Public bug reported:
I'm attaching an annotated screenshot illustrating four problems. The
screenshot is an SVG file but I've created it so that it should render
properly in Firefox 2. If it doesn't, you may need inkscape to view it.
Problem #1 (top right):
Fonts in the title bar of applications look ugly. The reason is that it is
white text on a brown background but with a black stroke. My guess is that this
was done to provide contrast since the title bar is sometimes transparent.
However, the way the text is outlined causes it to look dirty, thin, and makes
it harder to focus on.
The solution is quite easy though. Instead of using a black stroke, use
a brown stroke. The same color that the background would be if it wasn't
translucent. If possible, make the stroke wide (say, 5 - 8 px) AND
blurred (don't blur unless its wide). Since the font was chosen
(presumably) to look good against a brown background then use the brown
for the stroke too.
Problem #2 (two circles to the left of #1):
Similar problem, but this time for inactive title bars. Because the title bars
are too transparent, then there is not enough contrast for the text. It makes
it look messy. There is two possible solutions to this. The best solution would
be to heavily blur whatever is behind the inactive title bar. This would allow
you to get a sense of what is behind it, but would soften the edges allowing
the fonts in the title bar to contrast against the transparency. The alternate,
but probably less attractive solution is to outline the fonts (dark grey on
light grey is bad btw) with the light grey color, making the outline quite
thick and blurring it. This effectively reduces the transparency of the portion
of the title bar where there's text.
Problem #3 (bottom left corner):
The fonts on the desktop just don't hold up against their drop shadow. The font
is too thin which reduces contrast and makes it hard to focus. When the icon is
selected, it gets a grey background around the text and the text becomes solid
black, which is far more readable. I realize that the developers never know
what color background the icons are going to be against and need to provide
someway to give the text contrast... I suggest giving the font a little more
weight.
Problem #4 (firefox - near bottom left):
This needs to be a separate bug. Ignore it here.
Problems 1 and 2 are directly related. I think problem #3 is too, but if
not, I can file a separate bug on that one.
** Affects: Ubuntu
Importance: Undecided
Status: New
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font rendering problems in Gutsy w/ compiz
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/127964
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