The crisp fonts saga

Sat Dec 16 20:10:39 UTC 2023

On 12/16/23 3:30 AM, Mark Raynsford wrote:
> I have, yes. I actually considered properties for each of these, but I
> thought it more important to be able to specify them on a node-by-node
> basis.

I would prefer not to have the tyranny of the project default replaced 
with a new tyranny of the app default. :-)

Wouldn't it be nice to allow developers and end users to enable hinting 
for any JavaFX application just by defining a system property?

Bonus: JavaFX doesn't include its system properties in the API 
documentation yet, and there's no guarantees made that they won't 
change, so you're kind of off the hook on documentation, too.

> Of course, I could always do both, as with the way font smoothing is
> right now (prism.lcdtext and -fx-font-smoothing-type: gray). :)

Would you consider splitting it into two enhancement requests? The first 
could propose the global properties, and a second could allow the 
developer to set them node by node.

You may know much of this already, but for what it's worth, below are 
some suggestions based on my own experience.

For all the reasons mentioned in Phil's message, text rendering issues 
are in their own special category, regardless of the project. They can 
be a tough sell, so the burden is on the reporter to provide 
overwhelming evidence, preferably with text and images all on one page.

It helps to go big with any "before" and "after" screenshots: 800 
percent minimum, 400 percent for a retina display, with "smoothing" 
disabled for the image zoom. If at all possible, do what you can to take 
the issue out of the realm of opinions, where it's often dismissed 
outright. For example, see 
<https://github.com/javafxports/openjdk-jfx/issues/229>.

The template below is a good format for enhancement requests. I find 
it's better to be too formal than too causal. You could post it all on 
one page, with images inline, somewhere on GitHub.

   JEP Template
   https://openjdk.org/jeps/2