Any way to change the font size of menu items, etc.?
firewarden
Posts: 1,482
I'm taking a look at Carrara 8 Pro again. I recently upgraded my machine and am now running Windows 7 64bit. I downloaded the 8.5 beta, and the menu and list fonts are microscopic - about 6 points max. This is just unreadable and an instant headache - no joke. I've tried numerous font options under Preferences, and while the clearest font is probably Verdana, it's still unreadably microscopic.
My native screen resolution is 1440 by 900 and I've tried changing that, using the Windows 7 option to make items on the screen larger, etc. Nothing seems to really change those microscopic fonts.
Am I missing something? Is the size of the fonts in the beta different than in 8.0? Because I can't use the software if I can't read the menu and list items without instant and significant eye strain even when moving in to 6-8 inches from the screen.
Am I doing something wrong here? Is there a font size option somewhere that I'm missing? I've googled this problem and can't really find anything...
Thanks for any and all info! :)
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Hi Firewarden
Welcome :)
Q: Have you tried adjusting the screen resolution ?
Q: what size is your display screen (in inches or cm)
Q: Is Carrara the only program you're having difficulty in reading the fonts with,. or do the fonts seem small in all your applications.
Thanks! :) Here are the answers to your question
Q: Have you tried adjusting the screen resolution ?
Yes, I've tried several settings. The fonts don't seem to change to any marked degree.
I also tried the settings to make things smaller or bigger overall in the display setting.
I tried changing the fonts to see if any were larger than the others in the Prefs menu.
Q: what size is your display screen (in inches or cm)
19" Dell S199WFP (Analog) - as it's listed in my display properties
Q: Is Carrara the only program you're having difficulty in reading the fonts with,. or do the fonts seem small in all your applications.
Daz Studio also has very small fonts, but there's less need for the menus in that program so I'm currently surviving, but would love to be able to fix the fonts in D|S also. Microsoft Outlook & Office, Photoshop, and Gimp all have normal sized fonts in the interface/menus.
I just upgraded my CPU, motherboard, graphics card, and memory, etc. Also went from XP to Windows 7. So I'm not quite used to it, but I've fiddled with the display settings quite a bit trying to enlarge the fonts in Carrara.
Just wondering if I'm missing something or doing something really noobish.
Going to try to upload a pic of my screen here...
Aye, the font in Carrara 8 Pro is too small to read for my old eyes.
I changed to a different font style and it helps a bit. The texture room is the worst for me, that fault gets so small it's impossible for me to read.
Have you tried new glasses? ;-)
Looks about the same size as my screen which is set to 1280X1024. Is the screen a CRT, LCD or something? The issue with the screen shot is, that it doesn't say what the physical size of the screen is. You could have a really great, high res. display, but if it's only 14" it's going to look tiny.
Thanks for the info, and the pic...
I'm afraid that looks pretty normal to me,.. see pic.. ..my screen is set to 1280 x 1024 (21inch CRT)
Also,. in Win 7,. you may want to consider switching off Aero, and all the other animated screen stuff, as it takes up memory and processing power.,.
Lower setting will make things appear larger,. but a bigger screen will give you more physical area.
Yeah, it's a 19" monitor; I put that in a separate post, sorry... I tried 1280x800 (think I missed that size when experimenting earlier) and it's a bit better, but still pretty small. But I may have to go with that. Just seems crazy there's so much UI space and no way to change the fonts. I may try to get a slightly larger monitor, as it's on a rotating/moving arm that can handle a bit bigger.
I have old eyes, as some others in the thread do. I actually have a new prescription that I haven't had filled, but it's only the difference of 20:25 to 20:20 in one eye, and I hate to pay the money for so little change. And not sure that at 6 point-size type, it would make a huge enough difference to justify the cost. (Did I mention glasses prices are a racket?!)
I will look for Aero on the Windows 7 and stop it. I've only been using Windows 7 about a week and so pretty much ignorant there. Not as bad as I thought it might be, tho!
Any other ideas to improve font are appreciated!
Font size has always bugged me too - I use 1600x900 display -anything less seems fuzzy on my asus 19" LCD. Full high definitio is just way too small.
One thing you can try - play around with interface colour settings as text to background contrast can make it easier to read.
Unfortunately Carrara colour settings controls are a bit weird and it takes time to figure out whats right for you.
Last resort is windows magnifier found in Start/All programs/ accesories / ease of access :lol:
Hi,
I have to add that investing in a good monitor set-up is something that pays for itself in a very short space of time.
It's worth stretching the budget on, mainly for health and comfort but also for productivity.
It's an investment that lasts over multiple PC generations too.
I have a 1920x1200 26inch screen which I picked up cheap by watching and waiting for sales on various PC websites. I also use my 1080p 32 inch TV as a second monitor sometimes, which stands in as a huge monitor (that's mainly for gaming though), plus it comes in handy as a television too.
Trust me, that next chance to upgrade you get, think about your primary interface to your machine.
(I've just realised, this is a large part of why I like Carrara so much, the menus and fonts look about the right size to me.)
My son uses his new HD Widescreen as his monitor and it works really good. He just has a laptop, but it has HDMI out, so...
