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

[Mary Ann Ahearn]

A colleague poked around Xerte source code on Friday to try to make the text
in Xerte match the crispness of text in our swfs. She learned that in Xerte,
the antiAliasType property for text fields with embedded fonts is already
set to "advanced". This is equivalent to 'anti-aliased for
readability', which we use in ourswfs .

The reason why text in some of our swfs may look crisper, is because at
times we forgot to embed the fonts in our swf's text boxes. We need to
update these so that they will match Xerte text.

Unfortunately, embedding the fonts is what makes the text thicker/fuzzier.
Setting the text to 'anti-aliased for animation' (which is the default in
Flash and in ActionScript is equivalent to antiAliasType="normal") makes it
even more fuzzy. Since we need embedded fonts in order for the content to
look the same on every platform, we have to live with this trade-off.


On Sat, Nov 27, 2010 at 5:53 PM, Mary Ann Ahearn <maryann at moberg.com> wrote:

> Same here - plus it's a big holiday weekend in the states so we haven't
> tried anything yet.
>
> On Thu, Nov 25, 2010 at 5:04 AM, Julian Tenney <
> Julian.Tenney at nottingham.ac.uk> wrote:
>
>> 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> 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] *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> 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] *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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