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Fonts Preferences Editor:

Application screenshot available [.gif format]

The Fonts Preferences Editor allows you to choose the style and size of fonts that the Amiga uses for its user interface.

Note: Many applications choose their own fonts and are not affected by your choices in the Font Editor.

Selected Fonts Field:
The Selected fonts display show the current settings for each of the three different types of display.

Font Selection Gadgets:
The three gadgets in the middle of the Font editor window allow you to select the type of text to be changed.

  • Workbench Icon Text
    The font used below icons in the Workbench windows. This is the only text for which colours can be specified.
  • System Default Text
    The font that the Amiga uses to display information, such as the text in the Workbench Output Window and the View By Name mode.
  • Screen Text
    The font appearing in menus, title bars, and most requesters.
You can only change the font for one type of text at a time. However, you can change the font for each type without exiting the Font editor.

Selecting Save or Use closes the Font editor; Save saves the changes across sessions and Use lets you use the changes for the current session only.

Workbench automatically tries to reset to display the new font choices. You are requested to close any open project, tool, or Shell windows.

Disk or drawer windows may remain open.

Note: Changing the Workbench Icon Text font forces a cleanup of the icons in all open windows. Select the Update All menu item to recall the previous positions.

Selecting the Cancel gadget closes the Font editor without making any changes.

Font Selection Requesters:
The three Font selection requesters display the available fonts and point sizes, as well as the current font for the selected type of text.

All fonts can be used for Workbench text or Screen text. However, the font used for the System default text must be a non proportional font, such as Topaz or Courier.

Non proportional, or monospaced, font characters are all the same width.

Drag the scroll bar or use the scroll arrows to scroll through the names of the available fonts. Select a font by pointing to it and clicking the selection button.

The font requester for the Workbench Icon text lets you specify the colour for the text or the text and field (background) with the Mode cycle gadget:

  • Selecting Text in the Mode gadget displays the text in the colour specified by the Text colour selection gadget; the field is transparent.
  • Selecting Text and Field lets you specify an opaque colour for the field. This option makes the text legible, regardless of the background pattern.
  • Change the colour of the text or field by clicking in the colour field next to the display button for both Text and Field. Be sure to select two different colours for the text and the field; if the text blends in with the field, the words will not be legible.
The number of available colours is determined by the current Workbench screen mode and the colours themselves are determined by the Palette editor.

Workbench screen colours can only be changed within the Palette editor.

FixFonts:
FixFonts utility, which is in the System drawer on the Workbench disk, is for updating .font files after fonts have been added or deleted.

Running FixFonts updates all the font files to match the corresponding font drawers.

Double-clicking on the FixFonts icon activates it without opening a window.

Intellifont:

Application screenshot available [.gif format]

The Intellifont utility, which is in the System drawer on the Workbench Extras disk, manages Intellifont® outline fonts on your Amiga sizes for existing fonts, and deletes fonts that are no longer needed.

Intellifont also allows you to create bitmap versions of any size outline font that can be used in applications that do not support outline fonts directly.

Intellifont can use Agfa Compugraphic fonts from MS-DOS FAIS disks, as well as font disks for the Amiga.

Since standard Compugraphic FAIS disks are in MS-DOS format, CrossDOS, an Amiga BridgeboardTM, or other MS-DOS emulator must be used to convert the files to AmigaDOS format.

When the fonts are properly installed, they are available to any application programs that can use them.

Installing Outline Fonts:
Note: Help is available in Intellifont at all times by pressing the Help key. Click on the various items in the Intellifont window for an explanation of their function.

Press Esc to exit Intellifont Help.

To install an outline font:

  1. Enter the complete path to the fonts in the Outline Font Source text gadget or select the file folder gadget next to it to open a file requester. The path should end with the directory that contains the outline typeface .type files.

  2. Select OK and the Source Typefaces scroll gadget displays the available outline fonts in that directory.

  3. Verify that you want to install the fonts in the drawer displayed in the Destination Font Drawer text gadget. If you have more than one font directory set up in your FONTS: assign path, use the Fonts: Path Component cycle gadget to switch between them. A non-assigned directory can also be entered. (In this case, the cycle gadget displays Not in Fonts: Path.) The contents of the Destination Font Drawer are shown in the Existing Fonts and Typefaces scroll gadget. Outline fonts are indicated with a small bullet (·) on the right in the scroll window.

  4. In the Source Typefaces display, click on each typeface to be installed. A plus sign (+) indicates selection.

  5. Select the Install Marked Typefaces gadget to copy the typefaces to the Destination Font Drawer.

  6. Select the Modify Existing Typefaces gadget to add or delete point sizes for any of the outlined fonts listed in the source typeface display.

Modifying Outline Fonts:
Using the Modify Existing Typefaces window, you can create or remove point sizes and bitmap images for a typeface.

The window lists the typefaces and sizes available in the drawer you selected on the Intellifont window.

Click on the typeface you want to modify. Use the gadget in the lower half of the screen to:

  • Delete Typeface
    Select one of the Existing Outline Typefaces. The selected typeface moves to a display box. Click on the Delete Typeface gadget.
  • Add Size
    Enter a new size into the Size display box and choose the Add Size gadget.
  • Delete Size
    Select a size or enter one into the Size display box and choose the Delete Size gadget.
  • Create Bitmap
    Creates a bitmap for the size displayed in the Size gadget. If you routinely use one size, create a bitmap for it.
  • Delete Bitmap
    Deletes the bitmap file for the size displayed. The size is still available as an outline font.
  • Perform Changes
    Saves your changes
  • Cancel
    Returns to the original Intellifont window.

The Close gadget closes the Intellifont windows close and exits the program.

Keyboard shortcut: Instead of selecting the gadgets previously described, press the initial letter of the gadget (underlined on the display).

Changing Environment Variables:
Intellifont can use two environment variables to store specifications about your outline fonts: Intellifont and Diskfont.

The Intellifont environment variable is used to create the list of sizes that are typically presented by applications in their font menus. The default sizes are 15, 30, 45, 60, and 75.

Create the Intellifont variable if you frequently use other sizes.

Use a text editor to create a file containing a list of sizes saved in ASCII format; the maximum number of sizes is 20. Save the file to SYS:Prefs/EnvArchive/Sys/Intellifont.

The Diskfont variable specifies the parameters used by the diskfont.library when it converts an outline typeface into an Amiga graphics font.

The format of the variable is:

XDPI/N, YDPI/N, XDOTP/N, YDOTP/N

The XDPI and YDPI parameters adjust the aspect ratio, which by default is 1:1.

If the fonts are to be used in the High Res display mode, adjust the aspect ratio by changing the XDPI value to 100 and the YDPI value to 50. Use a text editor to change the values and save the file to SYS:Prefs/Env-Archive/Sys/Diskfont.

For example:

YDPI 500 DPI 50

If XDPI is specified, YDPI must also be specified.

The XDOTP and YDOTP parameters control the dot size percentage (the space a dot fills in relation to the screen resolution).

The default value for both XDOTP and YDOTP is 100 (a dot fills the same size as implied by the resolution) and should not need changing.

If XDOTP is specified, YDOTP must also be specified.

Note: Very large or very small values of XDOTP or YDOTP are required before you can see a difference.


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