fonts too large

[David Zelinsky]

I recently upgraded to woody (actually I ended up doing a clean
install, for reasons I won't get into), and now most of the fonts in
application windows are way too large. Examples include: menus,
dialog boxes and input fields in netscape, mozilla, dillo and
acroread, to name a few. (The font preference for netscape et al only
affect the document fonts, not the menus and toolbars.)

Can anyone tell me how to change this? I'm using xfs (tried changing
the default-point-size in /etc/X11/fs/config but it had no effect).
I've been using fvwm started by gdm, but it doesn't seem to matter
which window manager or desktop I use.

Thanks in advance.

David Zelinsky

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[Dave Price]

I too have this problem and would like help please.
Many thanks
Dave Price recent (very) debian convert

[Matthias Szupryczynski]

On Wed, 2002-09-04 at 13:37, David Zelinsky wrote:
> I recently upgraded to woody (actually I ended up doing a clean
> install, for reasons I won't get into), and now most of the fonts in
> application windows are way too large. Examples include: menus,
> dialog boxes and input fields in netscape, mozilla, dillo and
> acroread, to name a few. (The font preference for netscape et al only
> affect the document fonts, not the menus and toolbars.)
>
> Can anyone tell me how to change this? I'm using xfs (tried changing
> the default-point-size in /etc/X11/fs/config but it had no effect).
> I've been using fvwm started by gdm, but it doesn't seem to matter
> which window manager or desktop I use.

Hmm, have you tried to change the desktop theme ??
(Assuming you did not mean that by saying that it does not matter which
desktop you use).

Usually the default - theme comes with pretty big and ugly fonts,
download / install / choose another one and you should be alright.

At least that worked for me.

HTH

Matt

[Sean 'Shaleh' Perry]

On Tuesday 03 September 2002 20:37, David Zelinsky wrote:
> I recently upgraded to woody (actually I ended up doing a clean
> install, for reasons I won't get into), and now most of the fonts in
> application windows are way too large. Examples include: menus,
> dialog boxes and input fields in netscape, mozilla, dillo and
> acroread, to name a few. (The font preference for netscape et al only
> affect the document fonts, not the menus and toolbars.)
>
> Can anyone tell me how to change this? I'm using xfs (tried changing
> the default-point-size in /etc/X11/fs/config but it had no effect).
> I've been using fvwm started by gdm, but it doesn't seem to matter
> which window manager or desktop I use.
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> David Zelinsky

from /usr/share/doc/xfree86-common/README.Debian-upgrade.gz:

FONT AND DPI (DOTS-PER-INCH) SETTINGS SET TO 100DPI BY DEFAULT:

You should be aware that, by default, xdm and xinit (and thus startx) start
the X server using the "-dpi 100" argument, which forces the X server to
treat the display as having 100 dots per inch. Furthermore, xfs is
configured to serve fonts with a preference for 100dpi versions over 75dpi
version if a font request could be satisfied by either, and dexconf, the
Debian X Configurator, writes XFree86 server configuration files with a
preference for the 100dpi font directory over the 75dpi directory.

This particularly affects the visible font size. Another common default is 75
dpi; some font rasterizers do not deal well with dpi settings other than 75 or
100.

This default can be modified by editing the following conffiles:
xdm /etc/X11/xdm/Xservers (see xdm(1))
xfs /etc/X11/fs/config (see xfs(1))
xinit /etc/X11/xinit/xserverrc (see xinit(1))

The /etc/X11/XF86Config and /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 files (see the
XF86Config(7) manual page for the distinction) are not conffiles, but may
also be edited to change this default.

[David Zelinsky]

On Wed, Sep 04, 2002 at 12:11:39AM -0700, Sean 'Shaleh' Perry wrote:
> On Tuesday 03 September 2002 20:37, David Zelinsky wrote:
> > I recently upgraded to woody (actually I ended up doing a clean
> > install, for reasons I won't get into), and now most of the fonts in
> > application windows are way too large.

