[gentoo-user] Making a new frame-buffer console font

[gentoo-user] Making a new frame-buffer console font

[Peter Humphrey]

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Hello list,

This is to summarise what I did in case anyone else wants to do
something similar.

Last May I was looking for a font that would distinguish the upper-case
letter O from the numbers 0 and 8 on a virtual TTY with a frame-buffer.
My difficulty was twofold: the available unicode fonts were all too
small, and the only bigger fonts I could find had an oblique stroke
through the zero which made it look like an eight[1], and some of them
even had serifs.

The first step was to find a font that looked good. I chose terminus
font, which included fonts up to 32 pixels tall and had an attractive
and easily read shape to its characters.

The second step was to find a font editor, and I found nafe[2]. I
fetched it and compiled it locally. GCC threw out an error but the
program seemed to work anyway. I followed its readme.txt and used the
text editor joe to replace the oblique stroke in the zero with spaces,
and to round the shoulders; I made sure I kept the line lengths the
same, though it's supposed not to be necessary. Lastly I gzip'd the new
font file.

The shoulders could be made more rounded, but for the moment I'm happy
with the result I have.

Thirdly, working at a virtual console, I replaced the original 
/usr/share/consolefonts/ter-v20n.psf.gz with my new version and called 
"etc/init.d/consolefont restart". Lovely!

There was still a problem though: when I ran a kernel menuconfig the
line characters were displayed as question marks; the system log on VT12
couldn't display all the characters right either.

The reason was straightforward. I'd noticed that nafe used file-name
suffix .psfu for fonts with unicode maps and .psf for those without.
Since all the files in /usr/share/consolefonts had .psf I assumed they
didn't need the map. Wrong. So I added the unicode map into my new.ter-
v20n.psf to make new.ter-v20n.psfu, then gzip'd it and copied it back
into /usr/share/consolefonts as ter-v20n.psf.gz. (Notice the missing u.)
Now I get the expected display of kernel menuconfig and the VT12 log.

The final step was to add /usr/share/consolefonts to CONFIG_PROTECT in
/etc/portage/make.conf so that I wouldn't lose my changes at the next
upgrade.

I've attached my three new console fonts for anyone who'd like to use
them. I've settled on the 22-pixel version pro tem.

Thanks to David Haller for getting me started by pointing me in the
right direction.

1.	Where did that oblique stroke come from? Was it just copied blindly
from those nasty old line printers, with their poor resolution? It must
surely be time now to get rid of it.

2.	Not another font editor: http://sourceforge.net/projects/nafe/files/nafe/nafe-0.1/

-- 
Rgds
Peter.

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Re: [gentoo-user] Making a new frame-buffer console font

[Walter Dnes]

On Tue, Feb 03, 2015 at 02:43:31PM +0000, Peter Humphrey wrote
> Hello list,
> 
> This is to summarise what I did in case anyone else wants to do
> something similar.
> 
> Last May I was looking for a font that would distinguish the upper-case
> letter O from the numbers 0 and 8 on a virtual TTY with a frame-buffer.
> My difficulty was twofold: the available unicode fonts were all too
> small, and the only bigger fonts I could find had an oblique stroke
> through the zero which made it look like an eight[1], and some of them
> even had serifs.
> 
> The first step was to find a font that looked good. I chose terminus
> font, which included fonts up to 32 pixels tall and had an attractive
> and easily read shape to its characters.
> 
> The second step was to find a font editor, and I found nafe[2]. I
> fetched it and compiled it locally. GCC threw out an error but the
> program seemed to work anyway. I followed its readme.txt and used the
> text editor joe to replace the oblique stroke in the zero with spaces,
> and to round the shoulders; I made sure I kept the line lengths the
> same, though it's supposed not to be necessary. Lastly I gzip'd the new
> font file.

