Re: [ft-devel] a hidden gem: the autohint warper code

[Werner LEMBERG]

From: Miles Bader <address@hidden>
Subject: Re: [ft-devel] a hidden gem: the autohint warper code
Date: Wed, 02 Mar 2011 16:01:28 +0900

> Werner LEMBERG <address@hidden> writes:
>
>> Below you can find two links to images (from David Turner, who is
>> testing and evaluating the warping stuff again).  Please compare.
>>
>>   http://img848.imageshack.us/img848/9311/wikigitwarpoff.png
>>   http://img852.imageshack.us/img852/3342/wikigitwarpon.png
>>
>> Interestingly, David thinks that the autohinter warping produces much
>> worse results, while I consider exactly the opposite...
>
> Hmm
>
> Interestingly, it's not the shapes I notice so much, but that the
> _spacing_ in the "hinting = on" image looks vastly better.  The
> spacing in the "off" image is downright awful.
>
> Not sure why this is so, but I'm guessing that the "off" image is
> using up extra columns of pixels for almost-unnoticeable fringes at
> the sides of characters, and the result is that there appears to be
> extra colums of whitespace inserted at those points...

The too wide spacing (without the warper) is more or less an unwanted
artifact of the autohinter.  Maybe this can be improved by further
tuning, but it's a difficult topic.


    Werner