[SOLVED]fonts don't look good anymore - why?

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catch22
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[SOLVED]fonts don't look good anymore - why?

Post by catch22 »

Since long I use a conky-file in Conky Manager that I adapted the way I like it; mainly for text / reminders of shortcuts and such.
The font was really nice, but since a long time ago this changed - if I recall well, it's since upgrading from Mint 17 Cinnamon to a higher 17 (at present I have 18.2 Cinnamon).

The font Ubuntu perhaps is not used anymore?
Or is there something else wrong with this file?
I have no clue where I can see which fonts are in use on the system.

Another thing is that in Conky Manager v2.4 selecting the file and clicking the pencil to "Edit file manually in a text editor" does nothing.
I have to go to the file in Nemo or in terminal to open it (no big deal, but not working correctly).

Here is the file in question:
https://pastebin.com/H6Tv7gWs
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 2 times in total.
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richyrich

Re: fonts don't look good anymore - why?

Post by richyrich »

If you open and login to Synaptic Package Manager, and use the Quick filter with the word "font", you can find all of the fonts available in Mint.
I see ttf-ubuntu-font-family , is this the fonts you are looking for ?
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Re: fonts don't look good anymore - why?

Post by catch22 »

richyrich wrote:If you open and login to Synaptic Package Manager, and use the Quick filter with the word "font", you can find all of the fonts available in Mint.
I see ttf-ubuntu-font-family , is this the fonts you are looking for ?
It is not, because that one is installed already.
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Re: fonts don't look good anymore - why?

Post by catch22 »

I should stress the fact that altering the font and its size in the text editor has no effect in how Conky shows the content - it remains unaltered.
Editing from within Conky Manager isn't working.
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trytip
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Re: fonts don't look good anymore - why?

Post by trytip »

double-click the edit button in conky manager

backup your .config/fontconfig/fonts.conf if you have one the replace it with this, reboot and then change hinting to slight or full. oust a snap here how your conky looks

Code: Select all

<?xml version='1.0'?>
<!DOCTYPE fontconfig SYSTEM 'fonts.dtd'>
<fontconfig>
  <match target="font" >
    <edit mode="assign" name="autohint">  <bool>true</bool></edit>
    <edit mode="assign" name="hinting">   <bool>false</bool></edit>
    <edit mode="assign" name="lcdfilter"> <const>lcddefault</const></edit>
    <edit mode="assign" name="hintstyle"> <const>hintslight</const></edit>
    <edit mode="assign" name="antialias"> <bool>true</bool></edit>
    <edit mode="assign" name="rgba">      <const>rgb</const></edit>
  </match>

  <match target="font">
    <test name="pixelsize" qual="any" compare="more"><double>15</double></test>
    <edit mode="assign" name="lcdfilter"><const>lcdlight</const></edit>
    <edit mode="assign" name="hintstyle"><const>hintnone</const></edit>
  </match>

  <match target="font">
    <test name="weight" compare="more"><const>medium</const></test>
    <edit mode="assign" name="hintstyle"><const>hintnone</const></edit>
    <edit mode="assign" name="lcdfilter"><const>lcdlight</const></edit>
  </match>

<match target="font">
    <test name="slant"  compare="not_eq"><double>0</double></test>
    <edit mode="assign" name="hintstyle"><const>hintnone</const></edit>
    <edit mode="assign" name="lcdfilter"><const>lcdlight</const></edit>
  </match>

  <match target="font">
    <edit name="antialias" mode="assign"><bool>true</bool></edit>
    <edit name="hinting" mode="assign"><bool>true</bool></edit>
    <edit name="hintstyle" mode="assign"><const>hintfull</const></edit>
    <edit name="lcdfilter" mode="assign"><const>lcddefault</const></edit>
    <edit name="rgba" mode="assign"><const>rgb</const></edit>
  </match>

</fontconfig>
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catch22
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Re: fonts don't look good anymore - why?

Post by catch22 »

trytip wrote:double-click the edit button in conky manager

backup your .config/fontconfig/fonts.conf if you have one the replace it with this, reboot and then change hinting to slight or full. oust a snap here how your conky looks
Double-clicking doesn't do anything on the edit-button.
I always use single-click system anyway ;-)

I didn't have a .config/fontconfig/fonts.conf so I copied yours, but which hinting should I alter?

