Requested Truetype Font Sample Improvement

[Bhikkhu Pesala]

This could be a lot better with some simple tweaks to use the available space more efficiently.

1. The default sample text could be changed to:

@ ABCDE FGHIJ KLMNO PQRSTU VWXYZ abcde fghij klmno pqrstu vwxyz 12345 67890 ~#$%^&*() +-=×÷±<>¬ []\ /{}¦| :;'.,"«» !? ¡¿ ¢£¤¥§¶ ªº©®™ °¹²³ ´¸`·¨¯ ¼½¾ ÀÁÂÃÄÅÆ ÈÉÊË ÌÍÎÏ ÒÓÔÕÖØ ÙÚÛÜ ÇÐÑ àáâãäåæ èéêë ìíï òóôõöø ùúûü çðñ ÿýÝ µßÞþ

2. The Font Title could be larger and show the typeface
3. The file size on disk could be shown
4. The creation date could be shown
5. The version and copyright strings don't need the labels Version and Copyright.
Final result might be like the attachment.

[Sam_Zen]

Nice initiative to continue this issue from the OT-dept.
Integrated your default sample text in the meantime.
I support 1-5, and, as important, you've also improved the window by making less room for the upper part with the text info.
This would give the representation of the actual set more room, but still the window-size is fixed to 640 x 480.
A bit more flexibilty in size would be an improvement.

I have little knowledge about the font thing, but I explored some TTF-files in my collection, and noticed two groups :
The ones with a basic ascii-set and others with a bigger, extended set.
Plain difference in the first place : < or > ~100 KB. So 3. can be a good indicator in this.
Am I wrong in supposing that this is the difference between 8-bit and 16-bit ?

[Bhikkhu Pesala]

Am I wrong in supposing that this is the difference between 8-bit and 16-bit ?

The number of characters in a font is only one of several factors influencing the TTF file size. The complexity of those glyphs, and whether the font is hinted have a bigger influence. Another factor is whether or not the font uses composites for letters like é. Composites remove duplication of font data by resusing the same data for èéëẽ and ē.

A TTF character outline is just a vector drawing with on-curve and off-curve nodes. Windows creates bitmaps from the screen whenever you use a font in an application. Hinting information in a font is like anti-aliasing and improves the appearance at small sizes.

This glyph is more complex and so uses more bytes than this one, but they won't look any different on screen at 72 point, let alone at 12 point.

[Sam_Zen]

Composites remove duplication of font data by resusing the same data for èéëẽ and ē.

Yes, I expected such a construction.

My guess about the filesize, was just as a rough assumption of what to expect.
Of course other factors, besides the number of characters, play a role. As with the number of nodes you mentioned.
But I can be pretty sure that a TTF font of 41 KB only covers the ASCII set, while a font of 352 KB has more.

[Bhikkhu Pesala]

Added to Project List