FreeType 2.7 Bringing DirectWrite/ClearType-Like Rendering -- Much Better Looking Fonts On Linux

[microcode]

Ubuntu and OSX have the best font rendering (system and web), but I hope this will improve fonts on Linux in general, I always stayed away from some distributions because of the awful fonts.

Configuring FreeType through FontConfig is pretty easy. I recommend looking at the Archlinux wiki page for FontConfig. If you want more OSX-like rendering, you can dial back the hinting. If you want more Windows-like rendering, you can dial up the hinting. The distributions all distribute the same software, the configuration is often different. Arch Linux will get the new FreeType versions faster.

[microcode]

It seems I'll be sticking with version 2.6.5 for some time. I can't stand modern fonts and how they're rendered, I get dizzy looking at them for more than 10 minutes. Then only thing I can stand is the old MS core fonts, the ones that were "beaten into the pixel grid" as that mailing list post puts it. Anything else is either way too blurry or color-fringes like crazy, usually both. Windows has a utility to configure ClearType, but that doesn't help at all when then options are "bad", "worse", "even more worser" and "the worsesest".

The 2.6.5 mode is still available in 2.7. You just need to configure it to the old way. The easiest way is to set the environment variable FT2_SUBPIXEL_HINTING to 0. If you want the Infinality mode, it is now part of mainline FreeType 2.7, and your configuration doesn't have to change.
I encourage you to give it a shot, I think you'll actually like what it looks like, even if you don't like the way they're describing it in the mailinglist.

I strongly advise against sticking with an old version of FreeType, as although the quality is very good; no normal software, especially a font handling library, is immune to security exploits.

[Cerberus]

Configuring FreeType through FontConfig is pretty easy. I recommend looking at the Archlinux wiki page for FontConfig. If you want more OSX-like rendering, you can dial back the hinting. If you want more Windows-like rendering, you can dial up the hinting. The distributions all distribute the same software, the configuration is often different. Arch Linux will get the new FreeType versions faster.

Ubuntu has specific patches to various libraries, I never managed to get the same look on Arch Linux and its derivatives without installing Ubuntu patched libraries, I dont know if they are still around in the repositories. Infinality was decent but not completely on par with Ubuntu.

[carewolf]

So v40 is just slight hinting. But forced?

[carewolf]

Ubuntu and OSX have the best font rendering (system and web), but I hope this will improve fonts on Linux in general, I always stayed away from some distributions because of the awful fonts.

I have to disagree. OS X has the absolute worst font rendering to screen. They render fonts as if they were to print, leading to fuzzy unreadable crap on a normal screen. This has been solved by introducing HiDPI screens, but Linux and Windows never had that problem, because they used proper font hinting to make fonts render much sharper on low DPI screens.

[brent]

The whole thing isn't really that new at all!

FreeType's "light" autohinting already does something very similar: it only hints in one direction, vertically. Whether you use bytecode hinting or autohinting at this point typically doesn't make much of a difference anymore. However, for robustness, it's still better to prefer autohinting instead of bytecode hinting.

The *actual* problem with FreeType has been something completely different: LCD filtering and gamma correction. The LCD filter makes sure that color fringes are avoided while still providing a mostly sharp text image. Gamma correction is needed to basically adjust the boldness, particularly to avoid too thin strokes. Both have patent issues and therefore have bad fallback implementations in many distributions by default, e.g. Fedora.

[carewolf]

I don't think so. Ignoring something is probably not patented Besides, F24's GNOME is set to slight hinting by default, so people will not see the changes unless they go for medium/full hinting.

Slight hinting is vertical only hinting, which is exactly what they claim the new algorithm is. This really leaves me to wonder if there will be any difference between slight, medium and full hinting now.

[slacka]

Configuring FreeType through FontConfig is pretty easy. I recommend looking at the Archlinux wiki page for FontConfig. If you want more OSX-like rendering, you can dial back the hinting. If you want more Windows-like rendering, you can dial up the hinting. The distributions all distribute the same software, the configuration is often different. Arch Linux will get the new FreeType versions faster.

Yes, opening FontConfig is easy. But it's not like there is a single magic setting that gives you Ubuntu like rendering. And whatever tweaks/configure options Ubuntu uses, it's not just the latest version of FreeType either as I have never been able to get Arch to look as nice as Ubuntu has looked for years now.

Canonical has invested some seriously manpower in getting a professional looking rendering system and a simple tweak doesn't give you their results.

[microcode]

I have to disagree. OS X has the absolute worst font rendering to screen. They render fonts as if they were to print, leading to fuzzy unreadable crap on a normal screen. This has been solved by introducing HiDPI screens, but Linux and Windows never had that problem, because they used proper font hinting to make fonts render much sharper on low DPI screens.

Funnily enough, FreeType still looks better even on HiDPI. You can turn the hinting down a bit further and it looks ultimately legible.

[Marc Driftmeyer]

I have to disagree. OS X has the absolute worst font rendering to screen. They render fonts as if they were to print, leading to fuzzy unreadable crap on a normal screen. This has been solved by introducing HiDPI screens, but Linux and Windows never had that problem, because they used proper font hinting to make fonts render much sharper on low DPI screens.

You clearly don't use OS X 10.11.4.