin and hard to read

(query on which version of Precise Robin2 is using)