  A bit of a tangent... do you know of any font editors that will
convert a font to "double-wide"?  E.g. convert 8x8 to 16x8, 8x12 to
16x12, or 8x16 to 16x16.  The reason I ask is because I have a laptop
with a 1280x800 screen.  Back in the old days, the native VGA display
would've been 80 columns across.  But now with framebuffer drivers, the
straight text display is almost unreadable 160 columns across.  Going to
the Sun 12x22 font gives me 107 columns across, but that's still not
good.  That's why I'm looking for 16-pixel-wide fonts, either freely
available, or try to generate them from existing 8-pixel-wide fonts.

-- 
Walter Dnes <waltdnes@waltdnes.org>
I don't run "desktop environments"; I run useful applications

Re: [gentoo-user] Making a new frame-buffer console font

[Peter Humphrey]

On Wednesday 04 February 2015 09:19:20 Walter Dnes wrote:

>  A bit of a tangent... do you know of any font editors that will
> convert a font to "double-wide"?  E.g. convert 8x8 to 16x8, 8x12 to
> 16x12, or 8x16 to 16x16.

I think that would be a bit of a tall order, unless you're happy to 
accept glyphs all having double-thickness vertical lines.

> The reason I ask is because I have a laptop with a 1280x800 screen. 
> Back in the old days, the native VGA display would've been 80 columns
> across.  But now with framebuffer drivers, the straight text display
> is almost unreadable 160 columns across.

Yes, that's what started me off on my hunt for acceptable fonts. This 
desktop screen is 27" and 1920x1080: evidently designed for 1080p video.

> Going to the Sun 12x22 font gives me 107 columns across, but that's
> still not good.

That one has serifs, doesn't it? Serif fonts work well in print with its 
much higher resolution, but IMO they're not a good idea on screens.

> That's why I'm looking for 16-pixel-wide fonts, either freely
> available, or try to generate them from existing 8-pixel-wide fonts.

From my own experience I can only suggest terminus-font; you might find 
an acceptable compromise there as its heights range from 12 to 32 
pixels, so I suppose its widths will range from 6 to 16. Or perhaps some 
font will call itself [something]-wide.

There's also the problem that most work in typeface design these days 
(not counting the print world) seems to be in graphical settings -- X 
etc. -- so anything new would need some sort of conversion for use in a 
console.

Good luck in your hunt! I expect you'll need it :-(

-- 
Rgds
Peter.

Re: [gentoo-user] Making a new frame-buffer console font

[Walter Dnes]

On Wed, Feb 04, 2015 at 03:33:58PM +0000, Peter Humphrey wrote
> On Wednesday 04 February 2015 09:19:20 Walter Dnes wrote:
> 
> >  A bit of a tangent... do you know of any font editors that will
> > convert a font to "double-wide"?  E.g. convert 8x8 to 16x8, 8x12 to
> > 16x12, or 8x16 to 16x16.
> 
> I think that would be a bit of a tall order, unless you're happy to 
> accept glyphs all having double-thickness vertical lines.

  That's what I was looking for.  I did not expect natively designed
16-pixel-wide fonts.

-- 
Walter Dnes <waltdnes@waltdnes.org>
I don't run "desktop environments"; I run useful applications

Re: [gentoo-user] Making a new frame-buffer console font

[wabenbau]

Am Mittwoch, 04.02.2015 um 15:33
schrieb Peter Humphrey <peter@prh.myzen.co.uk>:

> >From my own experience I can only suggest terminus-font; you might
> >find 
> an acceptable compromise there as its heights range from 12 to 32 
> pixels, so I suppose its widths will range from 6 to 16. Or perhaps
> some font will call itself [something]-wide.

I also use terminus-font as console font and even as X11 desktop font
since many years. It's readability is very good.

Regards
wabe

[gentoo-user] Re: Making a new frame-buffer console font

[Grant Edwards]

On 2015-02-04, <wabenbau@gmail.com> <wabenbau@gmail.com> wrote:
> Am Mittwoch, 04.02.2015 um 15:33
> schrieb Peter Humphrey <peter@prh.myzen.co.uk>:
>
>> >From my own experience I can only suggest terminus-font; you might
>> >find 
>> an acceptable compromise there as its heights range from 12 to 32 
>> pixels, so I suppose its widths will range from 6 to 16. Or perhaps
>> some font will call itself [something]-wide.
>
> I also use terminus-font as console font and even as X11 desktop font
> since many years. It's readability is very good.

