What font settings do you use in OSX?

dirtydog

dirtydog

dirtydog

Permabanned
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
47,396
Location
Essex
On an LCD screen? ie. standard, light, strong etc.? I'm not sure which is best for my eyes, but nothing I do can make text as easy on the eye to read as it is in Windows. Windows prints fonts exactly like Macs (and Linux) but it displays them slightly differently on screen, to make them more legible. I've always considered it to be superior to the slightly fluffy, unfocused look you get on Macs and Linux.

So which settings do you all use? :)
 
I actually prefer the default anti-aliasing on OS X where everything is AA'd. In Windows only a few apps seem to support ClearType.
 
Cleartype on windows is better, still prefer standard smoothing though.

Try tinkertool on OS X.
 
Tinkertool doesn't seem to have any options for font smoothing beyond turning it off for certain font sizes. What would be nice would be a Mac equivalent of the Cleartype tuning tool for Windows.
 
I use Light with turn off for size 8 or smaller. If I remember, you have to reboot or at least log in and out for changes in font smoothing to be applied.

Personally, I'd prefer to turn all AA / sub-pixel shenanigans off system-wide. They are good in some ways but why not give the user choice? A lot of applications don't respect the "turn off for size x or smaller" option and it ends up looking a mess.
 
Last edited:
You have to log out for the change to fully take effect system wide, but simply closing and reopening the application can work as well, eg. Safari :)
 
dirtydog said:
On an LCD screen? ie. standard, light, strong etc.? I'm not sure which is best for my eyes, but nothing I do can make text as easy on the eye to read as it is in Windows. Windows prints fonts exactly like Macs (and Linux) but it displays them slightly differently on screen, to make them more legible. I've always considered it to be superior to the slightly fluffy, unfocused look you get on Macs and Linux.

So which settings do you all use? :)
Click to expand...

Hang on.. I thought you hated macs? You've not gone and bought one, have you?
 
My font smoothing is set to medium. Looks perfect, in my opinion it kicks several shades of crap out of ClearType, and was one of the many reasons for switching.

Text never looks blurry at all, I'm assuming you're using a DVI connection?
 
I can't stand ClearType. I wish they'd add regular AA instead. It might not be politically correct if you're a font designer but I'm not so I don't care :p
 
VGA. But using Windows on the same monitor, it is clearer. It isn't a connection issue, it is the way Windows renders them which is different :)

It is personal taste I guess.

For the sake of comparison, here's what Windows looks like for me at the moment...

font9zr.png
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom