Fonts for dynamic use

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andro
Posts: 152
Joined: Mon Apr 06, 2020 4:45 am

Fonts for dynamic use

Post by andro »

There are only a limited number of fonts for labels and text fields. It is possible to use other fonts? Say I want a value displayed using an arbitrary font of my choosing. Can this be done?
arbuxMusic
Posts: 49
Joined: Sun Aug 25, 2019 10:26 am

Re: Fonts for dynamic use

Post by arbuxMusic »

When I looked at this in VMD, I couldn't see a way to change the standard controls.

I considered using a canvas for manually drawing the text. (I wanted extra-small text). I ran into legal and technical issues - I would have to make sure I had the rights for distribution of the fonts in the module in question and ensuring they are Mac & Windows compatible.

Of course... you can create your own fonts. However, that became more hassle than it was worth so I left it to another time.
andro
Posts: 152
Joined: Mon Apr 06, 2020 4:45 am

Re: Fonts for dynamic use

Post by andro »

Or use open source fonts.
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Captain
Posts: 103
Joined: Sat Aug 25, 2018 11:12 am

Re: Fonts for dynamic use

Post by Captain »

Talking about fonts: I do my development on Mac, but before publishing my latest module, I also thought of testing it on Windows, just in case. What I noticed was that the Arial Black font I had used did not work on Windows, and it reverted to regular Arial (I think), which was not really a catastrophe or showstopper, but looked all wrong. I fixed the problem by using bold version of regular Arial instead, which made the module look the same on Mac & Windows. I thought the idea of the limited font choice is to make sure they work everywhere? I just checked the fonts I have available in Windows (I have a basic Win10 installation), and indeed Arial Black is not there. Not sure if it’s not even supposed to be an option in MD, or if others have it by default in Windows too, or...
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honki-bobo
Posts: 305
Joined: Sat Nov 09, 2019 1:18 pm

Re: Fonts for dynamic use

Post by honki-bobo »

Captain wrote: Thu May 28, 2020 8:59 am Talking about fonts: I do my development on Mac, but before publishing my latest module, I also thought of testing it on Windows, just in case. What I noticed was that the Arial Black font I had used did not work on Windows, and it reverted to regular Arial (I think), which was not really a catastrophe or showstopper, but looked all wrong. I fixed the problem by using bold version of regular Arial instead, which made the module look the same on Mac & Windows. I thought the idea of the limited font choice is to make sure they work everywhere? I just checked the fonts I have available in Windows (I have a basic Win10 installation), and indeed Arial Black is not there. Not sure if it’s not even supposed to be an option in MD, or if others have it by default in Windows too, or...
I'm on Windows 10 and I can select Arial Black as a font in VMD. I did not install any additional fonts, though I am not sure if it came with my LibreOffice installation or if it was there from the beginning.
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Captain
Posts: 103
Joined: Sat Aug 25, 2018 11:12 am

Re: Fonts for dynamic use

Post by Captain »

honki-bobo wrote: Thu May 28, 2020 9:30 am I'm on Windows 10 and I can select Arial Black as a font in VMD. I did not install any additional fonts, though I am not sure if it came with my LibreOffice installation or if it was there from the beginning.
I actually didn’t try it in VMD, I just checked Fonts in Windows’ Control Panel and couldn’t see Arial Black there. But I’ll install VMD on my Windows machine and see what is says...
andro
Posts: 152
Joined: Mon Apr 06, 2020 4:45 am

Re: Fonts for dynamic use

Post by andro »

In VCV Rack, you can use any system font regardless of deployment platform as you convert text in SVG to paths, and everything is good. Perhaps CA could take a leaf out of their book? After all, you can use SVG images for components in the Skin Editor, so it is not beyond the bounds of possibility.
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