I like terminus a lot -- especially for low DPI use.  

I'm also very fond of sun12x22.psfu.gz as a console font for high DPI
situations [some of my affaction for that font is probably a result of
nostalgic feelings for my Sun-3 and Sun-4 boxes of old.]

-- 
Grant Edwards               grant.b.edwards        Yow! for ARTIFICIAL
                                  at               FLAVORING!!
                              gmail.com            

Re: [gentoo-user] Making a new frame-buffer console font

[Peter Humphrey]

On Wednesday 04 February 2015 20:00:32 wabenbau@gmail.com wrote:

> I also use terminus-font as console font and even as X11 desktop font
> since many years. It's readability is very good.

I hadn't thought of it for Konsole, but now I have and I like it. But 
something's odd here: I've chosen the 17pt size, and I wanted to delete 
the oblique stroke from it, but as far as I can see there isn't a 17pt 
font anywhere on the system! Unless it's hidden in a file with no 17 in 
its name, or Konsole is scaling the font itself.

Any ideas, anyone?

-- 
Rgds
Peter.

Re: [gentoo-user] Making a new frame-buffer console font

[wabenbau]

Am Samstag, 07.02.2015 um 09:59
schrieb Peter Humphrey <peter@prh.myzen.co.uk>:

> On Wednesday 04 February 2015 20:00:32 wabenbau@gmail.com wrote:
> 
> > I also use terminus-font as console font and even as X11 desktop
> > font since many years. It's readability is very good.
> 
> I hadn't thought of it for Konsole, but now I have and I like it. But 
> something's odd here: I've chosen the 17pt size, and I wanted to
> delete the oblique stroke from it, but as far as I can see there
> isn't a 17pt font anywhere on the system! Unless it's hidden in a
> file with no 17 in its name, or Konsole is scaling the font itself.
> 
> Any ideas, anyone?
> 

Not all sizes are available, that's true. It is a little bit as a fixed
font. :-)

I don't know what you mean with oblique stroke. Do you mean the
slash through the letter zero? Anyway, I don't know how to remove it.

Regards
wabe

Re: [gentoo-user] Making a new frame-buffer console font

[wabenbau]

Am Sonntag, 08.02.2015 um 01:16
schrieb <wabenbau@gmail.com>:

> Am Samstag, 07.02.2015 um 09:59
> schrieb Peter Humphrey <peter@prh.myzen.co.uk>:
> 
> > On Wednesday 04 February 2015 20:00:32 wabenbau@gmail.com wrote:
> > 
> > > I also use terminus-font as console font and even as X11 desktop
> > > font since many years. It's readability is very good.
> > 
> > I hadn't thought of it for Konsole, but now I have and I like it.
> > But something's odd here: I've chosen the 17pt size, and I wanted to
> > delete the oblique stroke from it, but as far as I can see there
> > isn't a 17pt font anywhere on the system! Unless it's hidden in a
> > file with no 17 in its name, or Konsole is scaling the font itself.
> > 
> > Any ideas, anyone?
> > 
> 
> Not all sizes are available, that's true. It is a little bit as a
> fixed font. :-)
> 
> I don't know what you mean with oblique stroke. Do you mean the
> slash through the letter zero? Anyway, I don't know how to remove it.

Sorry, I meant bitmap font and not fixed font. And I'm not sure, but I
think it is indeed a bitmap font.

Regards
wabe

Re: [gentoo-user] Making a new frame-buffer console font

[Peter Humphrey]

On Sunday 08 February 2015 01:16:58 wabenbau@gmail.com wrote:

> I don't know what you mean with oblique stroke. Do you mean the
> slash through the letter zero? Anyway, I don't know how to remove it.

Yes.

I've always been puzzled by that form of zero, and recently since it 
started causing me difficulty I've come to loathe it. :-(

Maybe I'll go back to Deja Vu Sans Mono for Konsole.

-- 
Rgds
Peter.

