The FreeType Project

CHANGES BETWEEN 2.6.3 and 2.6.4 I. IMPORTANT CHANGES - A new subpixel hinting mode has been contributed by Nikolaus Waxweiler, which is now the default rendering mode for TrueType fonts. It implements (almost everything of) version 40 of the bytecode engine. The existing code base in FreeType (the `Infinality code') was stripped to the bare minimum and all configurability removed in the name of speed and simplicity. The configurability was mainly aimed at legacy fonts like Arial, Times New Roman, or Courier. [Legacy fonts are fonts that modify vertical stems to achieve clean black-and-white bitmaps.] The new mode focuses on applying a minimal set of rules to all fonts indiscriminately so that modern and web fonts render well while legacy fonts render okay. Activation of the subpixel hinting support can be controlled with the `TT_CONFIG_OPTION_SUBPIXEL_HINTING' configuration option at compile time: If set to value 1, you get the old Infinality mode (which was never the default due to its slowness). Value 2 activates the new subpixel hinting mode, and value 3 activates both. The default is value 2. At run time, you can select the subpixel hinting mode with the `interpreter-version' property (provided you have compiled in the corresponding hinting mode); see `ftttdrv.h' for more. - Support for the following scripts has been added to the auto-hinter. Armenian, Cherokee, Ethiopic, Georgian, Gujarati, Gurmukhi, Malayalam, Sinhala, Tamil II. MISCELLANEOUS - Type 42 fonts as created by LilyPond are now supported. - Minor rendering improvments in the auto-hinter. - For experimental reasons, the old CFF engine now supports all CFF operators except `random', including the deprecated Multiple Masters instructions. This allows the display of fonts like `ITCGaramondMM-It.otf' (without font variations, though). - Another round of fixes to improve handling of invalid fonts. - The `ftgrid' demo program now displays the rendered pixels also; this can be switched off with the `b' key. Selection of various LCD filtering modes can be done with the `L' key. - The demo programs have been extended to allow selection of all available TrueType bytecode engines. - A very early beta version of a new, Qt based demo program called `ftinspect' is part of the source code bundle; it will eventually supersede the other demo programs. Currently, you have to compile it manually with `qmake; make'; note that many features are still missing.