Re: [ft] iOS 7 system font Helvetica Neue horribly mis-hinted with FreeType 2.5.3

[jason campbell]

"Unfortunately I don't have any access to Windows 98 or Macs with <OSX, or any font editors except FontForge, which presumably does not use any Windows libraries at all.  Does anyone on this mailing list have one of these?"

I tried the font in Visual TrueType versions 4.2.1 using the black and white and grayscale modes, and I saw the artifacts you noted in your initial screenshot. I can't tell exactly what version of the Win rasterizer is being used in VTT, as it's all under the hood.

thanks

Jason Campbell

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Jason Campbell
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On Fri, Aug 15, 2014 at 3:04 AM, Werner LEMBERG <address@hidden> wrote:

> More generally though, while it has some diagnostic value, I am not
> sure the 98/Mac test is key to the issue at hand...

It is, IMHO.  I'm not responsible for incorrect FreeType usage on iOS,
and I really don't know *how* the iOS people call the library.
Consequently, I can only handle bug reports, and I already gave a
diagnosis and how to further proceed.

> 1. disable hinting by passing FT_LOAD_NO_HINTING to FT_Load_Glyph
> ... at a COST of no hinting

Given the high resolution screens used on iPhones and iPads, together
with the fact that OS X doesn't use hinting, this is the way to go,
I'd say.

> Perhaps it would be useful to place this advice in some of the dox,
> since many (most) developers may not be aware of the mailing list?

Uh, oh, the mailing lists *are* the ultimative source for FreeType
knowledge!  They are prominently announced in FreeType's README file,
they are properly mentioned on the FreeType's `contact' web page –
what can I do more?  [Well, I've just added gmane links to
`contact.html' for access via the web.]

What you ask for is advice for a particular font; up to now noone has
ever mentioned hinting problems on iOS.

> Perhaps that investigation might reveal that the iOS system font is
> indeed truly broken,

It's certainly *not* broken.  As mentioned repeatedly, I guess that
iOS doesn't use hints at all.  Maybe the hints in those system fonts
are for ClearType only, produced by a third-party font developer who
was commissioned to create the fonts, but this is then irrelevant for
iOS.

> Perhaps you might even find a reasonable workaround to make the font
> work.

I've shown you a work-around.  For a fix (if there is really something
to fix) I need comparison images.


    Werner
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