Font configuration/Examples
See Font configuration for the main article.
Configurations can vary to a degree. Please post Fontconfig configurations with an explanation for why they were done.
Contents
Hinted fonts
~/.config/fontconfig/fonts.conf
<?xml version='1.0'?> <!DOCTYPE fontconfig SYSTEM 'fonts.dtd'> <fontconfig> <match target="font"> <edit mode="assign" name="antialias"> <bool>true</bool> </edit> <edit mode="assign" name="embeddedbitmap"> <bool>false</bool> </edit> <edit mode="assign" name="hinting"> <bool>true</bool> </edit> <edit mode="assign" name="hintstyle"> <const>hintslight</const> </edit> <edit mode="assign" name="lcdfilter"> <const>lcddefault</const> </edit> <edit mode="assign" name="rgba"> <const>rgb</const> </edit> </match> </fontconfig>
No hinting for italic or bold
<?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>
</fontconfig>
Sharp fonts
<!DOCTYPE fontconfig SYSTEM "fonts.dtd">
<fontconfig>
<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> <!-- try hintmedium if it looks bad -->
<edit name="lcdfilter" mode="assign"><const>lcddefault</const></edit>
<edit name="rgba" mode="assign"><const>rgb</const></edit> <!-- set to match your display -->
</match>
</fontconfig>
Enable anti-aliasing only for bigger fonts
Some users prefer the sharper rendering that anti-aliasing does not offer:
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE fontconfig SYSTEM "fonts.dtd">
<fontconfig>
<match target="font">
<edit name="antialias" mode="assign">
<bool>false</bool>
</edit>
</match>
<match target="font" >
<test name="size" qual="any" compare="more">
<double>12</double>
</test>
<edit name="antialias" mode="assign">
<bool>true</bool>
</edit>
</match>
<match target="font" >
<test name="pixelsize" qual="any" compare="more">
<double>16</double>
</test>
<edit name="antialias" mode="assign">
<bool>true</bool>
</edit>
</match>
</fontconfig>
Disable bold font
For when a font does not present itself well in bold and you can't disable bold fonts in the application (st for example).
...
<match target="pattern">
<test qual="any" name="family">
<string>Envy Code R</string>
</test>
<test name="weight" compare="more">
<const>medium</const>
</test>
<edit name="weight" mode="assign" binding="same">
<const>medium</const>
</edit>
</match>
...
Default fonts
For font consistency, all applications should be set to use the serif, sans-serif, and monospace aliases, which are mapped to particular fonts by fontconfig. See Metric-compatible fonts for options and examples.
Japanese
Example fonts.conf which also specifies a default font for the Japanese locale (ja_JP) and keeps western style fonts for Latin letters.
<?xml version='1.0'?> <!DOCTYPE fontconfig SYSTEM 'fonts.dtd'> <fontconfig> <!-- Default font (no fc-match pattern) --> <match> <edit mode="prepend" name="family"> <string>Noto Sans</string> </edit> </match> <!-- Default font for the ja_JP locale (no fc-match pattern) --> <match> <test compare="contains" name="lang"> <string>ja</string> </test> <edit mode="prepend" name="family"> <string>Noto Sans CJK JP</string> </edit> </match> <!-- Default sans-serif font --> <match target="pattern"> <test qual="any" name="family"><string>sans-serif</string></test> <!--<test qual="any" name="lang"><string>ja</string></test>--> <edit name="family" mode="prepend" binding="same"><string>Noto Sans</string> </edit> </match> <!-- Default serif fonts --> <match target="pattern"> <test qual="any" name="family"><string>serif</string></test> <edit name="family" mode="prepend" binding="same"><string>Noto Serif</string> </edit> <edit name="family" mode="append" binding="same"><string>IPAPMincho</string> </edit> <edit name="family" mode="append" binding="same"><string>HanaMinA</string> </edit> </match> <!-- Default monospace fonts --> <match target="pattern"> <test qual="any" name="family"><string>monospace</string></test> <edit name="family" mode="prepend" binding="same"><string>Inconsolatazi4</string></edit> <edit name="family" mode="append" binding="same"><string>IPAGothic</string></edit> </match> <!