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How to change font size in menus

2015-11-14
2016-06-05
  • Fco Javier García

    After more than an hour of research, I could not find how to change the font size of Freeplane interface menus. I am fifty years old and the small font size is a problem for me (may be for a few more people out there). I could not find any related option for doing so in the Preferences menu.

    With Docear (based on Freeplane) the problem is the same, but the menu font is so small that I cannot use it at all. I would be grateful to you if there is some easy way to change that, other than magnifying glasses.

    Thank you.

    PD: Sorry if the solution is obvious. I tried hard in the forum before asking for help.

     
    • Miguel Boyer

      Miguel Boyer - 2015-11-14

      Have you tried to change de default font size for the menus in your
      operating system? It is pretty easy in Windows. I guess the same is true
      for other OS. Freeplane should inherit with no problem from those settings.
      Then after a while you can return to small fonts, if you like, because one
      of the best things with this great software is the possibility to use only
      the keyboard for most things. You get used to it, and then you go much
      faster with no menus.

       
  • zipizap

    zipizap - 2015-11-14

    Also, before trying the indications of Miguel Boyer (last post) to change the font-size, verify that in freeplane you have: "Tools -> Preferences", Environment -> Look and Feel = Default

    Please report back how it went, so others interested in it, can also learn about it

     
  • Dimitry Polivaev

    Freeplane currently does not support setting user defined menu font size, and therefore there can be two solutions.

    You can change so-called Change DPI Scaling Size in Windows. Look in window help forums to learn more.

    I can make Freeplane menu font size configurable in the coming Freeplane versions.

    Which solution is better for you?

    Regards, Dimitry

     
  • anatolica

    anatolica - 2015-11-15

    In the earlier versions of Freeplane (pre Freeplane 1.3.5), changing the font size and even using a totally different Look & Feel (a.k.a Java LAF) was possible to achieve . Although this was a tricky process, the results were worth it.
    See this old forum discussion on this matter, if you'd like more info: Freeplane Old Forum - GUI customization
    After this method stopped working with Freeplane v. 1.3.5.01, I have filed a bug report (see here): Freeplane / Bugs / #2157 Broken JGoodies LAF Compatibility
    It has not been possible to fix it whatever I tried, so I still use the old, customizable version as my main Freeplane application.

    Reading your post, I have tinkered a bit with the latest preview version of Freeplane (1.5.0-alpha17_pre) and found a way to change the font size - although only works in the 'Metal' theme.
    It is not as elegant as using a different Look and Feel (in my case it was JGoodies LAF, which provided a much better user interface integration with Windows than the default Windows theme in Freeplane/Java); but as this seems to be impossible for the moment, I thought you might be interested in changing the font and font size, even I could only manage to apply this trick with the said Metal theme.
    Here it goes:

    • From Freeplane > Tools > Preferences > Appearance, change the 'Look and Feel' to 'Metal' from the combo box menu.
    • Exit Freeplane.
    • Find these two files, which should be located in your Freeplane installation directory (I am using a Portable Freeplane, so I find these files just where the freeplane.exe file is located; so somebody please correct the location of these files if I am mistaken):
      freeplane.l4j.ini
      freeplaneConsole.l4j.ini (optionally, if you use Freeplane through a console)
    • Open freeplane.l4j.ini (and optionally freeplaneConsole.l4j.ini) with a text editor (Windows Notepad, Sublime Text, Notepad ++, etc. any will do.)
    • Add these three lines to the end of the file:
      -Dswing.aatext=true
      -Dswing.plaf.metal.controlFont="Tahoma-14"
      -Dswing.plaf.metal.userFont="Tahoma-14"
    • The first option provides an anti-aliased text, resulting in a smoother interface. Tahoma is the name of the font, you can change it to whatever you like (Segoe UI, Consolas, etc.). The number after the dash denotes the font size; and the quotes (") prevents any errors should a font name with a space in it is used (e.g. Times New Roman).
    • Restart Freeplane - Voila !!

    Granted, Metal is not the nicest theme in Java, however, if font sizes are a major issue for you, this method is worth a try. I have tried this for other Look and Feel options but it did not work. For more information, see here: java - Setting the Default Font of Swing Program - Stack Overflow

    Hope this helps :))
    Cheers,
    Aycae

    PS. I would like to use this post to 'bump' the bug no. #2157 Broken JGoodies LAF Compatibility I made a while ago, and mentioned above. I'd be grateful if somebody could have a look at this issue when possible; as this is not only a minor aesthetics issue but more of a usability/accessibility problem. Thanks.

