Summary of Modified Fonts

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by buffaloseven

If I have a font in .ttf or .otf, is there a way I can modify the font to make it appear 2-4pt larger at any given size? I have one that I like but it appears significantly smaller than my other fonts and it's a pain to notch the font size up a couple steps for it then notch it back down for other fonts.

I think you need a font editor program to do this. FontCreator will do it quite easily with just a few keystrokes, but unfortunately it's not freeware. Perhaps someone else can suggest a free alternative.

[guitarchitect]

Originally Posted by DNSB

The Chris SIL fonts as modified by JSWolf are a heavier font which, in my opinion, does look better on the eInk display especially in poorer lighting. I've found that many of the standard PC fonts which look good on my laptop or desktop display look too light on the Kobo. Unfortunately, the font tweaking capability of the Kobo only applies to the built-in fonts at this time.

Regards,
David

Is anyone in this thread able to modify the firmware on the Kobo?

There's basically a List for which fonts the TypeGenius modifications will be applied to in the firmware. If you rename one of the fonts in your font directory (any font at all) to use one of the names in that list, it will get used instead of the built-in font - then you will be able to apply the TypeGenius settings to it!

If modifying the firmware to include the names of the Fonts we use (Minion, Charis SIL, etc) will allow the TypeGenius settings to be applied to them, that would be amazing! Unfortunately I have no idea how to do it/test it

[buffaloseven]

I've been using Andada lately, which I'm really liking. Could be a hair thicker, but overall it's very readable while maintaining character.

[JLuecking]

Originally Posted by jackie_w

I think you need a font editor program to do this. FontCreator will do it quite easily with just a few keystrokes, but unfortunately it's not freeware. Perhaps someone else can suggest a free alternative.

WebFont Generator (Expert Mode) in FontSquirrel will do the job. You can make it as big as Georgia, if Georgia is fine for you.

[buffaloseven]

Can anyone give me a run-down of how to enlarge a font in FontCreator? At the same time, how to thicken up a font?

[bartveld]

Originally Posted by buffaloseven

Can anyone give me a run-down of how to enlarge a font in FontCreator? At the same time, how to thicken up a font?

Open a font and select all glyphs.
Tools -> Glyph transformer
If you want to thicken: choose Effects -> Bold
Now you start playing with the horizontal and vertical value. Usually, the horizontal value is higher than the vertical. It takes a lot of trial and error, because what the glyphs look like on your screen can be quite different from what an E-ink screen does with it.
If you want it bigger:
Glyph transformer -> Outlines -> Scale

[buffaloseven]

Originally Posted by bartveld

Open a font and select all glyphs.
Tools -> Glyph transformer
If you want to thicken: choose Effects -> Bold
Now you start playing with the horizontal and vertical value. Usually, the horizontal value is higher than the vertical. It takes a lot of trial and error, because what the glyphs look like on your screen can be quite different from what an E-ink screen does with it.
If you want it bigger:
Glyph transformer -> Outlines -> Scale

So, starting with thickening...

I'm trying to thicken up the free font Andada. I set the values to 4 & 2 respectively for bolding it, and the result is rather ugly looking. A lot of the subtle curves are now sharp and blocky. Is there an easy way to smooth things back out?

[bartveld]

Originally Posted by buffaloseven

So, starting with thickening...

I'm trying to thicken up the free font Andada. I set the values to 4 & 2 respectively for bolding it, and the result is rather ugly looking. A lot of the subtle curves are now sharp and blocky. Is there an easy way to smooth things back out?

Actually, this is where screen resolutions come into play. Once you've done this thickening and then you doubleclick on any glyph, you see a big pic of the glyph and you'll see it's as smooth as can be. It's the small previews which are ugly, but not necessarily on your reader. I've tried 4/2 with your Andada and it seems like a subtle but possibly effective thickening.

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by buffaloseven

So, starting with thickening...

I'm trying to thicken up the free font Andada. I set the values to 4 & 2 respectively for bolding it, and the result is rather ugly looking. A lot of the subtle curves are now sharp and blocky. Is there an easy way to smooth things back out?

I don't know the answer but when I first tried thickening, FontCreator's default values for Horiz:Vert were 20 & 16. As I had no idea what 'better' values might be I decided to stick with values using the same ratio e.g. 5 & 4 for thickening a bit or 25 & 20 for thickening a lot. It seemed to work OK but a more scientific suggestion would be most welcome I do remember some fonts being more successful than others.

Oh, and I never thicken a font which has already been thickened. I start from the original each time.

Alternatively, did you also try the new trick we were recently discussing in the other font thread, i.e. renaming the original Andada fonts (internally and externally) as Rockwell, Delima, Felbridge or Times New Roman then sideloading. You'd then be able to try Kobo's own TypeGenius thickening method to see if that gave better results with Andada. Internal renaming in FontCreator can be done using Tools - AutoNaming

[Anak]

Originally Posted by bartveld

Open a font and select all glyphs.
Tools -> Glyph transformer
If you want to thicken: choose Effects -> Bold
Now you start playing with the horizontal and vertical value. Usually, the horizontal value is higher than the vertical. It takes a lot of trial and error, because what the glyphs look like on your screen can be quite different from what an E-ink screen does with it.
If you want it bigger:
Glyph transformer -> Outlines -> Scale

Originally Posted by bartveld

Actually, this is where screen resolutions come into play. Once you've done this thickening and then you doubleclick on any glyph, you see a big pic of the glyph and you'll see it's as smooth as can be. It's the small previews which are ugly, but not necessarily on your reader. I've tried 4/2 with your Andada and it seems like a subtle but possibly effective thickening.

