[Ubuntu 18.04 LTS] Font not rendering properly

[bypassspace]

Hello,

After installing brackets on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS... i noticed fonts are not rendering properly. I checked for all the font related solution still no luck.

Here is the screenshot what my screen is look like: https://ibb.co/b7393n

And here is the Brackets version : https://ibb.co/ndUow7

Font Settings:

Font : Ubuntu
Font Size : 14

Thanks

[vassilis]

Having the exact same issue with atom after upgrading Ubuntu from 17.10 to 18.04. So I guess the issue comes from Ubuntu, not the editors...

[yahuarkuntur]

I also upgraded to Ubuntu 18.04 and have the same font display issue.

[navch]

We are looking into this issue. More details will be updated shortly.

[pawelzydziak]

Me too, it's strange, because it seems to render properly in editors like VS Code, Pycharm or NetBeans, but in Google Chrome fonts looks terrible.

[g-217]

For font issue, libpango can be a reason. This package exists with two names in Ubuntu18.04(It was renamed recently, that's why transitional package)

libpango-1.0-0/bionic,now 1.40.14-1 amd64 [installed]
  Layout and rendering of internationalized text

libpango1.0-0/bionic,now 1.40.14-1 amd64 [installed,auto-removable]
  Layout and rendering of internationalized text (transitional package)

Please check if you have both installed.

[michau-krakow]

Same here. All I did to fix font rendering is I updated atom to 1.26.1. Worked like a charm.

[vkarick]

Also have same issue in Chrome. Looks ugly. How to fix it?

[vkarick]

Looks like this

[ikebeight]

Me too. And I've comfirmed packages that @gautam0217 says are installed.

ikebeight@bionic:~$ dpkg -l | grep libpango
ii  libpango-1.0-0:amd64                       1.40.14-1                           amd64        Layout and rendering of internationalized text
ii  libpango1.0-0:amd64                        1.40.14-1                           amd64        Layout and rendering of internationalized text (transitional package)
ii  libpangocairo-1.0-0:amd64                  1.40.14-1                           amd64        Layout and rendering of internationalized text
ii  libpangoft2-1.0-0:amd64                    1.40.14-1                           amd64        Layout and rendering of internationalized text
ii  libpangox-1.0-0:amd64                      0.0.2-5                             amd64        pango library X backend
ii  libpangoxft-1.0-0:amd64                    1.40.14-1                           amd64        Layout and rendering of internationalized text

Shoud I remove it?

[michau-krakow]

I would not.
This thread atom/atom#15737 provides elaborate discussion about identical issue with font rendering, its root cause, dependencies, workarounds... They narrowed it down to libfreetype library and finally fixed.

[newhoa]

This is a problem in FreeType 2.8.1 (libfreetype6). The solution is either downgrading to the Ubuntu 17.10 version (2.8.0), or upgrading to the latest 2.9.1 where the issue has been fixed. Unfortunately I couldn't find a .deb for Ubuntu or Debian yet, but I was able to find this OpenSUSE binary.

I downloaded that, extracted the libfreetype.so.6.16.0 binary. Then I went to /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/ and renamed libfreetype.so.6.15.0 file to old-libfreetype.so.6.15.0. Then I copied the new libfreetype.so.6.16.0 file to the folder and renamed it to libfreetype.so.6.15.0.

A roundabout way of doing it I guess, but it works. No more artifacts!

[michau-krakow]

Easier method is to start searching from launchpad.net or packages.ubuntu.com (I prefer the latter, as it provides clear info about package dependencies, to check what else am I missing).

[newhoa]

Yeah, hopefully it will hit the repositories soon and everyone will get the fix more easily. It may hit Debian first (keep an eye here).

Either way, this is a problem with FreeType and not with Brackets, so I think this issue could probably be closed.

[g-217]

Source of font rendering issue is libfreetype6-2.8.1 which is default version for Ubuntu-18.04.
Upgrading or downgrading libfreetype6 will fix this issue.

You can download libfreetype6_2.8-0.2_amd64.deb from here for downgrading case:
http://snapshot.debian.org/package/freetype/2.8-0.2/#libfreetype6_2.8-0.2

Updating to version 2.9.1 will also fixed the issue, but I could not find a package for this version. I have built it from source(https://download.savannah.gnu.org/releases/freetype/freetype-2.9.1.tar.gz) on Ubuntu-18.04(amd64) and put the binaries here.
https://github.com/gautam0217/dot_profile/tree/master/freetype291

[michau-krakow]

Yes, downgrading libfreetype6 is a workaround BUT on the other hand, Atom renders fonts fine even on existing version 2.8.1-2ubuntu2 (18.04 default).
In my opinion this suggests the library itself is fine but it may just be used wrong way by Bracket (as Atom/Electron/Chrome did in older versions).