     

    Last edit: anatolica 2015-11-15
  • Tilman Jurk

    Tilman Jurk - 2016-04-12

    Ok, a while ago but saved my life.

    I tried several other font settings like
    JAVA_OPTS=-Dorg.freeplane.nosplash=true -Dswing.aatext=true -Dswing.plaf.metal.userFont=Tahoma-24 -Dswing.plaf.metal.controlFont=Tahoma-24 -Dswing.plaf.metal.subFont=Tahoma-24 -Dswing.plaf.metal.menuFont=Tahoma-24 -Dswing.plaf.metal.systemFont=Tahoma-24 -Dswing.plaf.metal.messageFont=Tahoma-24 -Dswing.plaf.metal.buttonFont=Tahoma-24
    but could not get the Fonts in the Properties Panel enlarged (see attached Screen Shot)

    Any advice, which other font has to be set?

     
  • anatolica

    anatolica - 2016-05-29

    I think the properties panel font sizes are hard-coded into Freeplane, which means they can not be changed externally.

     
  • Dimitry Polivaev

    Aycae, I have restored possibility to use own look and feels. Jar files should be put into <freeplane user="">/lib directory and full class name can be entered directly in preferences panel. I ask you to tell users which look and feels you recommend and how they can be configured.

    Version 1.5.9_08

     
  • Dimitry Polivaev

    Now I changed Freeplane to scale the font sizes in the panel depending on monitor resolution.
    Version 1.5.9_08

     
  • BLOOD WOLF 3

    BLOOD WOLF 3 - 2016-05-29

    Dimitry,
    thats much better! Thank you.

    I think its not necessary to mention the custom JARs and resolution dependend font scaling in the whats new map, is it? When, then a Wiki page must be done for that. Its to much to explain.

    tony

     
  • anatolica

    anatolica - 2016-05-29

    Dimitry thank you very much, this is excellent! Now and then, I have been posting some tweaks in the forums regarding look and feel in Freeplane, as this has been bugging me (a lot); so I think I can compile my findings as a new post (or as a wiki page, whichever is feasible).

    Excellent! Thank you again,

    aycae

     
  • Volker Börchers

    @Dimitry: Thank you for restoring L&F stuff!

    @Aycae: A wiki page would be awesome! Let us know if your wiki account isn't working.

    Volker

     
    • anatolica

      anatolica - 2016-06-02

      Völker, I will need a wiki account; please tell me what to do:)) I have posted a (supposedly) quick tutorial post to gather comments before publishing to a wiki page: Customizing Freeplane Look and Feel - A Quick Tutorial. It did turn out to be one hefty document whose format has been scrambled by SourceForge, though. I plan to add other LAFs, tips, screenshot, etc. for the wiki; so please do tell if there's any area you would like covered in this regard,

      Cheers,
      Aycae

       
      • Dimitry Polivaev

        Send me as a private message your wanted user name and your e-mail address so that I can create your new wiki account. The e-mail is needed to send you the generated password nobody else should know.

         
        • anatolica

          anatolica - 2016-06-05

          done.
          username: Aycae

           
          • Dimitry Polivaev

            Your wiki password is sent to your e-mail

             
  • Ken Hill

    Ken Hill - 2016-05-29

    I cannot find this new setting. counsel please?

     
  • Peter Schneider

    Peter Schneider - 2017-04-05

    Dear all,
    thank you for providing such a great software and doing such great effort to keep the fans happy.

    For me this problem is still not fixed / did reoccur on Win 10 using Freeplane 1.5.18.
    Java: 1.8.0_121 (more details in the attached About.jpg)

    I am using Freeplane 1.5.17 on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS where this is no issue.

    I did try the described Customization at https://sourceforge.net/p/freeplane/discussion/758437/thread/0d656c97/#dde9 and it did help partly when modifying freeplane.l4j.ini using:
    -Dswing.aatext=true
    -Dswing.plaf.metal.userFont="Tahoma-30"
    -Dswing.plaf.metal.controlFont="Tahoma-30"
    -Dswing.plaf.metal.subFont="Tahoma-30"

    But the icons and other toolbar elements stay unchanged. To give you an idea how this looks like on the Screen, I did attache the screenshot Unbekannt.png. The resoluton is 2560x1440.

    Thanks, Peter