[tutorial] font smoothing/thickening

@JesterMania

Ok - I basically have the same exact specs as you. I have 17" CRT Monitor with Standard font smoothing. My fonts kinda...suck. I GreyScaled Font Smoothed HandelGotD and Lucida Grande, and for some reason, they're not as bold as yours. Mine are kinda -- how can I say this, not bold and rich as yours. I like the idea of GrayScale Font Smoothing because it gives off the font effect just like OSX. I did this step-by-step exactly how you explained this and I don't have the same effect like you.

Can you please help?

Here's a picture

#367330

Hmm...well first of all, if I remember correctly my iTunes playlist are using large font size setting whereas yours seems to be set to small. But even then, your font looks a little broken up at that size. It probably has something to do with 1) your base font (ensure it's one of the "standard" ttf versions of HandelGotD) - a good source would be some older themes that have included the actual font such as [sorry, you can't give names -NC] or 2) it's the way you bolded your font.

You can try to bold the font all in one go by applying a very thick darkening such as Bold ( 5, 4 ), or you can try smoothing it gradually by doing something like applying Bold ( 2, 1 ) or Bold ( 3, 2 ) for 3-5x, viewing the results each time. I hope that helps somewhat...

#367357

Thanks! - but it was good when I first applied them. Then I shut down, and rebooted my PC. Then the font's started look like that. But, I'll try your method.

#367358

This is great tutorial, but I'll just stick with clear type since I can't seem to replace the system fonts (tahoma, arial, verinda, etc.) and since my CRT is a trintron and it handles clear type better than an LCD (IMO)

#370485

you can replce those fonts if you boot in safe mode

#370496

I didn't think of that.

Thank you.

#370500

you can replce those fonts if you boot in safe mode

You mean if I add this effect to Arial, Tahoma, etc, that it will work if I install in safe mode?

#370586

You mean if I add this effect to Arial, Tahoma, etc, that it will work if I install in safe mode?

Yes.

It's working right now for me, but I still have yet to finish all the fonts, so I am just using Cleartype until all I do this to all the main fonts.

#371041

Wow, this is stunning.

Very, very good job with this tutorial. A++!

#373936

Addition

For those of you who use Fontlab Studio 5, I found a quite simple/easy/lazy way to do this.

Open up your font in Fontlab studio.

Go to Edit > Select All. (This will select all the characters.)

Next, go to Tools > Action > Effects > Bold. Set the H weight to 5, and the V weight to 4. (Just like in Jester's settings in Font Creator.) Click OK.

Then, go to Tools > Repeat Bold/Outline. Then do it again. (This will cause the Boldness to be applied 3 times)

Don't know how to save as TTF?

No worries, just go to File > Generate font. (Or just hit in Ctrl + Alt + G) In the click-down box next to "Save as Type", select "TrueType/OpenType TT (*.ttf)" and save it anywhere (best place to put it is in C:WindowsFonts)

Also, no, this doesn't require to set the GASP settings. If you want to do GASP, then apply it in Font Creator. I'm just giving this little tutorial because I believe FontLab Studio gives more richness to the boldness of the font.

*Edit*

How to change the font name. (Just in case you want to install the regular and modded font)

Go to File > Font info. (For example, I am using Lucida Grande for this. And I want to change the name to Lucida Grande Mod.)

Go to Names and Copyright. (Make sure you keep the copyright statement from the original creator!)

I would simply put it "Lucida Grande Mod" into the Family Name, PS Font Name, Full Name, Menu Name fields.

Then go to Version and Identification. Change the version number by .1 (Such as if the original version was 2.0, you would simply change it to 2.1)

Then save.

Enjoy!

// Also, sorry for the bump, I know this thread is a bit old, but I was just trying to give to the community without double posting this. So I just added this to this thread.

Thanks, Paralex.

#391335

This font guide has been perfect, and I'd absolutely love it if any other Mac Shellpackers decide to include a slew of Smoothed fonts (maybe like HandelGotD, or Lucida Grande).

#391400

Can anyone upload edited Lucida Grande for standart smoothing here? please

#391698

Thanks Paralex...but whenever I save the font after smoothing it...it's still the same...weird.

You know what I might be doing wrong?

#391852

Hey Paralex, thanks for your addition. Hey, if you like I can add your addition to the top of the thread?

Anyhow, there's one little issue ... are you sure you don't need to turn on GASP? Some fonts such as HandelGotD have GASP enabled by default, so it may appear to work without the need to turn on GASP, but other fonts such as Lucida Grande don't have it enabled and (don't quote me on this) may not work even if you smoothed it out w/o turning GASP on. This maybe the problem Jokez is experiencing.

BTW you can still add the GASP record in FontStudio. But as far as FontStudio being a better program, I think I agree. At least their preview window looks MUCH better than Font Creator's.

And please, no more requests for modified fonts in this thread...thanks!

#391900

Oh, thanks for the info Jester. Well, would you know how to add GASP to the font in FontStudio? I haven't seen an option for it.

Edit: Also, I don't mind if it's at the top of the thread.

#391903

Oh, thanks for the info Jester. Well, would you know how to add GASP to the font in FontStudio? I haven't seen an option for it.

Edit: Also, I don't mind if it's at the top of the thread.

Okay, I edited the original thread and inserted your instructions for FontLab Studio in there (with credit to you of course ). Anyhow, I edited the section and inserted directions on how to enable grayscale with FontLab Studio.

#392023

Yeeeaahhh !!! Thanks Jestermaniaaa, lol.

#392028

Okay, I edited the original thread and inserted your instructions for FontLab Studio in there (with credit to you of course ). Anyhow, I edited the section and inserted directions on how to enable grayscale with FontLab Studio.

Thanks for the GASP instructions.

#392036

this is really cool, i made Lucida Grande into a thickened font ("LucidaX") with the font creator trial and at H:20 and V:18

if u want me to give it to u email me aaronramshaw@gmail.com

and how do you get the text on firefox web pages the special font, only some sites like digg have the font on them and all others look all pixelaed withouth the thickening, could you write a greasemoney or stylish script for it?

20x18.bmp

Attachment: 20x18.bmp

#393734

and how do you get the text on firefox web pages the special font, only some sites like digg have the font on them and all others look all pixelaed withouth the thickening, could you write a greasemoney or stylish script for it?

So you want Firefox to use your modded font for webpage viewing? You can go: Tools->Options->Content. Under Fonts and Colours, click the Advanced button to specify what fonts you'd like to use for specific situations.

#393754

thanks, but how do you get application to the fonts, like the menus and options, i;ve got the bookmarks bar done with a stylish script

.toolbarbutton-text { font-family: your font goes here !important; }

#393957

Good, I think about theses fonts... It´s cool and clean

#393978

good instructions!

#393993

thanks, but how do you get application to the fonts, like the menus and options, i;ve got the bookmarks bar done with a stylish script

.toolbarbutton-text { font-family: your font goes here !important; }

Without a 3rd-party program, open the Display Properties applet (right-click desktop->Properties), then click on the Appearance tab. Click the Advanced button and you can specify what fonts to use for various aspects of the windowing system.

Me personally? I'd just download Styler and change the fonts there. Much easier, more complete, and totally free.

#394465

quick question, how do i resize the MS Shell Dlg fonts? I changed them to run on my new rendered font but the size is kinda bigger than what i was wanting, anyway of making them smaller?

#400553