[ghost]

I can confirm it's a libfreetype6 2.8.1-2ubuntu2 issue. I mean, I see problematic font rendering in many other applications. Not only are the fonts themselves "broken" and "off", but the font sizes vary continuously. First I thought my display size settings were varying autonomously, but in the end it turned out to be the font size.
As for Canonical solving this: well, I think personally the down/ upgrade suggested here is the better, and certainly the quicker solution. After all, the reports on the fishy libfreetype6 version on git and Launchpad (e.g. https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/freetype/+bug/1722508) were already there in mid 2017, when in a previous *buntu release. So it'd be surprising if it now would be resolved instantly... DNS leak anybody?

[xfg]

@gautam0217 I install libfreetype6_2.8-0.2_amd64.deb through dpkg -i but after restart my ubuntu 18.04 upgrades the package to libfreetype6-2.8.1 back. How to solve this problem ?

[michau-krakow]

If it installs automatically, why don't you just disable automated upgrades? Another option is to use apt-pinning but it's too much to explain - just google it.

[GocaninTs]

sudo add-apt-repository "deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ artful-updates main"
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install libfreetype6=2.8-0.2ubuntu2.1
sudo apt-mark hold libfreetype6

These commands solved my problem.

[sobisht]

Thanks for pointing out your issues.
We will update this thread with fix related to this issue.

[morettolss]

GocaninTs solution works well :D
#14290 (comment)

[ankur22]

I just installed the latest version (1.28.2) of Atom from https://github.com/atom/atom/releases and it has resolved this issue for me.

[briskycat]

I could not find freetype 2.9.1 packaged for Debian/Ubuntu so I created a PPA for Ubuntu 18.04 Bionic Beaver myself: https://launchpad.net/~as-asaw/+archive/ubuntu/fonts
Basically, I just replaced the sources in the Bionic's original 2.8.1 package and threw away a couple of patches meant to clean up the 2.8.1's code. The libfreetype6 deb package itself can also be installed on Ubuntu 16.04. Hope it will be useful to someone.

[briskycat]

@trytip That's very strange. What exactly do you mean by the "file" that you were trying to install? Did you add the PPA in the usual way (i.e. as in the description)? In fact, there are i386 versions of all packages in my PPA as you can see here: https://launchpad.net/~as-asaw/+archive/ubuntu/fonts/+build/15142100 (here is the libfreetype6:i386 deb) And even if there weren't I am still curious how this PPA could have broken anything keeping in mind that APT keeps track of all dependencies.

[trytip]

@briskycat
completely my mistake. had issues with signature install and only downloaded x64 files. your PPA is working fine. thank you for that

[Grantimus9]

I just updated Ubuntu from 16.04 LTS to 18.04 LTS and experienced the same problem in Atom. Uninstalling and re-installing Atom solved it for me.

[AnwarShah]

Setting these in a file /etc/profile.d/fix-freetype.sh worked for me

export FREETYPE_PROPERTIES="truetype:interpreter-version=35 cff:no-stem-darkening=1 autofitter:warping=1"

[asfernandes]

@AnwarShah that maked gedit and synaptic very nice for me, but at the same time made Chrome very awful.

[DGPickett]

I have it working with the Debian patch but it bugs me daily about the missing Ubuntu patch!

…

-----Original Message----- From: Nemachtilli <[email protected]> To: adobe/brackets <[email protected]> Cc: DGPickett <[email protected]>; Mention <[email protected]> Sent: Thu, Nov 29, 2018 9:29 pm Subject: Re: [adobe/brackets] [Ubuntu 18.04 LTS] Font not rendering properly (#14290) It works but when updating the system I have to do this again for me it is not a solution — You are receiving this because you were mentioned. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or mute the thread.

[DGPickett]

The daily messages have stopped, so I guess someone got this working!

…

-----Original Message----- From: David G. Pickett <[email protected]> To: reply+0080c58c14c76cfa270e7452fb4d28b376ebe273518c9ba192cf000000011818629892a169ce13059d75 <[email protected]>; brackets <[email protected]> Cc: mention <[email protected]> Sent: Sun, Dec 2, 2018 7:16 pm Subject: Re: [adobe/brackets] [Ubuntu 18.04 LTS] Font not rendering properly (#14290) I have it working with the Debian patch but it bugs me daily about the missing Ubuntu patch!

-----Original Message----- From: Nemachtilli <[email protected]> To: adobe/brackets <[email protected]> Cc: DGPickett <[email protected]>; Mention <[email protected]> Sent: Thu, Nov 29, 2018 9:29 pm Subject: Re: [adobe/brackets] [Ubuntu 18.04 LTS] Font not rendering properly (#14290) It works but when updating the system I have to do this again for me it is not a solution — You are receiving this because you were mentioned. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or mute the thread.

[rekurzion]

I'm running xubuntu 18.04. I've just ran into this issue (only with brackets) and have noticed it is only a problem when installing using the .deb file provided from their site. when installing using snap there are no font rendering issues.

why the difference?

