Re: [ft-devel] [ttfautohint] stem width handling is now selectable

[Karsten Luecke]

When you say something like

> strong-stem-width=g gave a tiny (i think) better rendering

could you please explain what your definition of "better" is, plus a 
link to comparison screenshots showing this setting vs the other 
setting? Stating something is "better" is as useful as stating that 
today you feel fine.  :)

Karsten


On 01.07.12 15:51, vern adams wrote:
> Did a little testing using OpenSans Reg&  Bold under Win7 (cleartype&  greyscale) 
> and WinXP (cleartype&  greyscale) but, to be honest, i didn't see any difference :) 
> except under Win7 there the `--strong-stem-width=g gave a tiny (i think) better rendering.
>
> In theory, what difference should there be under which render settings?
>
> -v
>
> On 1 Jul 2012, at 12:49, Werner LEMBERG wrote:
>
> >  From the documentation:
> >
> > ### Stem Width and Stem Positioning
> >
> > `--strong-stem-width=`*string*, `-w`\ *string*
> >
> > :   ttfautohint offers two different routines to handle stem widths
> >     and stem positions: 'smooth' and 'strong'.  The former uses
> >     discrete values which slightly increase the stem contrast with
> >     almost no distortion of the outlines, while the latter snaps both
> >     stem widths and stem positions to integer pixel values as much as
> >     possible, yielding a crisper appearance at the cost of much more
> >     distortion.
> >
> >     These two routines are mapped onto three possible rendering
> >     targets:
> >
> >     - grayscale rendering, with or without optimization for subpixel
> >       positioning (e.g. Mac OS\ X)
> >
> >     - 'GDI ClearType' rendering: the rasterizer version, as returned
> >       by the GETINFO bytecode instruction, is in the range 36\<=
> >       version<\ 38 and ClearType is enabled (e.g. Windows XP)
> >
> >     - 'DirectWrite ClearType' rendering: the rasterizer version, as
> >       returned by the GETINFO bytecode instruction, is>=\ 38,
> >       ClearType is enabled, and subpixel positioning is enabled also
> >       (e.g.  Windows\ 7)
> >
> >     GDI ClearType uses a mode similar to B/W rendering along the
> >     vertical axis, while DW ClearType applies grayscale rendering.
> >     Additionally, only DW ClearType provides subpixel positioning
> >     along the x\ axis.
> >
> >     The command line option expects *string* to contain up to three
> >     letters with possible values '`g`' for grayscale, '`G`' for GDI
> >     ClearType, and '`D`' for DW ClearType.  If a letter is found in
> >     *string*, the strong stem width routine is used for the
> >     corresponding rendering target.  The default value is '`G`' which
> >     means that strong stem width handling is activated for GDI
> >     ClearType only.  To use smooth stem width handling for all three
> >     rendering targets, use the empty string as an argument, usually
> >     connoted with '`""`'.
> >
> >     In the GUI, the option is split into three sets of radio buttons
> >     to select the stem width routine for a given rendering target.
> >
> >
> >   Please test and enjoy!
> >
> >
> >      Werner