GUI Fonts?

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jerryk
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Joined: Fri Jul 22, 2016 12:18 pm

GUI Fonts?

Post by jerryk »

Hello,

I'm just getting started with FreeCAD 0.16. Is there any way to change the colors and fonts of the various GUI items? Specifically, in the sketch
editor, the coordinates that are shown next to the insert point - tiny dark blue font - are unreadable to me, unless I peer over my glasses and bend way over.

How can one change this? I looked through "Preferences" and nothing jumped out at me. I was able to lighten the background color a bit, and that helped, but I still have to peer, because that font is just so small.

Under "Edit Parameters", I found Preferences|View|EditSketcherFontSi... ( no way to see the rest of the name ). I changed it from 17 to 25,
no difference.

Thanks in advance,

- Jerry Kaidor
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quick61
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Re: GUI Fonts?

Post by quick61 »

Hello jerryk, Welcome to FreeCAD and the forum.

Edit > Preferences... > Display > Sketcher tab should do it for you. You will need to load, (go to) the Part Design or Sketcher workbench first so the module and it's preferences will be available.

Also please have a look the the Forum rules and Helpful information at the top of the help section. It's in red and kind of hard to miss. Though this question is not so important for have your FreeCAD info, most all are.

Mark
This post made with 0.0% Micro$oft products - GOT LINUX?
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bejant
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Re: GUI Fonts?

Post by bejant »

@jerryk, are you using Windows, and did you change the default font size?
What is your Help > About FreeCAD > Copy to Clipboard info?
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NormandC
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Re: GUI Fonts?

Post by NormandC »

Hello Jerry,

Welcome here!
jerryk wrote:Specifically, in the sketch
editor, the coordinates that are shown next to the insert point - tiny dark blue font - are unreadable to me, unless I peer over my glasses and bend way over.
I feel for you. Can't read the tiny writing on labels anymore. Getting old sucks. :D

But I never look at the blue coordinates, never have needed to. In fact if it was possible to disable the coordinate display, I would. IMO it's useless for constraint-based sketching. The idea is to sketch your geometry loosely with no concern for its size, then constrain it with geometric constraints and dimensional constraints. That's how your profile gets to the desired dimensions.
jerryk
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Joined: Fri Jul 22, 2016 12:18 pm

Re: GUI Fonts?

Post by jerryk »

OS: Windows 10
Word size of OS: 64-bit
Word size of FreeCAD: 64-bit
Version: 0.16.6704 (Git)
Build type: Release
Branch: releases/FreeCAD-0-16
Hash: 0c449d7e8f9b2b1fb93e3f8d1865e2f59d7ed253
Python version: 2.7.8
Qt version: 4.8.7
Coin version: 4.0.0a
OCC version: 6.8.0.oce-0.17

I tried the Preferences|Display|Sketcher area. There are a couple of settings that seem to be about the sizes of things. Neither of them made
any difference. I made the coordinates text more visible by changing the sketcher background to bright white - but then you can't see the lines :).

The machine I'm running this on is a server motherboard with a recent quad-core XEON, 16G of ECC ram, and a big Samsung SSD. It's a fairly potent machine. But it has a modest video card - a fanless Nvidia - because the computer is in our spare bedroom, and I wanted it to be really quiet.
jerryk
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Joined: Fri Jul 22, 2016 12:18 pm

Re: GUI Fonts?

Post by jerryk »

NormandC wrote:Hello Jerry,

Welcome here!
jerryk wrote:Specifically, in the sketch
editor, the coordinates that are shown next to the insert point - tiny dark blue font - are unreadable to me, unless I peer over my glasses and bend way over.
I feel for you. Can't read the tiny writing on labels anymore. Getting old sucks. :D
*** Got that right!

The idea is to sketch your geometry loosely with no concern for its size, then constrain it[/quote]

I'll need to give that a try. The reason I'm trying out Freecad BTW is that I just got a 3d printer. It's a Prusa i3 kit. Seems to work, but the real payoff for me is to be able to make my own stuff. For this hobby, I expect to spend 90% of the time in front of a CAD screen. So it's important to choose the right CAD program.
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NormandC
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Re: GUI Fonts?

