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Beginners' Questions Rows of fonts on Text and Fonts list is illegible on 4K display
  1. #1
    DavidInHawaii DavidInHawaii @DavidInHawaii

    Hello!

    This screenshot is how the Text and Fonts list appears on my system's 4K display. This is the 1.4.2 app image running under Debian Bookworm. The version I have installed from the Debian repository, 1.2.2, has the same issue. It makes using Inkscape with text very difficult.

    Ideas?

    Screenshot 2025 05 16 17 29 18
  2. #2
    COD COD @COD

    Try this?
    https://inkscape.org/forums/beyond/fix-font-previews-cut-off-in-the-unified-font-browser/

     

  3. #3
    Tyler Durden Tyler Durden @TylerDurden

    It looks like you may be using the experimental Unified Font Browser. There is a font name checkbox that may help if disabled.  https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/issues/4857#note_2035108108

    The Unified Font Browser can be disabled (returns to legacy font browser) by unchecking the button in Preferences>Interface>Windows>Text and Font Dialog

    I usually pick fonts from the text tool's control bar at the top of the screen, when the text tool is active.

  4. #4
    DavidInHawaii DavidInHawaii @DavidInHawaii
    Thank you, Tyler and COD, for the advice. Tyler - I don't see a text tool control bar at the top of the screen when the text tool is active. All I see is the Text and Fonts pane on the right side. Ideas? I didn't try changing any settings, because I downloaded the 1.4.2 release source code, waded through the process of installing dependencies (whew! what a process!), compiled locally, and the problem disappeared. I might go tweak the settings to reduce the size in the pane a bit, but the full font names display properly now.
  5. #5
    Tyler Durden Tyler Durden @TylerDurden

    This is a bit dated, but shows the controls bar above the top ruler. http://tavmjong.free.fr/INKSCAPE/MANUAL/html/Anatomy.html

    Ensure the controls are visible, or Inkscape will not be usable to a great degree.

  6. #6
    DavidInHawaii DavidInHawaii @DavidInHawaii

    That's quite dated, it looks quite different in v1.4.2. After unchecking the Wide Screen option under View, I could access the dropdown for font selection, but it suffers from the clipped font names problem. The Text and Font Window doesn't.

    At the moment, the Text and Font window seems much more usable!

    Screenshot 2025 05 18 19 49 08
  7. #7
    Tyler Durden Tyler Durden @TylerDurden
    *

    That is unusual. The Controls should always be visible above the top ruler, if the checkbox is ticked in View>ShowHide>Tool Controls. Widescreen mode should only move the Commands Bar to the right side of the screen, which may push icons into the flyout menu (bug-ish).

     

    Nxplayer.Bin 20250519080028
    Inkscape 20250519074146
  8. #8
    DavidInHawaii DavidInHawaii @DavidInHawaii

    Here's how it looks on my 4K screen. I think Inkscape (like some other graphics apps I use) aren't designed (or optimized) for 4K or other hi-rez displays?

    At least on Debian Bookworm. I don't use WIndows or Mac.

    Screenshot 2025 05 19 22 17 37
  9. #9
    Tyler Durden Tyler Durden @TylerDurden

    I'm pretty sure hidpi interface is still being worked on.

    It looks like the commands bar is tiny font scaling is huge. I'd reduce the font scaling in Preferences>Interface>Theming, and increase the the Toolbox and Controls bar size in Preferences>Interface>Toolbars.

    That won't fix the problem, but it will be a start.

    It may be related to this report: https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inbox/-/issues/12131

    I'd try v1.3.2. The user in the report indicated the issue was resolved to some degree between 1.2 and 1.4.

  10. #10
    DavidInHawaii DavidInHawaii @DavidInHawaii

    Well, I have 1.4.2, so I'd assume that if the problem had been fixed between 1.2 and 1.4, it would still be fixed...but, yeah, it's possible something regressed.

    In my experience with graphics and a number of other media aplications, "hidpi" is a work in progress for everyone. I have one audio editing application that has no problems with fonts at hidpi, but all their toolbar icons are tiny little things identifiable only by their tooltips. I have other applications like LibreOffice that seem to handle hidpi with flying colors. I think the reason they're successful is that they use SVG for icons and such, not bitmaps, and the window manager handles the scaling.

    I don't see Theming or Toolbars as options under Preferences > Interface in v1.4.2. Are you referring to v1.3.2?

    The issue you mentioned above seems to be specific to Windows. I have GTK3 on Linux here.

    Thanks for the help. Other ideas?

  11. #11
    Tyler Durden Tyler Durden @TylerDurden

    Should be found as seen in the attached images.

     

    Inkscape 1.4.2 (1:1.4.2+202505120738+ebf0e940d0)

                          Compile  (Run)
        GLib version:     2.72.4
        GTK version:      3.24.33 (3.24.33)
        glibmm version:   2.66.2
        gtkmm version:    3.24.5
        libxml2 version:  2.9.13
        libxslt version:  1.1.34
        Cairo version:    1.16.0 (1.16.0)
        Pango version:    1.50.6 (1.50.6)
        HarfBuzz version: 2.7.4 (2.7.4)

        OS version:       Linux Mint 21

  12. #12
    Tyler Durden Tyler Durden @TylerDurden

    If you click on the bug icon in the Help>About screen, it will copy the system info from your machine and you can paste into a reply (like ablove).

    There may be a GTK regression involved: https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gtk/-/issues/?label_name%5B%5D=Text+rendering

  13. #13
    DavidInHawaii DavidInHawaii @DavidInHawaii

    Thanks, Edit Preferences brought me to the Theming and Toolbar settings. While I was able to get the icons on the toolbars big enough, that didn't change the cut off font names in the drop down list using the Text tool's toolbar.

    "Bug icon" - searched a lot for it. It may or may not be a "bug icon" but on my 4K display it's just a rather small red dot beside the label that lists Inkscape and version info. Here's the result of clicking on it:

    Inkscape 1.4.2 (ebf0e940d0, 2025-05-08)

                          Compile  (Run)
        GLib version:     2.74.6
        GTK version:      3.24.38 (3.24.38)
        glibmm version:   2.66.5
        gtkmm version:    3.24.7
        libxml2 version:  2.9.14
        libxslt version:  1.1.35
        Cairo version:    1.16.0 (1.16.0)
        Pango version:    1.50.12 (1.50.12)
        HarfBuzz version: 6.0.0 (6.0.0)

        OS version:       Debian GNU/Linux 12 (bookworm)

    Thanks.

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