{"id":2313,"date":"2010-03-14T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-03-14T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.msdn.microsoft.com\/visualstudio\/2010\/03\/14\/visual-studio-2010-text-clarity-cleartype-options\/"},"modified":"2022-10-17T11:05:11","modified_gmt":"2022-10-17T18:05:11","slug":"visual-studio-2010-text-clarity-cleartype-options","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/visualstudio\/visual-studio-2010-text-clarity-cleartype-options\/","title":{"rendered":"Visual Studio 2010 Text Clarity: ClearType Options"},"content":{"rendered":"

Text clarity in Visual Studio 2010 has been a hot topic throughout the product cycle. Each time we talk or write about it, we seem to invite yet another round comments, some of them quite emotionally charged<\/a>. We take such feedback very seriously because, whether the comments are completely justified or not, there\u2019s always some nugget of customer discontent at the heart of it. So, risking the same result here, I want to tackle the topic one more (last?) time.<\/p>\n

Turning off ClearType<\/h3>\n

Following Brittany\u2019s post<\/a> earlier in the week regarding improvements<\/a> we\u2019ve made to ClearType<\/a> text clarity in time for Visual Studio 2010 and .Net 4 RTM, several people indicated in the comments that they would rather not use ClearType at all. I was going to reply in the comment stream, but a full response needs some pictures and more space than the comments would allow.<\/p>\n

To address Brian Henry\u2019s comment directly, Visual Studio 2010 uses WPF 4\u2019s TextRenderingMode.Auto<\/a> setting; or rather – it doesn\u2019t change the default. This means that, if you turn off ClearType for your desktop, then Visual Studio 2010\u2019s text will respect that choice. ClearType<\/a> is designed for LCD screens and other flat panels which arrange their pixels in vertical stripes of red, green and blue. It\u2019s not ideal for CRTs or for displays with different pixel geometry, for example a rotating flat-panel display that is turned to portrait mode. Apart from that, some people (perhaps between 5%<\/a> and 45%<\/a>) simply prefer non-ClearType rendering, even if their display supports it.<\/p>\n

Adjust font smoothing on Windows XP and Windows Vista<\/h3>\n

On Windows XP and Windows Vista, ClearType may be turned off by first going to the Display Properties settings from the Control Panel. Select \u201cAppearance\u201d and click \u201cEffects\u2026\u201d and uncheck the box that says \u201cUse the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts:\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Note that there are three settings: No font smoothing (unchecked), Standard font smoothing and ClearType. Click OK when you have made the selection and then Close the Display Properties dialog to apply the new setting.<\/p>\n

ClearType Tuner and Visual Effects option on Windows 7<\/h3>\n

In Windows 7, you can turn off ClearType using the built-in ClearType Tuner. Type \u201cClearType\u201d into the Windows search box and select \u201cAdjust ClearType text\u201d:<\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/a><\/p>\n

On the first screen, uncheck the box that says \u201cTurn on ClearType\u201d<\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Run through the rest of the ClearType Text Tuner Wizard and now Visual Studio 2010, and other applications, will use standard anti-aliasing instead of ClearType for text rendering. To turn off font smoothing entirely, you need to dig a little deeper<\/a>. Type \u201cAppearance\u201d in the start menu and select \u201cAdjust the appearance and performance of Windows\u201d:<\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/a><\/p>\n

On the \u201cVisual Effects\u201d tab of the \u201cPerformance Options\u201d dialog, scroll down to \u201cSmooth the edges of screen fonts\u201d, uncheck it and click \u201cOK\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/a><\/p>\n

You shouldn\u2019t need to restart Visual Studio 2010 for this to take effect. This works in the Visual Studio 2010 Release Candidate too; you don\u2019t have to wait for RTM to see it. The following screenshots are from Visual Studio 2010 RC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Segoe UI, ClearType on<\/em><\/td>\n<\/td>\n\"image\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Segoe UI, <\/em>ClearType off, Standard font smoothing (grayscale)<\/em><\/td>\n<\/td>\n\"image\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Segoe UI, <\/em>\u00a0No font smoothing (bi-level rendering, aliased)<\/em><\/td>\n<\/td>\n\"image\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

