[Xerte] Text anti-alias question - Xerte 2 desktop

Thu Nov 25 10:04:47 GMT 2010

Did you get anywhere with this? Time has been in short supply for me this week...

From: xerte-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk [mailto:xerte-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk] On Behalf Of Mary Ann Ahearn
Sent: 22 November 2010 17:04
To: Xerte discussion list
Subject: Re: [Xerte] Text anti-alias question - Xerte 2 desktop

Just checked with a colleague who used:

TextField.antiAliasType = "advanced"

This made the text more crisp via Action Script in a past project.  We had to publish for Flash 8 player for this to work.

It would be very cool if something like this could be an optional  property of the LO, similar to the embedFonts property, but which could also be overridden for an individual text field just as embedFonts can be.

We probably could alter the source code but hate to touch it and haven't had to yet.

Thanks!
ma

On Mon, Nov 22, 2010 at 10:59 AM, Julian Tenney <Julian.Tenney at nottingham.ac.uk<mailto:Julian.Tenney at nottingham.ac.uk>> wrote:
So you can set myIcon.txt.antiAliasType but I'm not sure what you need to set it with? That is confusing...

Probably the property inspector settings are applied at compile time, and at runtime there are less options available?

From: xerte-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk<mailto:xerte-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk> [mailto:xerte-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk<mailto:xerte-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk>] On Behalf Of Mary Ann Ahearn
Sent: 22 November 2010 13:50
To: Xerte discussion list
Subject: Re: [Xerte] Text anti-alias question - Xerte 2 desktop

It's a property of text fields.

So I thought I'd consult Flash 8 help to see what it has to say.  Now I'm very confused because the property panel seems to offer different options than those available via action script.

>From Flash 8 Professional help file -

public antiAliasType:  string     The type of anti-aliasing used for this TextField instance.

(TextField.antiAliasType property)

Help goes on to say the following:

The type of anti-aliasing used for this TextField instance. Advanced anti-aliasing is available only in Flash Player 8 and later. You can control this setting only if the font is embedded (with the embedFonts property set to true). For Flash Player 8, the default setting is "advanced".

To set values for this property, use the following string values:

"normal"

Applies the regular text anti-aliasing. This matches the type of anti-aliasing that Flash Player used in version 7 and earlier.

"advanced"

Applies advanced anti-aliasing, which makes text more legible. (This feature is available as of Flash Player 8.) Advanced anti-aliasing allows for high-quality rendering of font faces at small sizes. It is best used with applications that have a lot of small text. Advanced anti-aliasing is not recommended for fonts that are larger than 48 points.

Help for the properties panel for text gives the following options:
*         In the Property inspector, choose one of the following options from the Anti-Aliasing pop-up menu:

Use Device Fonts specifies that the SWF file use the fonts installed on the local computer to display the fonts. Although this option has the least impact on the size of the SWF file, it also forces you to rely on the fonts installed on the user's computer for font display. For example, if you specify the font Times Roman as a device font, the Times Roman font must be installed on the computer playing back the content for the text to display. For this reason, when using device fonts, choose only commonly installed font families.

Bitmap Text (No Anti-Alias) turns off anti-aliasing and provides no text smoothing. The text is displayed using sharp edges, and the resulting SWF file size is increased because the font outlines are embedded in the SWF. Bitmap text is sharp at the exported size, but scales poorly.

Anti-Alias for Animation creates a smoother animation. This is possible in part because Flash ignores alignment and kerning information. Specifying Anti-Alias for Animation creates a larger SWF file, because font outlines are embedded.

NOTE

Fonts rendered using Anti-Alias for Animation are less legible at smaller font sizes. for this reason, it is recommended that you use 10 point or larger type when specifying Anti-Alias for Animation.

Anti-Alias for Readability uses a new anti-aliasing engine that improves the readability of fonts, particularly at small sizes. Specifying Anti-Alias for Readability creates a larger SWF file, because font outlines are embedded. In order to use the Anti-Alias for Readability setting you must publish to Flash Player 8.

NOTE

Anti-Alias for Readability creates a highly legible typeface even at small sizes. However, it animates poorly, and may cause performance problems. If you intend to animate text, use Anti-Alias for Animation.

Custom Anti-Alias (Flash Professional only) lets you modify the font's properties as you see fit. The custom anti-aliasing properties are Sharpness and Thickness.

On Mon, Nov 22, 2010 at 5:45 AM, Julian Tenney <Julian.Tenney at nottingham.ac.uk<mailto:Julian.Tenney at nottingham.ac.uk>> wrote:
Not sure: how do you do it in Flash?

From: xerte-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk<mailto:xerte-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk> [mailto:xerte-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk<mailto:xerte-bounces at lists.nottingham.ac.uk>] On Behalf Of Mary Ann Ahearn
Sent: 19 November 2010 22:35
To: Xerte discussion list
Subject: [Xerte] Text anti-alias question - Xerte 2 desktop

Is there a way to set Xerte text to Anti-alias for readability?

We're using embedded fonts with style sheets for formatting and all is well but it could be a little crisper.  Looks like it's the flash default - anti-alias for animation.

Couldn't find much in the archives.

Thanks!
ma

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