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I am experiencing an issue with font rendering in GTK applications (for example; Firefox, GIMP).

It is clear that something is wrong with the GTK theme, but what?

In Firefox, for example, both the text on the page and the menu characters are rendering incorrectly.

Any ideas on how to resolve this issue?

2 Answers 2

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The problem is: KDE has no support for "demi bold" (or semi bold) fonts, while GTK yes.

I was using a font that has a "demi bold" option, which was translated by KDE to bold.

This appears to be fixed since version 4.8, but not an option for Kubuntu users (mainly if you're using 12.04 LTS, as me).

First: on KDE Settings > Application Appearence > Fonts. Mark Anti-aliasing as enabled, click on Configure, UNcheck Exclude range, check Use subpixel, and select Slight for Hinting.

Then do one of the following steps:

Workaround 1: go to KDE Settings > Font Management and disable the semi bold and light variations from the font you're using.

Workaround 2: select a font with no semi bold and light variations, like Tahoma.

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Try this, it fixed my gtik application so hopefully will also fixe your gtk applications.

sudo apt-get install tk8.5
sudo update-alternatives --config wish
# a list will show up and you need to type in the number that corresponds to tk8.5 (in my case was 3) then hit enter
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  • Well, as a matter of fact - i tried that and firstly it appeared that i had no tk8.4 package at all - so no alternatives on update. But what ever - after installing, and rebooting it remained the same =((
    – Danchik
    Oct 17, 2012 at 3:51
  • You see, my problem appears ONLY in GTK based programs - in native KDE programs and in the overall Kubuntu 12.04.1 System i had no problems with fonts or any characters.
    – Danchik
    Oct 17, 2012 at 3:54
  • The strangest thing that the pattern of the distortion changes each time i reboot, change the systems font defaults, hitting anti aliasing, etc.
    – Danchik
    Oct 17, 2012 at 3:55
  • The same goes when i scale the page's fonts in Firefox by pressing "Ctrl" + "+"/"-". Looking forward for your comments!
    – Danchik
    Oct 17, 2012 at 3:57
  • What i think is that i installed a clean installation of the / partition, but my /home directory was kept the same.Can it be that the source of the problem?
    – Danchik
    Oct 17, 2012 at 4:45

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