Yeah, mine is just 1680 x 1050, but Carrara looks great on it. Words are just the right size for me.
I was kicking around the idea of getting two, but then I'd also need a new desk. I heard that Carrara doesn't really make the best use of two monitors, anyways.
Okay I just tested the following, and it works on the whole computer, including Carrara. Before doing this, however, you might want to make sure that Carrara is is to Full Screen mode, or you'll just see a corner of it.
In Win7, right-click the desktop background and choose "Personalize"
To the lower left of that window, under "See Also", Choose "Display" and pick which magnification you want. I tried 150% and it made a huge difference. Perhaps after work, I'll dig around more to where you can actually change the font sizes that Windows uses. I nkow it's really simple, because I always use it to make mine smaller. I don't like my fonts big. Speeking of which, the change I've mention above requires log off, so I better fix it before I head out.
Hope this helps.
In returning my Win 7 setting to the normal size, I noticed that, when you get to the screen I mention above, after clicking on "Display", the upper left of the screen has options for customizing the size of your text and adjusting your clear type font.
Good luck. I'll check back L8r
Why are people trying to find a work around for this? I have been asking for a font size setting since C5; when I first got carrara. Every build I put it on the wish list. I've had to come to the conclusion that even this simple thing is beyond DAZ's devs to do. Practically ever other app I have, font size as part of the UI preferences. Even video games.
I have a 26inch screen, I have my glasses on, I can read the type/fonts in this forum just fine. But I have one of those flat magnifiers right here to put up in front of my screen when using carrara; well to read through the content browser anyway. Or I'll put it up when reading the submenus.
I should not have to do this. Is it really that difficult to set carrara up so you can set the font size?
My eyes are only middle-aged but they suck and always have. It's off-topic but yes, glasses are a racket.
Back on point...I am using Carrara on 24" screens and usually set to 1920x1200. Using a 6-point type would be a strain on even the healthiest of peepers. You may want to consider dropping your screen resolution if switching off Aero doesn't improve things. Make sure that ClearType is set correctly too.
I gotta side with ya on this one. I love Carrara as an app; but the UI blows chunks.
There's stuff that you just have to suffer with. I used to think it was because DAZ had to maintain portable source code between the PC and Mac -- but now I'm not so sure, Photoshop and LightWave don't seem to have portability issues. So this probably does come down to the DAZ devs...
To really tweak the fonts to display gloriously...you'll want a high-end monitor with a much large dpi. Most monitors stick with a lower-end basic value for mass production; that is fine for 98% of the consumer market.
I recall Bill Hill (rest his soul) -- he invented ClearType at MSFT and worked on the typography team -- talking about one of his monitors. Sweet display; but it cost a few thousand dollars.
I think I've incorporated almost every suggestion made:
1) I switched monitors to a new 24" Samsung after deciding my old 19" Dell didn't owe me anything and was having brightness issues, not to mention being too small to begin with.
2) I set the resolution at 1280x800 rather than higher. So everything appears larger without having to do the 150% on the display option.
3) I tweaked the UI colors in Cararra to give me more contrast for the text in menus, which really helped more than I was expecting.
4) I ran the Adjust Clear Type Text display refinement utility.
I also killed Aero stuff as suggested.
Anyway, while part of me is like "whoa, that monitor is just too big," I'm sure I'll get used to it. In the meantime, all these changes mean that I can read the menu items in Carrara, although I haven't used any submenus yet - so that might get interesting (and cause a trip to the store to buy the suggested magnifier).
I agree that I shouldn't have to do all this to get around the fact that there should be a simple option to change the font size in the interface; however, the reality is that I want to try Carrara now, not in a hypothetical future when Daz might actually incorporate that feature. Since it's a logical feature with a low priority for Daz - maybe Daz headquarters is only populated with young folks with really good eyesight?
Thanks for all the ideas!!!! :) I'm off to run some modeling tutorials and see how things look. I'm sure I have some tweaking to do once I use Carrara for a bit. Will let you know how it turns out!
I am very glad that things are working out for you now. Trust me, there is no such thing as a monitor that is "too big." I used 4 monitors at Microsoft and now being stuck with "just 2" feels like being hugged by a boa constrictor.
One of my next big goals for the main server here is to move to 3 monitors if possible. I'll probably need a video card upgrade to go with that.
I gotta side with ya on this one. I love Carrara as an app; but the UI blows chunks.
There's stuff that you just have to suffer with. I used to think it was because DAZ had to maintain portable source code between the PC and Mac -- but now I'm not so sure, Photoshop and LightWave don't seem to have portability issues. So this probably does come down to the DAZ devs...
I gotta say, as to the PC/Mac portability, I notice a lot more Windows UI conventions in Carrara than Mac UI conventions. The most noticeable to me are the widgets for minimizing, etc. The other is when using windowed mode, the Apple Menu Bar at the top of the screen is nullified. It's still there, but you have to use the window menu bar to do anything. That is definitely not in the standard Apple toolbox.
I think the main issue with the UI is it's a cross between the old Raydream way of doing things with the old Poser, Bryce, Meta-Creations UI- Leaning much more heavily towards the latter.