You're correct about the different horizontal and vertical thickness of fonts but when thickening a font by 3-6 (which is usually more than enough) it is not necessary to use different horizontal and vertical values because the thickening is applied proportional. But there is nothing wrong to find optimal values but it is very time consuming.

I've converted some .otf fonts to .ttf and got pretty awful results when using FontLab Studio. Characters had different heights, overshoot and strange TT curves.
I tried all different FontLab TT settings but without a satisfying result.

I finally solved it by downloading the free TypeLight 3.2 and "recode" or "reconvert" my FontLab generated .ttf files. The final result was excellent.

In TypeLight:

• open the font file (.otf or .tff; in my case a .ttf file)
• Menu: Global > convert to TT curves
• Menu: Font > Metrics > Advanced > Calculate automatically > Ok > Ok
• Menu: Font > Font Options > include horizontal metrics (this step is probably not necessary.)
• save the font

This worked for me, uppercase and lowercase characters had the same height, the strange overshoots and strange curves were also gone.

BTW. ttf fonts seems to appear slightly darker (less grayish) than .otf fonts. Probably because of a different anti-aliasing algoritm. If your source font is a otf file try to convert it to ttf first and see how it looks on the reader. If the result is unsatisfying then start thickening the font.

[buffaloseven]

Originally Posted by Anak

You're correct about the different horizontal and vertical thickness of fonts but when thickening a font by 3-6 (which is usually more than enough) it is not necessary to use different horizontal and vertical values because the thickening is applied proportional. But there is nothing wrong to find optimal values but it is very time consuming.

I've converted some .otf fonts to .ttf and got pretty awful results when using FontLab Studio. Characters had different heights, overshoot and strange TT curves.
I tried all different FontLab TT settings but without a satisfying result.

I finally solved it by downloading the free TypeLight 3.2 and "recode" or "reconvert" my FontLab generated .ttf files. The final result was excellent.

In TypeLight:

• open the font file (.otf or .tff; in my case a .ttf file)
• Menu: Global > convert to TT curves
• Menu: Font > Metrics > Advanced > Calculate automatically > Ok > Ok
• Menu: Font > Font Options > include horizontal metrics (this step is probably not necessary.)
• save the font

This worked for me, uppercase and lowercase characters had the same height, the strange overshoots and strange curves were also gone.

BTW. ttf fonts seems to appear slightly darker (less grayish) than .otf fonts. Probably because of a different anti-aliasing algoritm. If your source font is a otf file try to convert it to ttf first and see how it looks on the reader. If the result is unsatisfying then start thickening the font.

Thanks for the advice. You don't thicken the fonts in TypeLight, do you? Just convert? I have Glyphs for Mac which I've used with great success to convert before, and digging around recently I also found a nice scaling feature that has allowed me to resize fonts nicely. All that's left is the thickening part and I'm finding FontCreator to be a little rough in that area, although I may be missing something that allows me to smooth things out a bit.

[Anak]

Originally Posted by buffaloseven

Thanks for the advice. You don't thicken the fonts in TypeLight, do you? Just convert? I have Glyphs for Mac which I've used with great success to convert before, and digging around recently I also found a nice scaling feature that has allowed me to resize fonts nicely. All that's left is the thickening part and I'm finding FontCreator to be a little rough in that area, although I may be missing something that allows me to smooth things out a bit.

No, no thickening. I've only used TypeLight for fixing my otf fonts that where converted to tff in FontLab Studio 5. Only did the steps as described.

[Anak]

Originally Posted by guitarchitect

Is anyone in this thread able to modify the firmware on the Kobo?

There's basically a List for which fonts the TypeGenius modifications will be applied to in the firmware. If you rename one of the fonts in your font directory (any font at all) to use one of the names in that list, it will get used instead of the built-in font - then you will be able to apply the TypeGenius settings to it!

If modifying the firmware to include the names of the Fonts we use (Minion, Charis SIL, etc) will allow the TypeGenius settings to be applied to them, that would be amazing! Unfortunately I have no idea how to do it/test it

Rename the fonts with TypeLight 3.2. It's free. BTW, the renaming trick doesn't work with 2.5.2 and earlier. May also only work with fonts that are encrypted/obfuscated. Adobe or IDPF obfustication doesn't work.

[buffaloseven]

Originally Posted by Anak

Rename the fonts with TypeLight 3.2. It's free. BTW, the renaming trick doesn't work with 2.5.2 and earlier. May also only work with fonts that are encrypted/obfuscated. Adobe or IDPF obfustication doesn't work.

I still haven't had a chance, but I'm curious if an "easier" way to do it is to modify the list of TypeGenius-enabled fonts in the firmware before it's installed to the device. Or is there an easy way for me to see the OS-partition and the firmware file structure once it's installed on the device? I'd rather keep my fonts named correctly :-)

[dmapr]

Originally Posted by buffaloseven

I still haven't had a chance, but I'm curious if an "easier" way to do it is to modify the list of TypeGenius-enabled fonts in the firmware before it's installed to the device. Or is there an easy way for me to see the OS-partition and the firmware file structure once it's installed on the device? I'd rather keep my fonts named correctly :-)

Well, for 2.6.1 there was a "patched" version of libnickel.so floating around that allowed TypeGenius for all fonts, including sideloaded. AFAIK it hasn't been made for 2.8.1 yet.