[comp.fonts] Fuzzy fonts??

curtj@pogo.GPID.TEK.COM (Curt ) (10/31/88)

In article <3448@pt.cs.cmu.edu> cbs@cad.cs.cmu.edu (Clauss Strauch) writes:
>
>     In comp.sys.next there's been a thread of discussion concerning
>so-called "fuzzy" (anti-aliased) fonts on CRTs.   Can anybody in netland
>provide more information? 


	Peter Karow from URW addresses this topic in his book on fonts.
	I don't have the book with me or I would give you more information.

	The concept is quite simple.  You generate a larger raster image of 
	the character and reduce it by averaging the pixels around it.

	ie. for a display that has 4 gray levels you would generate a 
	character 2 times the point size and simply take groups of 2x2 
	matrices within that image to generate none display pixel.


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kaufman@polya.Stanford.EDU (Marc T. Kaufman) (11/01/88)

In article <6204@pogo.GPID.TEK.COM> curtj@pogo.GPID.TEK.COM (Curt (Jutz) Jutzi) writes:

>	Peter Karow from URW addresses this topic in his book on fonts.
>	I don't have the book with me or I would give you more information.

>	The concept is quite simple.  You generate a larger raster image of 
>	the character and reduce it by averaging the pixels around it.

>	ie. for a display that has 4 gray levels you would generate a 
>	character 2 times the point size and simply take groups of 2x2 
>	matrices within that image to generate none display pixel.

I have done this with 16-levels of gray (i.e. 4x scaling in x and y, then
count the number of black pixels in each 4x4 cell to get a gray value) for
the Macintosh.  This was probably overkill.  It works well enough that you
can read a font like Zapf Chancery when it is only 6 scan lines high.  The
down-side is that it is slower to display than a 1-bit font, the gray is not
a true blend-to-background, and the technique does you no good on devices that
don't have gray (such as Laserwriters).

Marc Kaufman (kaufman@polya.stanford.edu)

faustus@ic.Berkeley.EDU (Wayne A. Christopher) (11/02/88)

In article <6204@pogo.GPID.TEK.COM>, curtj@pogo.GPID.TEK.COM (Curt ) writes:
> 	The concept is quite simple.  You generate a larger raster image of 
> 	the character and reduce it by averaging the pixels around it.

Does this mean that if PostScript draws characters by drawing some combination
of filled and unfilled polygons, all you have to do is modify the routines
to draw the polygons in order to get fuzzy fonts?

> 	Peter Karow from URW addresses this topic in his book on fonts.

Could you post a reference to this book?

	Wayne

curtj@pogo.GPID.TEK.COM (Curt ) (11/03/88)

In article <7011@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU> faustus@ic.Berkeley.EDU
>(Wayne A. Christopher) writes:
>In article <6204@pogo.GPID.TEK.COM>, curtj@pogo.GPID.TEK.COM (Curt Jutzi)
>writes:
>> 	The concept is quite simple.  You generate a larger raster image of 
>> 	the character and reduce it by averaging the pixels around it.
>
>Does this mean that if PostScript draws characters by drawing some combination
>of filled and unfilled polygons, all you have to do is modify the routines
>to draw the polygons in order to get fuzzy fonts?

	I have no idea what you are referring to here.  
	This technique is used with a display surface that has gray levels.
	Hardcopy, at this time, is BLACK and WHITE (or color).  It also has
	nothing to do directly with PostScript.  

	Book Ref.

		Digital Formats for Typefaces
		Peter Karow
		URW Verlag Kreienkoppel 55 2000 Hamburg 65 West Germany
		(C) 1987  
		ISBN 3-926515-01-5
		ISBN 3-926515-00-7
	

	"FUZZY FONTS" as you call them, are only addressed on pages
	pp. 42 - 44.  I would not recommend the book.

	I have seen the output displayed on a display with 16 gray levels,
	at URW in Germany.  The quality is quite good.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
 __  /|		Curt Jutzi (Jutz) 	(503) 685-3723	Tektronix Inc.
 \'o.O`	        tektronix!pogo!curtj			Del. St. 63-356
 =(___)=					 	P.O. Box 1000 
    U	  	 					Wilsonville,OR 97070
 ACK! PHHT!	"Life's an adventure.. go for it."
	    	"Make America beautiful, eat your beer cans."	
		"If time heals all wounds, how do you explain belly buttons?"

	

trb@ima.ima.isc.com (Andrew Tannenbaum) (11/04/88)

>	Book Ref.
>
>		Digital Formats for Typefaces
>		Peter Karow
>		URW Verlag Kreienkoppel 55 2000 Hamburg 65 West Germany
>		(C) 1987  
>		ISBN 3-926515-01-5
>		ISBN 3-926515-00-7
>	

Further notes:  01-5 is the English edition.  00-7 is the original
German, from which the English was translated.

As of June 1987, it was available from

	URW
	One Tara Boulevard
	Suite 210
	Nashua NH 03062
	(603) 882-7445

at the strange rate of $44 for the first book, $22 for each additional.

At that time, URW told me of a place in Boston called "The Store"
(as I recall) that was in the World Trade Center Boston, Suite 400
(617) 439-5300.  (My receipt has this address, but no company name -
odd.)  I got my copies there.

	Andrew Tannenbaum   Interactive   Boston, MA   +1 617 247 1155

kaufman@polya.Stanford.EDU (Marc T. Kaufman) (11/04/88)

In article <2851@ima.ima.isc.com> trb@ima.UUCP (Andrew Tannenbaum) writes:

>At that time, URW told me of a place in Boston called "The Store"
>(as I recall) that was in the World Trade Center Boston, Suite 400
>(617) 439-5300.  (My receipt has this address, but no company name -
>odd.)  I got my copies there.

The name of the company is "The Company" (what is the name of The Company?)
They are the US sales outlet for URW fonts and technology.

The book has a lot of good introductory things about fonts, full
documentation of URW fontfile formats, but not much (except for a
couple of examples) about fuzzy fonts or rendering algorithm subtleties.

Marc Kaufman (kaufman@polya.stanford.edu)

faustus@ic.Berkeley.EDU (Wayne A. Christopher) (11/05/88)

In article <6214@pogo.GPID.TEK.COM>, curtj@pogo.GPID.TEK.COM (Curt ) writes:
> > Does this mean that if PostScript draws characters by drawing some
> > combination of filled and unfilled polygons, all you have to do is
> > modify the routines to draw the polygons in order to get fuzzy fonts?
> 
> 	I have no idea what you are referring to here.  

What I mean is, when PostScript has to draw a character for the first time,
presumably it takes the outline representation and uses its polygon fill
algorithm to fill it in.  If the polygon fill algorithm does anti-aliasing
automatically, doesn't this give you fuzzy fonts?

	Wayne