I do agree that a way to adjust font size would be nice.
Right -- the entire UI is customized (badly) and does not use standard controls or behaviour expectations. It is spectacularly infuriating...and I say that out of loving concern! :-)
Right -- the entire UI is customized (badly) and does not use standard controls or behaviour expectations. It is spectacularly infuriating...and I say that out of loving concern! :-)
I do like the "room" metaphor. I find most of the controls fairly easy to access. I don't like that it wants to take control of your entire screen- even with a dual monitor set-up.
I haven't had as much time to do tutorials as I had hoped this weekend, but all the changes suggested have made Carrara usable. Still some pretty small type in places, and I'd really like to see the font change built into the program. Thanks so much for everyone's suggestions!!! :)
That said... I'm running the latest beta build of Carrara, as far as I can tell. I've been googling around looking for an explanation of why the skeleton of my Genesis figure splatters on the "floor" and "walls" of my assembly room. Am I supposed to import Genesis some special way? It looks like I ought to be able to load it through the contents tab.
Back to Google and reading through tutorials...
Hi Firewarden :)
Yes,. you should be able to load Genesis using the new "Smart Content" tab, in the browser.
I'm not sure what you mean about the skeleton,. but, hopefully it's just the projection planes (see pic)
The outline of any object, figure, light etc... will be projected onto the floor and walls of the Scene grid.
these can be helpful visual aids when you're positioning objects in your scene, but they're just graphical references.
If they really annoy you,. you can switch off / on the grid walls and floor by clicking each of the three icons in the top tool-bar. (pic)
Some pages of info to help
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/7907045/Carrara_first_steps.zip
Thanks for the info and link. :)
Yes, it's the projection planes that I was seeing. Too funny in that my brain interpreted them as the skeleton of my Genesis being splattered on the walls and floor. (It didn't help that the bones of the legs are visible in places.) I'd blame it on being tired, but I think it was just a brain spasm! :)
Okay, going off to do a lot more reading...
I'm glad I found this thread, because I've been complaining to anyone who will listen about how tiny the menu links are in Carrara. I went so far as to do screenshots of four of the 3D apps I use most often just as a comparison (see below), and the Carrara font is, well, tiny in comparison.
Besides that, there's no leading before each line so they are all squished together, which makes the text look even smaller. There's a huge difference in font size between the menu links and the sublinks that appear when you click on any of the menus. These are things that need to be fixed to make it easier to work in Carrara.
Oh and before anyone asks about my eyesight . . . I was at the ophthalmologist this afternoon, and my visual acuity is 20/25 in my right eye and 20/30 in my left, and I read just fine. I haven't had a new prescription for my glasses in 2 1/2 years, and when I asked him today if I needed a change, he said absolutely not.
Good point on the leading! That definitely adds to the problem.
The bottom line is that the menus are just way too hard to read. After going up to a 24-inch monitor, lowering the resolution, and tweaking the colors, the Carrara menus are borderline readable still for me. I definitely wouldn't want to be trying to read them if I were tired -- and my corrected vision in my dominant eye is 20/20; my other eye is 20/25.
If I weren't able to change monitors, Carrara would have been uninstalled as unusable. And I shouldn't have had to take such steps - not to mention spend extra money - when Gimp, Photoshop, Blender, Office, various games, etc., etc., and all my other programs' UI fonts are either fine or easily adjustable. It's sad that the Carrara interface is crippled by what ought to be a high-priority fix.
I'm so glad I asked about this problem in the forum and got so many good suggestions for getting around it. I just wonder how many folks don't purchase Carrara due to this problem alone... It would be interesting to know.
One can change the Windows Interface to make it 150% bigger for viewing purposes. In Carrara, some things will be closer together (no empty real estate) but makes for a good view for those who are passed the six decade part of life. :)
Note: This was done in Windows 8
That's where I just don't get it. Even in the screen shot, I find that I like Carrara's the best! I don't want or need all of that realestate between all of my options. I've had fairly decent eyesight - but still needed glasses until recently. Upon hitting 40, my eyes, somehow, reverted to near 20/20. But I really hope that if anything changes - that it is elective - because I love Carrara's interface. Very legible, everything seems to be where it's easy to find... I know you can change the font - could a larger font help? Shoot - I believe that this was discussed a few posts ago - sorry.
Really? You folks with better than 20/20 think it's too small? I cranked my res, went into Windows and adjusted all of my icons to be smaller, and I love how crisp everything has become. Then again - I don't work on computers - except when I can play in Carrara and visit the forums.
20:25 means my eyesight is less than 20:20 in that eye, not better. What I see at 20 feet, others can see at 25. Not a ton of difference. And I'm in my 50s, so I wear bifocals.
If I change my interface to the 150%, well, it would enlarge stuff I don't need enlarged. All I need enlarged are the fonts in the Carrara menus. I've already set a 24" monitor to 1280x800, which has really enlarged things.
Frankly, I think anyone who sees the menu fonts in Carrara clearly with no eye strain must have an enormous monitor, have really cranked up the size of the interface, or has incredible eyesight.
Either that or there is some difference in our systems that has the font displayed differently.