-- Fallback fonts preference order --> <alias> <family>sans-serif</family> <prefer> <family>Noto Sans</family> <family>Open Sans</family> <family>Droid Sans</family> <family>Ubuntu</family> <family>Roboto</family> <family>NotoSansCJK</family> <family>Source Han Sans JP</family> <family>IPAPGothic</family> <family>VL PGothic</family> <family>Koruri</family> </prefer> </alias> <alias> <family>serif</family> <prefer> <family>Noto Serif</family> <family>Droid Serif</family> <family>Roboto Slab</family> <family>IPAPMincho</family> </prefer> </alias> <alias> <family>monospace</family> <prefer> <family>Inconsolatazi4</family> <family>Ubuntu Mono</family> <family>Droid Sans Mono</family> <family>Roboto Mono</family> <family>IPAGothic</family> </prefer> </alias> <dir>~/.fonts</dir> </fontconfig>
Chinese
~/.config/fontconfig/fonts.conf or /etc/fonts/local.conf
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE fontconfig SYSTEM "fonts.dtd">
<fontconfig>
<match target="font">
<edit name="embeddedbitmap" mode="assign">
<bool>false</bool>
</edit>
</match>
<match>
<test qual="any" name="family">
<string>serif</string>
</test>
<edit name="family" mode="prepend" binding="strong">
<string>Noto Serif</string>
</edit>
</match>
<match target="pattern">
<test qual="any" name="family">
<string>sans-serif</string>
</test>
<edit name="family" mode="prepend" binding="strong">
<string>Roboto</string>
</edit>
</match>
<match target="pattern">
<test qual="any" name="family">
<string>monospace</string>
</test>
<edit name="family" mode="prepend" binding="strong">
<string>DejaVu Sans Mono</string>
</edit>
</match>
<match>
<test name="lang" compare="contains">
<string>zh</string>
</test>
<test name="family">
<string>serif</string>
</test>
<edit name="family" mode="prepend">
<string>Source Han Serif CN</string>
</edit>
</match>
<match>
<test name="lang" compare="contains">
<string>zh</string>
</test>
<test name="family">
<string>sans-serif</string>
</test>
<edit name="family" mode="prepend">
<string>Source Han Sans CN</string>
</edit>
</match>
<match>
<test name="lang" compare="contains">
<string>zh</string>
</test>
<test name="family">
<string>monospace</string>
</test>
<edit name="family" mode="prepend">
<string>Noto Sans Mono CJK SC</string>
</edit>
</match>
<!--Windows & Linux Chinese fonts. -->
<match target="pattern">
<test qual="any" name="family">
<string>WenQuanYi Zen Hei</string>
</test>
<edit name="family" mode="assign" binding="same">
<string>Source Han Sans CN</string>
</edit>
</match>
<match target="pattern">
<test qual="any" name="family">
<string>WenQuanYi Micro Hei</string>
</test>
<edit name="family" mode="assign" binding="same">
<string>Source Han Sans CN</string>
</edit>
</match>
<match target="pattern">
<test qual="any" name="family">
<string>WenQuanYi Micro Hei Light</string>
</test>
<edit name="family" mode="assign" binding="same">
<string>Source Han Sans CN</string>
</edit>
</match>
<match target="pattern">
<test qual="any" name="family">
<string>Microsoft YaHei</string>
</test>
<edit name="family" mode="assign" binding="same">
<string>Source Han Sans CN</string>
</edit>
</match>
<match target="pattern">
<test qual="any" name="family">
<string>SimHei</string>
</test>
<edit name="family" mode="assign" binding="same">
<string>Source Han Sans CN</string>
</edit>
</match>
<match target="pattern">
<test qual="any" name="family">
<string>SimSun</string>
</test>
<edit name="family" mode="assign" binding="same">
<string>Source Han Serif CN</string>
</edit>
</match>
<match target="pattern">
<test qual="any" name="family">
<string>SimSun-18030</string>
</test>
<edit name="family" mode="assign" binding="same">
<string>Source Han Serif CN</string>
</edit>
</match>
</fontconfig>
Patched packages
- Configuration is usually necessary.
- The new font rendering will not be available until applications restart.
- Applications which statically link to a library will not be affected by the system library, or patches applied to it.
- https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/freetype || freetype2-ubuntuAUR[broken link: package not found] fontconfig-ubuntuAUR
To restore the original packages, reinstall freetype2, cairo, and fontconfig as dependencies (use the --asdeps flag with pacman when reinstalling). Include lib32-cairo, lib32-fontconfig, and lib32-freetype2 if you also installed 32-bit versions.