Re: [ft] Font rasterization

[Werner LEMBERG]

> I have recently come across a great article about font rendering,
> http://www.antigrain.com/research/font_rasterization/

Thanks for the pointer, I haven't known this article.

> It basically states (and very convincingly illustrates) that the
> secret to very good font rendering is to use only vertical pixel
> alignment, [...]
> 
> So, let me reiterate my main inquiry: is it possible (with freetype)
> to use vertical hinting and pixel alignment only, leaving subpixel
> rendering to take care of the horizontal aspect?

The `light' autohinting mode disables horizontal hinting (and in case
of italic fonts).

For native TrueType hinting, a volunteer is working on it right now,
implementing better ClearType support.  This will probably part of the
next FreeType version (to appear still in May) as an experimental
feature.

For PS fonts, the situation is unsatisfying currently since there are
some bugs lurking around which noone has time to take care of.  Here,
you can't disable horizontal hinting.  It has been suggested to use
the autohinter for PS hinting also, but again, noone has time to
implement it.


    Werner