Re: An important article about computer typography

> From: theiling@... [mailto:theiling@...]

> > Not explicitly stated, iirc, is that pixels can't be repositioned
> slightly
> > to improve appearance, and they are not likely to be, in the near

future,

> > if ever.
>
> Yeah, sadly. TeXs Metafont does adjust the outline points for low
> resolutions. And it does so for high resolutions, too. But TrueType
> and PostScript do not. Metafont is quite professionally designed.

Let's correct a couple of errors here.

First, the text you quoted spoke of *pixels*, not outline points. It is
most certainly true that a pixel, being an element of the hardware and
part of a physical grid, cannot be moved.

Secondly, it is absolutely incorrect that outline points in TrueType
cannot be moved. That is precisely what TrueType hinting does.

(Postscript hinting works a little differently: the points are the same,
but the way that the rasterizer grid fits can be manipulated.)



Peter Constable