Re: [gentoo-user] Making a new frame-buffer console font

[Neil Bothwick]

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On Sun, 08 Feb 2015 09:33:59 +0000, Peter Humphrey wrote:

> > I don't know what you mean with oblique stroke. Do you mean the
> > slash through the letter zero? Anyway, I don't know how to remove
> > it.  

> I've always been puzzled by that form of zero, and recently since it 
> started causing me difficulty I've come to loathe it. :-(

It dates back to the days when fonts were much coarser and it was the
only reliable way to distinguish between a zero and a capital o. Less
useful nowadays and many fonts no longer use it.


-- 
Neil Bothwick

Format: (v.) to erase irrevocably and unintentionally.
        (n.) The process of such erasure.

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Re: [gentoo-user] Making a new frame-buffer console font

[Peter Humphrey]

On Sunday 08 February 2015 11:00:47 Neil Bothwick wrote:
> On Sun, 08 Feb 2015 09:33:59 +0000, Peter Humphrey wrote:
> > > I don't know what you mean with oblique stroke. Do you mean the
> > > slash through the letter zero? Anyway, I don't know how to remove
> > > it.
> > 
> > I've always been puzzled by that form of zero, and recently since it
> > started causing me difficulty I've come to loathe it. :-(
> 
> It dates back to the days when fonts were much coarser and it was the
> only reliable way to distinguish between a zero and a capital o. Less
> useful nowadays and many fonts no longer use it.

Yes, I know, but I can't see why it's survived so long after it stopped 
being useful.

Never mind. We are where we are.

-- 
Rgds
Peter.

Re: [gentoo-user] Making a new frame-buffer console font

[Neil Bothwick]

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On Sun, 08 Feb 2015 12:16:31 +0000, Peter Humphrey wrote:

> > It dates back to the days when fonts were much coarser and it was the
> > only reliable way to distinguish between a zero and a capital o. Less
> > useful nowadays and many fonts no longer use it.  
> 
> Yes, I know, but I can't see why it's survived so long after it stopped 
> being useful.

Inertia? It's mainly the older fonts that have it, many no longer do.


-- 
Neil Bothwick

C&W music backward: get yer dog, wife, job, truck, kids, and sobriety
back.

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Re: [gentoo-user] Making a new frame-buffer console font

[Alan McKinnon]

On 08/02/2015 13:00, Neil Bothwick wrote:
> On Sun, 08 Feb 2015 09:33:59 +0000, Peter Humphrey wrote:
> 
>>> I don't know what you mean with oblique stroke. Do you mean the
>>> slash through the letter zero? Anyway, I don't know how to remove
>>> it.  
> 
>> I've always been puzzled by that form of zero, and recently since it 
>> started causing me difficulty I've come to loathe it. :-(
> 
> It dates back to the days when fonts were much coarser and it was the
> only reliable way to distinguish between a zero and a capital o. Less
> useful nowadays and many fonts no longer use it.
> 
> 


I actively seek out and use fonts with a stroked zero (or at least with
a dot in the middle of the zero. I can never remember if the digit is
the fat one or the thin one

-- 
Alan McKinnon
alan.mckinnon@gmail.com

Re: [gentoo-user] Making a new frame-buffer console font

[wabenbau]

Am Sonntag, 08.02.2015 um 15:30
schrieb Alan McKinnon <alan.mckinnon@gmail.com>:

> On 08/02/2015 13:00, Neil Bothwick wrote:
> > On Sun, 08 Feb 2015 09:33:59 +0000, Peter Humphrey wrote:
> > 
> >>> I don't know what you mean with oblique stroke. Do you mean the
> >>> slash through the letter zero? Anyway, I don't know how to remove
> >>> it.  
> > 
> >> I've always been puzzled by that form of zero, and recently since
> >> it started causing me difficulty I've come to loathe it. :-(
> > 
> > It dates back to the days when fonts were much coarser and it was
> > the only reliable way to distinguish between a zero and a capital
> > o. Less useful nowadays and many fonts no longer use it.
> > 
> > 
> 
> 
> I actively seek out and use fonts with a stroked zero (or at least
> with a dot in the middle of the zero. I can never remember if the
> digit is the fat one or the thin one