[snip]

>
> from /usr/share/doc/xfree86-common/README.Debian-upgrade.gz:
>
> FONT AND DPI (DOTS-PER-INCH) SETTINGS SET TO 100DPI BY DEFAULT:
>

> This default can be modified by editing the following conffiles:
> xdm /etc/X11/xdm/Xservers (see xdm(1))
> xfs /etc/X11/fs/config (see xfs(1))
> xinit /etc/X11/xinit/xserverrc (see xinit(1))
>
> The /etc/X11/XF86Config and /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 files (see the
> XF86Config(7) manual page for the distinction) are not conffiles, but may
> also be edited to change this default.

I made all the recommended changes, and it worked! Fonts now look normal.

After some experimentation, I discovered that the only thing that
really mattered was reordering the FontFiles in XF86Config. This is
using gdm with Xsession (not using gnome).

Thanks for the pointer.

[Sean 'Shaleh' Perry]

On Wednesday 04 September 2002 19:50, Brian Nelson wrote:
> But note that, as stated in xfonts-100dpi description field,
> "xfonts-100dpi may be more suitable for large monitors and/or large
> screen resolutions (over 1024x768)."
>
> In that case, you'd be better off just changing the font size manually
> (through Gnome/KDE's control center, or whatever).

maybe for those with poor eyesight but I find that 100dpi fonts are always too
big.

[Vineet Kumar]

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* Sean 'Shaleh' Perry (shale...@attbi.com) [020904 21:58]:

> On Wednesday 04 September 2002 19:50, Brian Nelson wrote:
> > But note that, as stated in xfonts-100dpi description field,
> > "xfonts-100dpi may be more suitable for large monitors and/or large
> > screen resolutions (over 1024x768)."
> >
> > In that case, you'd be better off just changing the font size manually
> > (through Gnome/KDE's control center, or whatever).

>=20
> maybe for those with poor eyesight but I find that 100dpi fonts are alway=
s too=20
> big.

Well, that's neither here nor there. The dpi setting is useful for
setting a screen font size that correlates to a "real-world"
measurement: 1 pt is 1/72 of an inch, not an arbitrary number of pixels.
So if you're running at higher resolution, such that 100 dots take an
inch on your screen, it's more appropriate to use 100dpi fonts. If you
want more real estate, use a smaller point size. When using fonts whose
dpi matches your actual screen dpi, you'll find that the same point size
is the same point size and provides the same readability, whether you
use 1280 or (gasp!) 600 pixels across your screen.

good times,
Vineet
--=20
http://www.doorstop.net/
--=20
"Those who desire to give up freedom in order to gain security will not hav=
e,
nor do they deserve, either one." --President Thomas Jefferson.

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[Brian Nelson]

Vineet Kumar <debia...@virtual.doorstop.net> writes:

> * Sean 'Shaleh' Perry (shale...@attbi.com) [020904 21:58]:
>> On Wednesday 04 September 2002 19:50, Brian Nelson wrote:
>> > But note that, as stated in xfonts-100dpi description field,
>> > "xfonts-100dpi may be more suitable for large monitors and/or large
>> > screen resolutions (over 1024x768)."
>> >
>> > In that case, you'd be better off just changing the font size manually
>> > (through Gnome/KDE's control center, or whatever).
>>

>> maybe for those with poor eyesight but I find that 100dpi fonts are always too
>> big.

Because most apps seem to have really poorly chosen default font sizes.
Correct your font sizes; don't use an inaccurate dpi setting for your
monitor.

> Well, that's neither here nor there. The dpi setting is useful for
> setting a screen font size that correlates to a "real-world"
> measurement: 1 pt is 1/72 of an inch, not an arbitrary number of pixels.
> So if you're running at higher resolution, such that 100 dots take an
> inch on your screen, it's more appropriate to use 100dpi fonts. If you
> want more real estate, use a smaller point size. When using fonts whose
> dpi matches your actual screen dpi, you'll find that the same point size
> is the same point size and provides the same readability, whether you
> use 1280 or (gasp!) 600 pixels across your screen.

Yep. Jeffrey Baker wrote up an even more elaborate description of this
topic a few months ago here:

http://lists.debian.org/debian-user/2002/debian-user-200204/msg01679.html

--
People said I was dumb, but I proved them!

[Dave Price]

Thanks to all that replied with help. This is one reason why I am a
recent debian convert.
Dave Price