The ones I see (lines 6 and 33) are both boolean?

Code: Select all

6 <edit mode="assign" name="hinting">   <bool>false</bool></edit>
33  <edit name="hinting" mode="assign"><bool>true</bool></edit>
 
Here's how it looks at present - way too small to read comfortably and with a font that does not look great:
conky_wrong.png
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Re: fonts don't look good anymore - why?

Post by catch22 »

Meanwhile I have re-installed Conky Manager and it still does not open any of the files with the pencil icon to edit manually.
Also all files seem to show something when clicking Preview, except for the one I want to use.

If someone could get me on the way to sort out perhaps to use conky without the Conky Manager :?: , that could be helpful, because I don't need all those other available conky files - just the one I want.
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Re: fonts don't look good anymore - why?

Post by catch22 »

Purged everything conky and tried backrolling to an older version 1.9 as suggested in another thread and as described here http://coreygoldberg.blogspot.be/2016/0 ... -back.html ..still not working properly..
This thread is starting to feel very odd btw - like talking to myself.. :?
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Re: fonts don't look good anymore - why?

Post by trytip »

you don't alter anything from the .config/fontconfig/fonts.conf you create one if you don't have one and copy the code. then in appearance/fonts you select slight hinting or full

your conky is bad fonts because i believe you are not using antialias. probably it's in the concyrc why not post your conky here and did you doubleclick the edit button maybe your system won't open files that don't have extension? have no clue i use linux mint 17.3 with
you can edit your conky i the .conky folder

you doubleclick the EDIT button in conky manager
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Re: fonts don't look good anymore - why?

Post by CaptainKirksChair »

I don't know about Conky but a troubleshooting tip is to create a new user account and then logon using it. See if the default settings for Conky with a new user don't have the same issues. If they do, then it's a system problem.
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Re: fonts don't look good anymore - why?

Post by catch22 »

trytip wrote:you don't alter anything from the .config/fontconfig/fonts.conf you create one if you don't have one and copy the code. then in appearance/fonts you select slight hinting or full

your conky is bad fonts because i believe you are not using antialias. probably it's in the concyrc why not post your conky here and did you doubleclick the edit button maybe your system won't open files that don't have extension? have no clue i use linux mint 17.3 with
you can edit your conky i the .conky folder

you doubleclick the EDIT button in conky manager
- appearance/fonts has been and still is "slight"
- antialias is set on "Rgba" (whatever that means I do not know)
- posted the conky pastebin here already in the very first post of this thread
- the edit button in conkymanager is no problem; it is the "edit file manually" button that does not work
- changing the conky manually in gvim (eg editing the font size) does nothing
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Re: fonts don't look good anymore - why?

Post by catch22 »

CaptainKirksChair wrote:I don't know about Conky but a troubleshooting tip is to create a new user account and then logon using it. See if the default settings for Conky with a new user don't have the same issues. If they do, then it's a system problem.
I tried another user and exactly the same is happening:
- in conkymanager the "edit file manually" button does not work
- changing the conky manually in gvim (editing font size) does nothing
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Re: fonts don't look good anymore - why?

Post by CaptainKirksChair »

catch22 wrote:I tried another user and exactly the same is happening
Then it's a system level issue. There has to be some config file that is not located in your home folder that is controlling all of this. Again, I don't know Conky so that's all I've got.
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Re: fonts don't look good anymore - why?

Post by trytip »

try this

Code: Select all

#
#TEST trytip@mintforum
#
background yes
update_interval 1
total_run_times 0

cpu_avg_samples 2
net_avg_samples 2
temperature_unit celsius

double_buffer yes
no_buffers yes
text_buffer_size 2048

gap_x 20
gap_y 20
minimum_size 300 900
maximum_width 350
own_window_class systemConky
own_window yes
#all options for own_window_type are normal, desktop, dock, panel or override
own_window_type normal
own_window_transparent no
own_window_argb_visual yes
own_window_argb_value 230
own_window_hints undecorated,below,sticky,skip_taskbar,skip_pager
border_inner_margin 3
border_outer_margin 3
alignment bottom_left

draw_shades no
draw_outline no
draw_borders no
draw_graph_borders yes

override_utf8_locale yes
use_xft yes
xftfont caviar dreams:size=8
xftfont DejaVu Sans Mono:size=18
xftalpha 0.5
uppercase no