It's the same with me. :-) 

Re: [gentoo-user] Making a new frame-buffer console font

[Peter Humphrey]

On Sunday 08 February 2015 17:31:33 wabenbau@gmail.com wrote:
> Am Sonntag, 08.02.2015 um 15:30 schrieb Alan McKinnon
> <alan.mckinnon@gmail.com>:
> > I actively seek out and use fonts with a stroked zero (or at least
> > with a dot in the middle of the zero. I can never remember if the
> > digit is the fat one or the thin one
> 
> It's the same with me. :-)

I'd have thought it was easy enough: the zero is the same width as the 
other numerals. The O is bigger.

-- 
Rgds
Peter.

Re: [gentoo-user] Making a new frame-buffer console font

[Neil Bothwick]

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On Sun, 08 Feb 2015 22:50:57 +0000, Peter Humphrey wrote:

> > > I actively seek out and use fonts with a stroked zero (or at least
> > > with a dot in the middle of the zero. I can never remember if the
> > > digit is the fat one or the thin one  
> > 
> > It's the same with me. :-)  
> 
> I'd have thought it was easy enough: the zero is the same width as the 
> other numerals. The O is bigger.

Not in a proportional font it ain't :P


-- 
Neil Bothwick

SITCOM: Single Income, Two Children, Oppressive Mortgage

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Re: [gentoo-user] Making a new frame-buffer console font

[Peter Humphrey]

On Sunday 08 February 2015 23:23:34 Neil Bothwick wrote:
> On Sun, 08 Feb 2015 22:50:57 +0000, Peter Humphrey wrote:
> > > > I actively seek out and use fonts with a stroked zero (or at
> > > > least
> > > > with a dot in the middle of the zero. I can never remember if
> > > > the
> > > > digit is the fat one or the thin one
> > > 
> > > It's the same with me. :-)
> > 
> > I'd have thought it was easy enough: the zero is the same width as
> > the other numerals. The O is bigger.
> 
> Not in a proportional font it ain't :P

You're as bad as me :P

In a mono font the O looks bigger because it fills more of the "tile", 
so just remember The Big O.

-- 
Rgds
Peter.

Re: [gentoo-user] Making a new frame-buffer console font

[Neil Bothwick]

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On Mon, 09 Feb 2015 05:11:25 +0000, Peter Humphrey wrote:

> In a mono font the O looks bigger because it fills more of the "tile", 
> so just remember The Big O.

So instead of a font with a line through the zero, you have one where the
capital o wears dark glasses?


-- 
Neil Bothwick

PCMCIA: People Can't Memorize Computer Industry Acronyms

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Re: [gentoo-user] Making a new frame-buffer console font

[Alan McKinnon]

On 09/02/2015 00:50, Peter Humphrey wrote:
> On Sunday 08 February 2015 17:31:33 wabenbau@gmail.com wrote:
>> Am Sonntag, 08.02.2015 um 15:30 schrieb Alan McKinnon
>> <alan.mckinnon@gmail.com>:
>>> I actively seek out and use fonts with a stroked zero (or at least
>>> with a dot in the middle of the zero. I can never remember if the
>>> digit is the fat one or the thin one
>>
>> It's the same with me. :-)
> 
> I'd have thought it was easy enough: the zero is the same width as the 
> other numerals. The O is bigger.
> 


I have a horrible suspicion all 3 of us wear spectacles :-)

And it's been a few years since I could spot a difference of 2 pixels wide!

