benwiggy Posted August 14, 2011 Share Posted August 14, 2011 This isn't really related to PDFs, but I couldn't see a better place to put it. What's up with the terrible font display in Filemaker? Any font displayed at a size lower than the OS Text Smoothing threshold looks like absolute rubbish. I've had to lower the threshold just for FM. On a PDF of the output, it appears fine, however. This doesn't happen on any other app, and I only use high-quality Linotype fonts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vaughan Posted August 14, 2011 Share Posted August 14, 2011 I only use high-quality Linotype fonts FMP only supports TrueType fonts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benwiggy Posted August 14, 2011 Author Share Posted August 14, 2011 Really...? Why is an application "supporting" (or not) fonts at all? Surely it should just let the OS do the lifting? I would expect more -- particularly from an app that has its roots in Apple Inc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vaughan Posted August 14, 2011 Share Posted August 14, 2011 FMP is a database, not desktop publishing. Using anything but the standard fonts is a PITA for support and maintenance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comment Posted August 15, 2011 Share Posted August 15, 2011 Why is an application "supporting" (or not) fonts at all? Surely it should just let the OS do the lifting? Perhaps it has something to do with Filemaker being cross-platform - and at least one of the supported platforms wasn't so good at "doing the lifting" at the time. There's some hope that the layout engine will be replaced with something more standard. What you see now is legacy from previous versions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vaughan Posted August 15, 2011 Share Posted August 15, 2011 Remember what happened when the layout engine was changed in FMP 7? I'm not looking forward to another engine change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comment Posted August 15, 2011 Share Posted August 15, 2011 I am not aware of the layout engine being changed in FMP 7. I still see the original ClarisWorks layout tools from 1991 - which is actually a subset of MacDraw tools from 1984, even to the point of retaining the pattern fill. As far as I am concerned, they cannot change it soon enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vaughan Posted August 15, 2011 Share Posted August 15, 2011 Remember all the fuzzy font issues with FMP 7? I figured that was a new rendering engine... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comment Posted August 15, 2011 Share Posted August 15, 2011 If I had to take a guess, I'd say it was an attempt to make an old rendering engine work in a new environment. The idea here is to have no rendering engine at all and let either the OS or a standard cross-platform rendering library figure it out, Just as an example, the layout could be built as HTML/CSS and rendered by WebKit. This would provide access to thing we can currently only dream about, like gradient fills, shadows, mouseover effects, native UI elements, etc. (not to mention animated transitions). Also, these things are being proactively developed, so you wouldn't be stuck with a static set of tools like we are now. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benwiggy Posted August 15, 2011 Author Share Posted August 15, 2011 I'll agree that Filemaker does feel like MacDraw from the 80s. I know it's not a DTP program, but it does have an important visual/print component, and a 25-year-old interface is not really up to scratch. I'm using OpenType fonts, and I've even noticed accented characters not displaying the accents. (Just a ü umlaut -- not czech diacritics or anything tricky.) That having been said, FM is the only product I've found that does what I want. (Mostly) And it has been a huge help for my research already. When a program does some things really well, its shortcomings are more irritating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vaughan Posted August 15, 2011 Share Posted August 15, 2011 I'm using OpenType fonts, and I've even noticed accented characters not displaying the accents. (Just a ü umlaut -- not czech diacritics or anything tricky.) FMP can handle that. There is something else wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comment Posted August 15, 2011 Share Posted August 15, 2011 When a program does some things really well, its shortcomings are more irritating. Well, Filemaker is a lot of fun - and a large portion of the fun comes from finding workarounds for those shortcomings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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