###Defining Colors###
#Default White#
default_color FFFFFF
#Default MY Light Green#
#default_color 90EE90
default_outline_color 000000
default_shade_color 000000
#Shades of Gray#
color1 DDDDDD
color2 AAAAAA
color3 888888
#Orange#
color4 CE5C00
#MY Light Green#
color5 90EE90
#MY Blue Light TEXT#
color6 55ABFF
#Light Orange#
color7 FFA300
#MY Blue Light BARS#
color8 1E90FF
color9 E6E6FA
#My Blue Graph#
#001030 0057FF#
#My Gray Graph#
#474747 E9E9E9#
#My Orange Graph#
#562E00 FF8800#
###End Color###

own_window_colour 2E3436

# Loading lua script for drawing rings
#lua_load ./seamod_rings.lua
#lua_draw_hook_post main

TEXT
${font Ubuntu:bold:size=11}${color4}SYSTEM	${hr 2}
${offset 15}${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color1}$sysname $kernel
#${offset 15}${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color1}$nodename
${offset 15}${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color1}Uptime$alignr$uptime_short
${offset 15}${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color1}RAM$alignr$mem/$memmax
${offset 15}${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color1}Swap usage$alignr$swap/$swapmax
${offset 15}${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color1}Disk usage$alignr${fs_used /}/${fs_size /}
${offset 15}${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color1}CPU usage$alignr${cpu cpu0}%

${offset 15}${font Ubuntu:bold:size=11}${color4}SHORTCUT	${hr 2}
${offset 25}${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color1}Alt+F2$alignr Run Dialog
${offset 25}${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color1}Alt+F2+r+Enter$alignr Restart Cinnamon
${offset 25}${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color1}Ctrl+Alt+l$alignr Lock Screen
${offset 25}${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color1}Ctrl+Alt+Del$alignr Logout
${offset 25}${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color1}Ctrl+Alt+End$alignr Shutdown
${offset 25}${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color1}Ctrl+Shift+Alt r$alignr Toggle recording desktop
${offset 25}${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color1}Super+t$alignr Terminal
${offset 25}${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color1}Super+f$alignr File Manager
${offset 25}${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color1}Super+e$alignr Editor
${offset 25}${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color1}Super+w$alignr Web Browser
  
${offset 25}${font Ubuntu:bold:size=11}${color4}TILE & window stuff    ${hr 2}
${offset 35}${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color1}Super+arrow$alignr tile 
${offset 35}${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color1}Super+Shift+arrows$alignr to other monitor
${offset 35}${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color1}Alt+F5$alignr Unmaximize
${offset 35}${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color1}Alt+F10$alignr Maximize
${offset 35}${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color1}Ctrl+Alt+L/R_arrow$alignr Workspaces
${offset 35}${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color1}Ctrl+Alt+U/D_arrow$alignr Windows
${offset 35}${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color1}Super+d$alignr Desktop
${offset 35}${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color1}Ctrl+Alt+l$alignr Lock screen

${offset 225}${font Ubuntu:bold:size=11}${color4}MOCP	${hr 2}
${offset 175}${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color1}m$alignr MusicDir
${offset 175}${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color1}!    ${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color1}$alignr jazz
${offset 175}${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color1}@ ${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color1}$alignr play_along
${offset 175}${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color1}\# ${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color1}$alignr party_unsorted
${offset 175}${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color1}$$   ${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color1}$alignr moc_streams
${offset 175}${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color1}% ${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color1}$alignr blues
${offset 175}${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color1}^   ${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color1}$alignr gitano_etc
${offset 175}${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color1}&  ${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color1}$alignr harmonica 
${offset 175}${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color1}*   ${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color1}$alignr ρεμπέτικο
${offset 175}${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color1}(   ${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color1}$alignr Türkçe
${offset 175}${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color1})    $alignr Africa

${font Ubuntu:normal:size=17}${color5}${exec mocp -Q %artist} 
${exec mocp -Q %song}
${offset 135}${font Ubuntu:bold:size=11}${color4}ALIAS	${hr 2}
${offset 135}${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color1}bashrc $alignr =gvim&source
${offset 135}${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color1}hisgr $alignr =history | grep
${offset 135}${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color1}mmm $alignr =mocp

