Re: [Freetype] Arial.ttf with no anti-aliasing problem...

[Brian Stell]

thanks for the tip!

If FreeType2 is compiled with TrueType hinting off because
of patent issues are the values in the GASP table still
useful?

Michael Jansson wrote:
> 
> We are using Freetype 2.0.5 as well, without the problem you are seeing so
> it looks like you have a few bugs to track down!?
> 
> btw - Are you aware of the use of the GASP table in OpenType? It contains
> information about at what sizes Mozilla is supposed to use b/w, grayscale
> and hints. Turning on hints at all sizes, or grayscale at all sizes is not a
> good idea. I do not believe that Freetype uses this table for you (and it
> should not), so you need to read this table yourself and use it
> appropriately.
> 
> Some fonts, e.g. hollow/outlined, very light fonts and script fonts are way
> to light to be gray scaled at smaller sizes. You end up with light gray
> pixels that are not legible at all (e.g. the strokes of the characters are
> less than 1/8 of a pixel, making them almost white). Also, hinting at _very_
> small sizes (e.g. below 7px) usually produce bad results, so a GASP table
> would typically tell you to do grayscales but no hints below a certain size.
> In the mid range (e.g. 8-15px), you usually don't want to do grayscales as
> it produces too many gray pixels it relation to black pixels, which makes
> the glyph look fuzzy (there are some debates on this). At larger size you
> typically want both hinting and gray scaling.
> 
> Don't use global thresholds for all fonts. It's doesn't work. Just look at
> what Apple did with OS9 (yikes!). These thresholds are set on a per font
> basis for a reason.
> 
> Anyway, use the 'gasp' table if you are not already using it. More info at:
> http://www.microsoft.com/typography/otspec/gasp.htm
> 
> Regards,
> em2 Solutions
> Michael Jansson
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Brian Stell [mailto:address@hidden
> > Sent: Thursday, December 13, 2001 12:41 AM
> > To: address@hidden
> > Subject: Re: [Freetype] Arial.ttf with no anti-aliasing problem...
> >
> >
> > oops, I reveresed the image and bug:
> >
> > I posted the image here:
> > http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/attachment.cgi?id=61480&action=view
> >
> > as part of this bug:
> > http://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=114885
> > >
> > > Antoine Leca wrote:
> > > >
> > > > HI Niels,
> > > >
> > > > Niels Moseley wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > I'm having problems with the Arial.ttf font at small
> > sizes.. I am
> > > > > currently using Freetype 2.0.5 with the bytecode
> > interpreter enabled
> > > > > (compiled using the Borland CBuilder 5.0 compiler).
> > > > >
> > > > > Even the supplied example programs ftstring and ftview
> > display the font
> > > > > rather badly.
> > > >
> > > > What is the command line you use (or in other words, what
> > is the point
> > > > size you ask for)?
> > > >
> > > > > I've tried a host of things like enabling and disabling
> > hinting [...]
> > > >
> > > > Does it works? (i.e., does the drawing change?)
> > > >
> > > > Antoine
> > > >
> > --
> > Brian Stell
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Freetype mailing list
> > address@hidden
> > http://www.freetype.org/mailman/listinfo/freetype
> >

-- 
Brian Stell
mailto:address@hidden