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+--- Thread: Recommended fonts (/thread-131.html)
Recommended fonts - wrightak - 2006-08-13
I thought I would start a thread about what fonts people are using. In firefox, I'm currently using MS P明朝 which looks great when you increase the text size to make the characters huge but when you've got a normal text size, you some times have to screw up your eyes. What font do other people use? I think that different fonts will be appropriate in different situations. As I said, 明朝 looks nice when the characters are large but for readability purposes, something simpler might be better. Recommended links to download Japanese fonts would also be great.
Recommended fonts - CharleyGarrett - 2006-08-13
I like MS Mincho, which has been on my computer all along, without downloading it. I don't know how, maybe it comes with windows? Where did you get MS Myocho(?). Did it just come with your system similarly?
As part of trying to help out with the wiki project for SODs, I downloaded to chinese fonts too. They came from:
http://www.sino.uni-heidelberg.de/edv/sinopc/chinese_fonts.htm
That site refers one to http://www.sino.uni-heidelberg.de/edv/sinopc/chinese_fonts.htm
...but these are all referals for "chinese fonts".
I've never actually taken time to search for similar sites for "japanese" fonts".
Recommended fonts - wrightak - 2006-08-13
I believe another reading for 明朝 is みんちょう so I assume it's the same. I've got a Japanese machine and it came with that. Thanks for the links, I'll check it out.
Recommended fonts - CharleyGarrett - 2006-08-13
Sure it is! What am I thinking?! Well, obviously, I'm not. I thought "tomorrow morning" and didn't even think of the Ming dynasty. Duh!
Recommended fonts - Pangolin - 2006-08-13
There are lots of links here:
http://www.travelphrases.info/gallery/Fonts_Japanese.html
I've installed quite a few of these. Note that they often don't contain all the characters, I presume they have limited themselves to those in general use.
The problem with Mincho is that it doesn't reflect how kanji are written by hand, and some of these other fonts are based on hand-written or brush styles.
The Epson package has some nice fonts (and I think they have all the unicode characters), but unfortunately I can only get two of them to work. The Epson gyousho brush font (which does work on my system) is very impressive, but difficult to read! There is also a less-elaborate hand-brushed font called Sword which is very readable, but the number of characters is more limited.
Recommended fonts - Matthew - 2006-08-13
MS Pゴシック (Gothic)
Like "gothic" style fonts with roman characters, it's basically just simple lines, so it scales down about as well as you can hope for in a Japanese font. Plus it should already be installed on your computer if you're running Windows with the Japanese IME enabled, so you don't have to bother with downloading or installing anything.
Recommended fonts - mentat_kgs - 2008-12-13
I just checked nestor's links and just wanned to add that Epson's fonts package is badass.
Recommended fonts - annabel398 - 2008-12-13
There are one or two font threads in the "Japanese Writing Systems" section, with lots o' links. I second the thumbs-up on the Epson fonts.
Recommended fonts - rotud - 2008-12-18
I recommend Meiryo which comes with Vista or can be downloaded free for XP from here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=f7d758d2-46ff-4c55-92f2-69ae834ac928&displaylang=en
This font was designed for reading on computer screens, supports Clear Type at all weight levels, and it blends in well with Latin characters. I don't know how it compares to commercial fonts, but it's vastly superior to MSGothic and MSMincho.
Recommended fonts - annabel398 - 2008-12-19
If Meiro looks blurry to you and you're running Windows, you might be interested in the ClearType Tuner:
http://www.microsoft.com/typography/cleartype/tuner/tune.aspx
which is a tool that lets you optimize your ClearType settings by picking from samples. This is the web-based one; there's a downloadable version as well.
Recommended fonts - kazelee - 2008-12-19
nest0r Wrote:I've already tinkered with all that, it still looks blurry, despite all the trouble. Squished and blurry and kind of off-coloured, no matter what settings I used. I'm using a high resolution flat panel. I read that even some of the people that worked on it think Cleartype makes it blurry regardless of settings, so. It's nauseating. ;( I just think Meiryo is ugly, period. The way the strokes are drawn, that is.Perhaps you should downgrade then. LOL