(Hint: If you\u2019re using Windows 7, and you want to see a zoomed-in view, don\u2019t \u201czoom\u201d your browser because that results in a bilinear stretch. Instead, use the <\/em>built-in magnifier<\/em><\/a> tool. Type \u201cZoom\u201d in the Windows search box or, for a <\/em>keyboard shortuct<\/em><\/a>, hold the Windows key and press the plus key.)<\/em><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re writing your own WPF 4 application, make sure you are using \u201cDisplay<\/a>\u201d mode for text (instead of the default, \u201cIdeal\u201d). In Display mode, WPF will follow the user\u2019s choice of ClearType on or off. The choice may be overridden by using other values from the TextRenderingMode<\/a> enumeration (ClearType, Grayscale or Aliased).<\/p>\n

Consolas always uses ClearType<\/h3>\n

Even if you turn off font smoothing entirely, the Consolas font will be rendered using ClearType in Visual Studio 2010. This is an intentional decision for Visual Studio 2010 and applies only to Consolas. Consolas, the default font for the Text Editor in Visual Studio 2010, is part of the ClearType Font Collection<\/a> and was designed specifically<\/a> for use with ClearType.<\/p>\n

You may, of course, select a different font for the Text Editor by using the \u201cFonts and Colors<\/a>\u201d dialog in Visual Studio\u2019s Options. Anything other than Consolas will respect the system\u2019s font smoothing options.<\/p>\n

If you want to continue to use Consolas, but without ClearType, then you may be interested in the \u201cTextSharp\u201d extension<\/a> by Sergey Vlasov<\/a>. TextSharp has the option to set the text rendering mode to \u201cAliased\u201d for all text editor views.<\/p>\n

Changing the Environment font<\/h3>\n

One commenter indicated<\/a> that he prefers to replace the default \u201cSegoe UI\u201d font for menus and toolbars with \u201cMicrosoft Sans Serif\u201d. Here\u2019s how to do that.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Launch Visual Studio 2010<\/li>\n
  2. Select \u201cOptions\u2026\u201d from the Tools menu<\/li>\n
  3. Select the \u201cFonts and Colors<\/a>\u201d page from the Environment group<\/li>\n
  4. In the \u201cShow settings for\u201d dropdown, select \u201cEnvironment Font\u201d<\/li>\n
  5. In the \u201cFont\u201d dropdown, select the font you want.<\/li>\n
  6. Click \u201cOK\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \"image\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    And here\u2019s what Microsoft Sans Serif looks like on Windows 7 with ClearType turned off:<\/p>\n

    \"image\"<\/a>\u00a0\"image\"<\/a> \"image\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    Note: Microsoft Sans Serif does not have anti-aliased hinting, so it looks the same whether \u201cSmooth edges of screen fonts\u201d is on or off.<\/p>\n

    For the Text Editor, instead of Consolas, try 9 point \u201cLucida Console\u201d. Again, use the Fonts and Colors dialog, but this time choose \u201cText Editor\u201d from the top dropdown.<\/p>\n

    \"image\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    <\/h3>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \"clip_image002\"<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

    Paul Harrington<\/strong> \u2013 Principal Developer, Visual Studio Platform Team\nBiography: <\/strong>Paul has worked on every version of Visual Studio .Net to date. Prior to joining the Visual Studio team in 2000, Paul spent six years working on mapping and trip planning software for what is today known as Bing Maps. For Visual Studio 2010, Paul designed and helped write the code that enabled the Visual Studio Shell team to move from a native, Windows 32-based implementation to a modern, fully managed presentation layer based on the Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF). Paul holds a master\u2019s degree from the University of Cambridge, England and lives with his wife and two cats in Seattle, Washington.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Text clarity in Visual Studio 2010 has been a hot topic throughout the product cycle. Each time we talk or write about it, we seem to invite yet another round comments, some of them quite emotionally charged. We take such feedback very seriously because, whether the comments are completely justified or not, there\u2019s always some […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":255385,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1196,155],"tags":[20],"class_list":["post-2313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-desktop","category-visual-studio","tag-wpf"],"acf":[],"blog_post_summary":"

    Text clarity in Visual Studio 2010 has been a hot topic throughout the product cycle. Each time we talk or write about it, we seem to invite yet another round comments, some of them quite emotionally charged. We take such feedback very seriously because, whether the comments are completely justified or not, there\u2019s always some […]<\/p>\n","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/visualstudio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2313","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/visualstudio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/visualstudio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/visualstudio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/visualstudio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2313"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/visualstudio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2313\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/visualstudio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/255385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/visualstudio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/visualstudio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/visualstudio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}