# Showing CPU Graph
#${voffset 20}
#${offset 120}${cpugraph 40,183 666666 666666}${voffset -25}
#${offset 90}${font Ubuntu:bold:size=11}${color5}CPU
# Showing TOP 5 CPU-consumers
#${offset 105}${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color4}${top name 1}${alignr}${top cpu 1}%
#${offset 105}${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color1}${top name 2}${alignr}${top cpu 2}%
#${offset 105}${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color2}${top name 3}${alignr}${top cpu 3}%
#${offset 105}${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color3}${top name 4}${alignr}${top cpu 4}%
#${offset 105}${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color3}${top name 5}${alignr}${top cpu 5}%

#Showing memory part with TOP 5
#${voffset 40}
#${offset 90}${font Ubuntu:bold:size=11}${color5}MEM
#${offset 105}${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color4}${top_mem name 1}${alignr}${top_mem mem 1}%
#${offset 105}${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color1}${top_mem name 2}${alignr}${top_mem mem 2}%
#${offset 105}${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color2}${top_mem name 3}${alignr}${top_mem mem 3}%
#${offset 105}${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color3}${top_mem name 4}${alignr}${top_mem mem 4}%
#${offset 105}${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${color3}${top_mem name 4}${alignr}${top_mem mem 5}%

# Showing disk partitions: root, home and Data
#${voffset 28}
#${offset 90}${font Ubuntu:bold:size=11}${color5}DISKS
#${offset 120}${diskiograph 33,183 666666 666666}${voffset -30}
#${voffset 20}
#${offset 15}${font Ubuntu:bold:size=11}${color1}Free: ${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${fs_free /}${alignr}${font Ubuntu:bold:size=11}Used: 
#${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${fs_used /}
#${offset 15}${font Ubuntu:bold:size=11}${color1}Free: ${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${fs_free /home}${alignr}${font Ubuntu:bold:size=11}#Used: ${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${fs_used /home}
#${offset 15}${font Ubuntu:bold:size=11}${color1}Free: ${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${fs_free /media/Data}${alignr}${font #Ubuntu:bold:size=11}Used: ${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}${fs_used /media/Data}

# Network data (my desktop have only LAN). ETHERNET ring is mostly useless but looks pretty, main info is in the graphs
#${voffset 43}
#${offset 90}${font Ubuntu:bold:size=11}${color5}ETHERNET
#${voffset 40}             
#${offset 15}${color1}${font Ubuntu:bold:size=11}Up: ${alignr}${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}$color2${upspeed eth0} / ${totalup}
#${offset 15}${upspeedgraph eth0 40,285 4B1B0C FF5C2B 100 -l}
#${offset 15}${color1}${font Ubuntu:bold:size=11}Down: ${alignr}${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}$color2${downspeed eth0} / ${totaldown}
#${offset 15}${downspeedgraph eth0 40,285 324D23 77B753 100 -l}

#${color4}${hr 2}
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catch22
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Re: fonts don't look good anymore - why?

Post by catch22 »

trytip wrote:try this (snipped code)
Wonderful!
What you did different in this file compared to mine I'll have to sort out later this week - at present I'm sleep deprived after an intensive study week, but I had to try out your suggestion before hitting the hay.
Thank you for this :D
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Re: [SOLVED]fonts don't look good anymore - why?

Post by trytip »

i wasn't sure which conky you use or if the code can works on conky old and new (i still have mint 17.3) so i combined your top conky code with mine and changed

Code: Select all

${font Ubuntu:size=11,weight:bold}

Code: Select all

${font Ubuntu:size=11,weight:normal}
to

Code: Select all

${font Ubuntu:bold:size=11}

Code: Select all

${font Ubuntu:normal:size=11}

did not spend much time to figure if your top code above TEXT is works so you may want to first replace the $font settings ONLY
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Re: [SOLVED]fonts don't look good anymore - why?

Post by catch22 »

trytip wrote:...
did not spend much time to figure if your top code above TEXT is works so you may want to first replace the $font settings ONLY
Super, thank you!

Code: Select all

use xft yes
is another change that made it complete.
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