Re: Fonts for NB

[Michael Norman michael.norman@xxxxxxxx]

At 03:22 PM 3/17/2008, Harry Binswanger wrote:
Maybe you should send the modified fonts to NB, for their inclusion
of it with NB 8.
Problem is not the fonts; it's the program. To quote their tech
support, *We begin painting at the top of the text area, and then,
based on font size and leading (taking into account screen
resolution) keep painting up until we run out of screen space. For your
font, your leading, and your screen size/resolution, it just happens not to
have enough space to draw the entire bottom line. As you page up/down
through the file, or scroll by line through it (either by keystroke or by
using the scrollbar elevator), you will see that the bottom line ends up in
different places. There is really nothing obvious that we can do to
prevent this. We
certainly don't want to rewrite the entire screen once we get to the bottom
to move it all up a fraction (that would have a huge performance hit, and
have more serious aesthetic issues, as well as negatively affecting the top
line of text).  In any case, this is the way we have handled
the screen for years and years, without complaints until now. Given
the lack of negative feedback on this point, we are, candidly,
unlikely to devote the quite considerable resources to changing
this. But more to the point is that it's not at all clear what we
could do to change this, even if
we were inclined to rewrite some of the most basic routines around which the
program has been built over the years.*
I get most of that. The *fix* RH suggested was to increase the line
gap in the fonts you want to use. Line gap is similar to leading, but
not the same. Problem is, the *leading* it creates, extra leading
that gets rid of the cut-off descenders, is permanent. And there are
consequences. Increase the leading in Verdana, as Paul has done, to
say 500 or 600 units, and you create a de facto line spacing of 1.6
or 1.7 when you print. So before you print that particular font, you
have to figure out which LS setting will restore it -- on paper -- to
*normal* spacing. Paul and I feel somewhat the same about this: I'm
not going to spend eight hours staring at a screen with the g's, y's,
j's etc cut off at the bottom line. (Why the NB list hasn't see this
is a realy mystery; I have it on three machines.) And I write on that
bottom line, much like others, I suspect. RH suggests a work-around
-- put a bunch of MU's on a key and hit the key to move the last line
up every paragraph or so. Works fine. I think I'm going to try
FontCreator too and modify the fonts I use in NB. If I can figure one
LS value that will restore the normal spacing to the modified fonts
*before* printing and put that value on a key, should be okay.
Kludge, I know, but it will have to do until, and if, NB decides to
change its screen handling. As always, reports to follow.

Michael Norman