[AnwarShah]

I'm running xubuntu 18.04. I've just ran into this issue (only with brackets) and have noticed it is only a problem when installing using the .deb file provided from their site. when installing using snap there are no font rendering issues.

why the difference?

Which snap are you referring to?

[rekurzion]

the snap for brackets, developed by snapcrafters according to the xubuntu Software store. excuse my ignorance if you are asking for something different, I'm just getting my head around snaps. I've since uninstalled the snap version and downgraded libfreetype6 to the previous working version and installed the .deb from brackets website and this has resolved the problem for me.

[BinoyDarvin]

sudo add-apt-repository "deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ artful-updates main" sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install libfreetype6=2.8-0.2ubuntu2.1 sudo apt-mark hold libfreetype6

This help me .

Worked for me too!

[tiagofrancafernandes]

This resolve to me
#14610 (comment)

[Hamper]

chromium (v61+), atom (atom/atom#15737), vscode (microsoft/vscode#35675), electron (electron/libchromiumcontent#387, backported from chromium 61) allready solve this issue. Can a similar approach be used for brackets?

[DGPickett]

Here's a continuing flavor of this problem. I just put up a new Ubuntu 18.04.2 system on an empty disk using a usb pen drive iso image, and while it has Verdana on LibreOffice, Verdana is missing in Google Docs/Sheets, on both Chrome and FireFox.

[Combinacijus]

sudo apt-get install libpango1.0-0
Try this command it solved the problem for me

[lahtis]

Just install a new Ubuntu 18.04.2 and fonts look just awful. Hasn't been fixed yet.

[DGPickett]

I found it was easy to fix. My shell history shows:

sudo apt install ttf-mscorefonts-installer
sudo apt-get install msttcorefonts
sudo alien Downloads/freetype-2.9.1-2.fc29.x86_64.rpm
sudo dpkg -i *.deb+
sudo dpkg-reconfigure ttf-mscorefonts-installer

It's somewhere out that way?

[lahtis]

Nope. it is not working.
Why all some images are Firefox in dirty. It not rendered properly.

[romasvrd]

sudo add-apt-repository "deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ artful-updates main" sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install libfreetype6=2.8-0.2ubuntu2.1 sudo apt-mark hold libfreetype6

These commands solved my problem.

Well, I couldn't install it from repo but I downloaded the deb from https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/artful/amd64/libfreetype6/2.8-0.2ubuntu2.1

and then

sudo apt-get install libfreetype6=2.8-0.2ubuntu2.1 
sudo apt-mark hold libfreetype6

now it's allright, thank you!

[romasvrd]

Another solution is to download the sources of https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/artful/amd64/libfreetype6/2.8-0.2ubuntu2.1

extract it and create a directory for binaries, i.e. ~/libfreetype6bin. Now go to the folder with the extracted sources of libfreetype, and put
./configure --prefix="/path/to/that/folder
make
sudo make install

after that you can copy libraries into Brackets executable folder, or link them. That must work

[deutrino]

Upgrading by downloading the latest libfreetype6 for buster from packages.debian.org and running sudo dpkg -i libfreetype6_2.9.1-3_* successfully updated libfreetype6 to 2.9.1-3 on Ubuntu 18.04 for me, but did not solve this problem.

[deutrino]

From microsoft/vscode#35675 (comment)

A workaround without having to change freetype, is to change your font rendering to standard grayscale antialiasing and slight / medium hinting. This issue only occured (at least for me) when I had the subpixel antialias.

This worked for me.

[urbandroid]

Problems are caused by Intel processor are there any body out here that saw this problems and don't use Intel CPUs(i doubt it)?

[lahtis]

Problems are caused by Intel processor are there any body out here that saw this problems and don't use Intel CPUs(i doubt it)?

Yes. we have. Im using AMD Phenom CPU and i have same problem. (AMD Phenom(tm) II X4 965 Processor)

[DGPickett]

Dudes, it is fixed now for most of us, and we still have the same CPUs. Read more carefully, think more discerningly.

[CodePint]

Still an issue on Ubuntu 18.04, vs code renders text fine.

I would rather not have to mess around with font packages to implement a fix.

[christyanbrayan]

I have libfreetype6 2.9.1-0asaw, here is how the newest version, but it´s not solved the problem for me. Someone knows something about?

[DGPickett]

DId you do all the steps given above? Because it seems to have worked for us now these many months later, still.

[christyanbrayan]

DId you do all the steps given above? Because it seems to have worked for us now these many months later, still.

i thinked that with the last version would not have problems. So, i´m goingo to try the downgrade

[ltrottier]

the snap for brackets, developed by snapcrafters according to the xubuntu Software store. excuse my ignorance if you are asking for something different, I'm just getting my head around snaps. I've since uninstalled the snap version and downgraded libfreetype6 to the previous working version and installed the .deb from brackets website and this has resolved the problem for me.

Thanks, that solved it for me. Note, I had to install the deb package following these instructions due to a package dependency problem with libcurl3