-- 
Alan McKinnon
alan.mckinnon@gmail.com

Re: [gentoo-user] Making a new frame-buffer console font

[Dale]

Alan McKinnon wrote:
> On 09/02/2015 00:50, Peter Humphrey wrote:
>> On Sunday 08 February 2015 17:31:33 wabenbau@gmail.com wrote:
>>> Am Sonntag, 08.02.2015 um 15:30 schrieb Alan McKinnon
>>> <alan.mckinnon@gmail.com>:
>>>> I actively seek out and use fonts with a stroked zero (or at least
>>>> with a dot in the middle of the zero. I can never remember if the
>>>> digit is the fat one or the thin one
>>> It's the same with me. :-)
>> I'd have thought it was easy enough: the zero is the same width as the 
>> other numerals. The O is bigger.
>>
>
> I have a horrible suspicion all 3 of us wear spectacles :-)
>
> And it's been a few years since I could spot a difference of 2 pixels wide!
>


Anyone besides me use the ctrl + shortcut to zoom in?  I do that and I
have bi-focals on.   I also have a magnifying glass right in front of my
monitor. 

Sounds bad don't it?

Dale

:-)  :-) 

Re: [gentoo-user] Making a new frame-buffer console font

[Peter Humphrey]

On Monday 09 February 2015 01:00:32 Dale wrote:

> Anyone besides me use the ctrl + shortcut to zoom in?

Yes, often.

> I do that and I have bi-focals on.  I also have a magnifying glass
> right in front of my monitor.

I tried varifocals but had to give them up. I now have three single-
focus pairs. At least with those, things are in focus at some distance, 
but with the varies nothing was ever in focus. Not good for driving.

I too have a magnifying glass to hand.

> Sounds bad don't it?

Things are never as bad as they seem. ;-)

-- 
Rgds
Peter.

Re: [gentoo-user] Making a new frame-buffer console font

[wabenbau]

Am Montag, 09.02.2015 um 08:49
schrieb Alan McKinnon <alan.mckinnon@gmail.com>:

> On 09/02/2015 00:50, Peter Humphrey wrote:
> > On Sunday 08 February 2015 17:31:33 wabenbau@gmail.com wrote:
> >> Am Sonntag, 08.02.2015 um 15:30 schrieb Alan McKinnon
> >> <alan.mckinnon@gmail.com>:
> >>> I actively seek out and use fonts with a stroked zero (or at least
> >>> with a dot in the middle of the zero. I can never remember if the
> >>> digit is the fat one or the thin one
> >>
> >> It's the same with me. :-)
> > 
> > I'd have thought it was easy enough: the zero is the same width as
> > the other numerals. The O is bigger.
> > 
> 
> 
> I have a horrible suspicion all 3 of us wear spectacles :-)

I have three spectacles. One for reading phone and books, one for screen
reading and other indoor activities and one for outdoor orientation. :-)
 
> And it's been a few years since I could spot a difference of 2 pixels
> wide!

If I wear the right glasses for the respective distance I luckily have
a relative good eyesight. But I must let adjust my glasses every year
by an optician because of aging.

Nevertheless I prefer easy readable fonts and big screens. They just
causing less stress.

Regards
wabe

[gentoo-user] Re: Making a new frame-buffer console font

[Grant Edwards]

On 2015-02-08, <wabenbau@gmail.com> <wabenbau@gmail.com> wrote:
> Am Sonntag, 08.02.2015 um 15:30
> schrieb Alan McKinnon <alan.mckinnon@gmail.com>:
>
>> On 08/02/2015 13:00, Neil Bothwick wrote:
>> > On Sun, 08 Feb 2015 09:33:59 +0000, Peter Humphrey wrote:
>> > 
>> >>> I don't know what you mean with oblique stroke. Do you mean the
>> >>> slash through the letter zero? Anyway, I don't know how to remove
>> >>> it.  
>> > 
>> >> I've always been puzzled by that form of zero, and recently since
>> >> it started causing me difficulty I've come to loathe it. :-(
>> > 
>> > It dates back to the days when fonts were much coarser and it was
>> > the only reliable way to distinguish between a zero and a capital
>> > o. Less useful nowadays and many fonts no longer use it.
>> > 
>> > 
>> 
>> 
>> I actively seek out and use fonts with a stroked zero (or at least
>> with a dot in the middle of the zero. I can never remember if the
>> digit is the fat one or the thin one
>
> It's the same with me. :-) 

Me too.

-- 
Grant Edwards               grant.b.edwards        Yow! My mind is a potato
                                  at               field ...
                              gmail.com