Fontconfig, font clutter and high-level apps like Inkscape
Hello, I have no experience in C/C++ coding and little with GTK - other than my small (insulated) experience via wxPython. So, please read in that light.
(This is part of my mini-crusade to reduce font clutter on Linux.)
1. I gather fontconfig makes it possible for apps to filter a list of fonts into their choosers. 2. The list of ALL fonts installed on a system should *not* (IMHO) be shown by default in a chooser. 3. I don't know if the Inkscape coders can control what appears in that font chooser, or if it's a stock GTK thing. Either way, I think you guys have the best chance of changing it. 4. There should be a *minimum* filter of the type: User OR System-wide fonts. I would rather see *my* fonts, as in $fc-list : file | grep ".fonts" than a list that is 700-odd fonts long and hellishly hard to use.
From a Linux-fonts pov, I am starting to see that an app like Fonty Python is
actually artificial to the fontconfig master-plan. Each high-end app that uses fonts should have access to a stock *font manager* built-into GTK/QT/Blah/Blah so that users can manage fonts and developers don't have to worry about it.
Am I on the right track here? Is it possible to make a minimum filter (sys vs user) in Inkscape?
Even through font-chooser clutter, Fonty Python can play a role and be useful for the time being -- I hope that new font manager due in KDE4 will be the incentive to do the same in GTK, but until then, an app that let's us control what fonts appear in the User's zone will be handy.
If the fonts can be filtered as suggested, then font management by an external app like Fonty Python really does become much easier.
Donn. Fonty Python.
On 2007-April-25 , at 13:05 , Donn wrote:
[...]
- I gather fontconfig makes it possible for apps to filter a list
of fonts into their choosers. 2. The list of ALL fonts installed on a system should *not* (IMHO) be shown by default in a chooser. 3. I don't know if the Inkscape coders can control what appears in that font chooser, or if it's a stock GTK thing. Either way, I think you guys have the best chance of changing it. 4. There should be a *minimum* filter of the type: User OR System- wide fonts. I would rather see *my* fonts, as in $fc-list : file | grep ".fonts" than a list that is 700-odd fonts long and hellishly hard to use.
From a Linux-fonts pov, I am starting to see that an app like Fonty Python is
actually artificial to the fontconfig master-plan. Each high-end app that uses fonts should have access to a stock *font manager* built-into GTK/QT/Blah/Blah so that users can manage fonts and developers don't have to worry about it. [...]
Just my OS X centric opinion once again because I think that, in this domain, Mac OS X/Cocoa gets it nearly as right as possible. Font management is done at the OS level and every Cocoa application (Cocoa on Mac OS X = GTK or KDE on Linux) gets for free: - a "Format" menu with all basic (and not so basic) font operations: font size, font face (italics, bold,... ), kerning, ligatures, hyphenation all this with predefined keyboard shortcuts so that the shortcuts work the same in every application - a Font chooser panel, called by a system wide shortcut, with fonts classified by collections (Decorative, Chinese, Fixed width etc.) which are managed by the user, font family (Bitstream Vera Sans, Times etc.) which is searchable, and typeface (Regular, Bold, Italics etc.). One can also change font size and font decoration (color, underline, drop shadow, etc.) from this Font panel, add some font combination (Times, bold, 12pt) to a "Favorites" menu, get a preview, call an additional "symbols" palette etc. See a screenshot of the panel here: http://web.mac.com/tigershark/iWeb/macplumber/Blog/1FCC88B4-0B42-41B1- A03B-01FCC6428C99_files/droppedImage.png
Font management is done in a separate application (called Font Book) in which fonts can be added, deleted, de-activated, moved between system and user level and grouped into collections. Font Books adds some useful functions such as the detection of duplicates, a detailed information on the font (license, version, foundry etc.). It is not the most feature full application (some third party software can handle font request and buy your fonts online, deactivate groups of fonts, create "smart groups" of font i.e. dynamics groups containing all fonts that match a search criteria etc.) but it mostly gets the job done for non professional work and is fairly easy to use. A screenshot here: http://osx.iusethis.com/screenshot/fontbook.png
If GTK could acquire something similar the world would be a bette place... well linux at least would ;-)
More discussion and a proposal for a new font panel in GTK here: http://www.unifont.org/fontdialog/
JiHO --- http://jo.irisson.free.fr/
More discussion and a proposal for a new font panel in GTK here: http://www.unifont.org/fontdialog/
Ah - I seem to have come full-circle on this. I recall reading this months ago (perhaps over a year).
/d
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Donn -
jiho