Post by NormandC »

jerryk wrote:the real payoff for me is to be able to make my own stuff.
Yes, I believe that's why the 3D printer frenzy from the last couple of years has mostly died down. You can't do much with a 3D printer if you can't design your own stuff. Once you've printed a few useless vases and figurines... :D
jerryk wrote: So it's important to choose the right CAD program.
You're using Windows which means you have choice (OnShape, Fusion 360, DesignSpark Mechanical, ...). That's if you're OK with free commercial programs and their "artificial" limitations and their obscure business model (how exactly are they making money, what do they get out of it since they most assuredly don't, is the unanswered question).

Since you got a Prusa i3 you may be aware of how it was developed following the Free and Open Source Software philosophy. If that's a path you wish to follow with your CAD software as well then for all intent and purposes, FreeCAD is about the only choice there is. (I'm not talking about polygonal modellers, there are a few open source among them Blender, but they are not CAD programs)

FreeCAD has limitations and quirks due to the nature of its development. But year after year it makes great strides, its dev team is awesome and a small but enthusiastic community has formed around it. :)
mario52
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Re: GUI Fonts?

Post by mario52 »

hi
try this macro Macro_FCInfoToMouse

Image

you modify the property in combo view > view (font, font size, colour ...)

(the italian post modificare puntatore mouse)

mario
Maybe you need a special feature, go into Macros_recipes and Code_snippets, Topological_data_scripting.
My macros on Gist.github here complete macros Wiki and forum.
jerryk
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Joined: Fri Jul 22, 2016 12:18 pm

Re: GUI Fonts?

Post by jerryk »

NormandC wrote:
jerryk wrote:the real payoff for me is to be able to make my own stuff.
Yes, I believe that's why the 3D printer frenzy from the last couple of years has mostly died down. You can't do much with a 3D printer if you can't design your own stuff. Once you've printed a few useless vases and figurines... :D
*** My interest in Bric-a-brac is nil. I won't be printing any figurines. I am interested in replacement plastic connectors for items that will
otherwise be thrown away. I'm interested in custom cases for electronics projects - I design and make my own circuit boards with toner transfer. I have an obsolete aviation walky-talkie that desperately needs a pair of tiny knobs. I'd like to make a few custom parts for my piano. Etc.
NormandC wrote: Since you got a Prusa i3 you may be aware of how it was developed following the Free and Open Source Software philosophy.
Very familiar. I am a retired software engineer. I have been using Linux since IIRC 1993. All my personal and business data - including drawings - is kept on a Linux/Samba server. My Linux Counter number is 931. My motto: "Don't keep anything on a Windows machine that you can't buy at the store". This particular machine runs Windows because there is certain business software that I can't do without.
NormandC wrote: If that's a path you wish to follow with your CAD software as well then for all intent and purposes, FreeCAD is about the only choice there is.
*** Good to know. I am very fond of open source. As a software engineer, I love to have the source - because I know - that in the final exigency - if I absolutely have to fix something, I can go in and do it. I once had a networking problem, and troubleshot it by building a custom Linux kernel with
printk's in the right places. No, the problem was not in the kernel - it was in my Windows machine. But the ability to go in and instrument the kernel saved my *ss.

I'd like to add that "free as in freedom" is more important to me than "free as in beer". In fact, I just bought a copy of Turbocad to try it out....

- Jerryk
seulrich01
Posts: 9
Joined: Sat Jan 07, 2017 12:58 pm

Re: GUI Fonts?

Post by seulrich01 »

I too am having trouble seeing these fonts next to the insertion point cursor
LIke the previous post, I went into preferences/display/sketcher
under the sketch editing it does show a font size. Changing this has no effect
I tried changing my windows 10 default size and rebooted.. no luck

Any more ideas?





OS: Windows 10
Word size of OS: 64-bit
Word size of FreeCAD: 64-bit
Version: 0.16.6706 (Git)
Build type: Release
Branch: releases/FreeCAD-0-16
Hash: f86a4e411ff7848dea98d7242f43b7774bee8fa0
Python version: 2.7.8
Qt version: 4.8.7
Coin version: 4.0.0a
OCC version: 6.8.0.oce-0.17
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