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How to make fonts in firefox look prettier? For example like in sleipnir

  • 8 replies
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  • Last reply by guigs

stmr
stmr
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Hello, I wonder if there is a way to make fonts in firefox look smooth and easy to read? I've tried using Sleinpir browser (http://www.fenrir-inc.com/us/sleipnir/) which has aimed to provide smooth and readable text and almost every piece of text looks just better and more pleasant to read.

I've tried almost every setting both in Options dialog and in about:config (under gfx.font filter). Enabling rendering via directwrite helped a lot, but it's still nothing compared to Sleipnir.

Here are some screenshots:

Default firefox - http://s5.postimg.org/8ifmq7u7p/ff_default.png

Firefox with directwrite enabled - http://s5.postimg.org/k15xb3c1h/ff_directdraw.png

Sleipnir - http://s5.postimg.org/5w049a305/sleipnir_default.png

So is there a way to make fonts look this pretty in firefox? Is there any iniciative to make FF capable of such thing?

Thanks a lot


(EDIT: I've even tried instaling gdi++ https://code.google.com/p/gdipp/ alternative renderer for windows, but it doesn't seem to make any change in firefox)

Hello, I wonder if there is a way to make fonts in firefox look smooth and easy to read? I've tried using Sleinpir browser (http://www.fenrir-inc.com/us/sleipnir/) which has aimed to provide smooth and readable text and almost every piece of text looks just better and more pleasant to read. I've tried almost every setting both in Options dialog and in about:config (under gfx.font filter). Enabling rendering via directwrite helped a lot, but it's still nothing compared to Sleipnir. Here are some screenshots: Default firefox - http://s5.postimg.org/8ifmq7u7p/ff_default.png Firefox with directwrite enabled - http://s5.postimg.org/k15xb3c1h/ff_directdraw.png Sleipnir - http://s5.postimg.org/5w049a305/sleipnir_default.png So is there a way to make fonts look this pretty in firefox? Is there any iniciative to make FF capable of such thing? Thanks a lot (EDIT: I've even tried instaling gdi++ https://code.google.com/p/gdipp/ alternative renderer for windows, but it doesn't seem to make any change in firefox)

Modified by stmr

Chosen solution

Ah, I unmarked it. In the source code there is a large amount of references to gdi being used: http://mxr.mozilla.org/mozilla-centra.../ident?i=gfxGDIFontList and there are bugs saying it is used on Windows machines, but I am sure if you open up a bug with mention of incorporating it in the whole system.

Would a sleipnir-like add on be able to render those fonts instead?

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All Replies (8)

philipp
philipp
  • Moderator
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hello stmr, you can try tweaking the font rendering in firefox with this addon: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/anti-aliasing-tuner/

stmr
stmr Question owner
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Thanks, this one helps a bit, but it's still not even close to Sleipnir.

guigs
guigs
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stmr
stmr Question owner
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Thanks for your reply, but as I've already written in the first post, I do have enabled the directwrite option. And I somehow don't get, how should font inspector help me, it only displays fonts used on website.

And I found that some special characters are being cut when fiddling with different types of rendering engine settings in anti-aliasing-tuner, so I returned to using default settings with DirectWrite.

By now I've used readability addons to make text more readable, but it's just not that pretty in most cases and definitely not that user friendly as having fonts rendered in readable way directly by browser and everywhere.

stmr
stmr Question owner
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Okay, I've found another way to improve firefox fonts - I installed GDI++ (https://code.google.com/p/gdipp/) which helped a little more than simply enabling directWrite (it also solved problem with some letters being cut). It's way prettier now and way more pleasing for reader. But it's still far from Sleipnir :(

I will try to contant FF developers to get further information how (so I could probably make addon that does this) can it be done or if it's anything like this planned in the future.

Modified by stmr

guigs
guigs
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Hi stmr, I am glad to hear that you are looking to contact FF developers to make an add on. For more information on this mdn has developers answering questions in stackoverflow.com

There is also documentation


If you have not already, please mark this thread as solved by marking the solution.
I hope you continue using our products and thank you for contacting Mozilla Support.

stmr
stmr Question owner
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it's not solved, FF on its own doesn't render nice fonts at all. (IE/Chrome/Opera render them the same way). Enabling DirectWrite helps a bit, but it comes with many bugs.

The only way was to enable GDI++ rendering in whole system.

Even with that, it still looks totally ugly compared to sleipnir

Modified by stmr

guigs
guigs
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Chosen Solution

Ah, I unmarked it. In the source code there is a large amount of references to gdi being used: http://mxr.mozilla.org/mozilla-centra.../ident?i=gfxGDIFontList and there are bugs saying it is used on Windows machines, but I am sure if you open up a bug with mention of incorporating it in the whole system.

Would a sleipnir-like add on be able to render those fonts instead?