If we're not running a full blown desktop environment like
GNOME,
KDE or
XFCE, the chances of getting good font
rendering in a post Xorg installation after a default
linux base (think of arch or
voidlinux) install is zero. This
guide serves as a list of todo items to get decent font rendering with
these sort of installs.
Install some good fonts
The default install in most distros come prepackaged with "decent"
fonts like BitStream or Dejavu. However, installing a font set with
more glyph coverage is needed in this day and age. The google font
package has some nice fonts. Especially the
Noto Series. I like
this set as it comes with a Sans, Serif and Mono variant. Not to
mention the large language coverage. In ubuntu, the set comes in a package
called fonts-noto. Install it with $ sudo apt install fonts-noto.
If your distro's package manager doesn't find the font package(look
for the keyword noto), download the font package from its website and
put it in a folder in $HOME/.fonts/"fontname". Mine looks like
$ ls -l ~/.fonts
RobotoMono/ RobotoSlab/ msttcorefonts/ noto/
.ttf font files.
$ ls -a ~/.fonts/RobotoMono/
./ RobotoMono-Italic.ttf RobotoMono-Regular.ttf
../ RobotoMono-Light.ttf RobotoMono-Thin.ttf
.uuid RobotoMono-LightItalic.ttf RobotoMono-ThinItalic.ttf
RobotoMono-Bold.ttf RobotoMono-Medium.ttf
RobotoMono-BoldItalic.ttf RobotoMono-MediumItalic.ttf
Now do an $ fc-cache -vf and our font database would be updated. To see if a font is
installed and registered, try a $ fc-list | grep "Noto"
Tweaking fontconfig
If you don't have it already, create $HOME/.config/fontconfig/fonts.conf and paste this in.
Please read the comments inside before making the file. Now open up a tool like lxappearance and set your UI font to Sans. You'll see that programs like firefox start
using the fonts mentioned in the fonts.conf file too.
Note: I've noticed that both chrome and firefox render the fonts.conf file.
So a $ curl https://blog.aktsbot.in/files/fonts.conf > $HOME/.config/fontconfig/fonts.conf should
download and set the file.
Xorg
Create a file called $HOME/.Xresources and paste this in
Xft.autohint: 0
Xft.antialias: 1
Xft.hinting: true
Xft.hintstyle: hintslight
Xft.dpi: 131
Xft.rgba: rgb
Xft.lcdfilter: lcddefault$ xdpyinfo | grep -B 2 resolution. For me it gave the following. So, I went with 131
screen #0:
dimensions: 1600x900 pixels (310x174 millimeters)
resolution: 131x131 dots per inch.Xresource and fonts.conf files are the same.
Then when you start your window manager, make sure to source this file. I start my i3wm session from the
tty by issuing a $ startx. So I add the source command to my $HOME/.xinitrc file
~$ cat .xinitrc
#!/bin/sh
xrdb -merge $HOME/.Xresources # <--- this line
xset b off &
# more config options ...
exec ck-launch-session dbus-launch i3
~$ The information regarding our monitor can be found by doing a
~$ xrandr --props | grep 'connected' | grep -v 'dis'
LVDS1 connected primary 1600x900+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 310mm x 170mm
/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-monitor.conf as root with this info
$ cat /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-monitor.conf
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "LVDS1"
DisplaySize 310 170
EndSectionNow we toggle infinality by modifying/creating the file
~$ cat /etc/profile.d/freetype2.sh
# Subpixel hinting mode can be chosen by setting the right TrueType interpreter
# version. The available settings are:
#
# truetype:interpreter-version=35 # Classic mode (default in 2.6)
# truetype:interpreter-version=38 # Infinality mode
# truetype:interpreter-version=40 # Minimal mode (default in 2.7)
#
# There are more properties that can be set, separated by whitespace. Please
# refer to the FreeType documentation for details.
# Uncomment and configure below
export FREETYPE_PROPERTIES="truetype:interpreter-version=38"
Note:If you're unsure about the dpi setting, a value of 96 is usually a safe bet.
Firefox
If you're running firefox, type in about:config in the URL bar and make these changes.
Each one is a separate entry. Again, match the dpi with your values
gfx.font_rendering.fontconfig.max_generic_substitutions = 127
layout.css.dpi = 131
Credits
Fin
With that we now have pixel perfect font rendering.
Happy Hacking & have a great day!