Archive for Envy-Code-R tag
Envy Code R preview #6 released with Visual Studio italics
A newer version of Envy Code R is available.
The last few days have been frantic ones putting the final touches to the next release of the Envy Code R typeface as I bring it closer to my idea of the perfect coding font.
Many glyphs have been redrawn, curves improved and a many additional characters and symbols added bringing the number of glyphs to 461 – enough to cover common European and US code pages including Windows/ISO 1250 & 1252 as well as MacOS Roman and a few others.
There was some interest in a bold variant and so once that was done I felt the urge to make an italic one too:
Phew!
As a bonus I’ve created a variant that overcomes Visual Studio’s aversion to italics by marking the italic font as bold. Choose ‘Envy Code R VS’ in the Font and Colors part of Visual Studio’s Options and choose bold wherever you want italics.
Here’s a sample at 10 point/ClearType with my own color scheme:
Yummy.
A few things to note:
- The new glyphs for accented characters, ligatures etc. might not be correct, they’re new to me
- Bitmaps are missing so if you don’t use smoothing/anti-aliasing/ClearType stick to the prior PR4 release
- Optimal size: Windows 10 point, Java 13 point and Mac OS X 12.5 point but looks good at larger sizes too
- Some glyphs will be improved (96?&) but others can’t (WwMm@) as there are no more pixels to play with
- At some sizes individual letters aren’t the right height, e.g. u,v,x at 12 point (damn hinting)
Download of this older version no longer available.
Feel free to leave comments and suggestions here (or better yet blog about it!)
[)amien
Envy Code R preview #6 forthcoming
Envy Code R has been updated since this post.
I have been experimenting with Envy Code R over the last few months – everything from creating a bold version to delta hinting with Visual TrueType with mixed results.
Part of the problem is that at larger sizes the odd shapes and over-emphasized curves that I drew to make the font look great at 10-point with ClearType on makes it look awkward at larger sizes.
Last weekend, I went back to the drawing board, literally, to try and improve on the shapes without impacting too much on the 10-point size ClearType version. The result is as follows;
And for comparison, the old version:
Let me know your thoughts in the comments, even if it’s just to say your prefer PR6, Consolas or something else. Be sure to mention what size and whether you have ClearType on (or if you are using a Mac).
[)amien
Envy Code R programming font – preview available for download
Envy Code R has been updated since this post.
Here is the Envy Code R programming font I’ve been working on as it currently stands:
As you can see it looks great at 10pt regardless of what smoothing (or not) you are using. Whilst you can use it at other sizes and it will scale without turning into big pixels there are plenty of other fonts around that will look better at larger sizes/in print.
It is missing a number of foreign symbols and characters, there is no width-preserving bold version to accompany it just yet and there are still issues with the full-widths of @©® symbols as the Windows ClearType renderer insists on squashing them rather than let them potentially touch another character.
I will attempt to address these as best I can as time goes by as well as trying to shave a pixel off the vertical height. It also doesn’t look too great on the Mac but if you want to try anyway use 13pt and be prepared to set the height in terminal to just above 1.0 to stop the letters being cut-off.
Comments are welcome but please bear in mind that Envy Code R is designed to look very close to Envy Code B so deviating from that further is unlikely right now.
Finally please bear in mind that whilst Envy Code R is free-for-use it is copyrighted and as such it must not be redistributed, bundled or modified without permission at this time. Once all the issues are addressed I’ll likely release the whole thing under a free/open licence.
This is simply because I do not wish people looking for this font in the future to be downloading older preview versions.
Download is no longer available, see newer version
If you were wondering what it does look like large:
Update
I have updated the preview font to fix vertical problems on the capital E as well as add a bunch of symbols not yet done (e.g. fractions) and also stuck in a bit-mapped 9pt version for those not using smoothing.
[)amien
Envy Code R work continues
Envy Code R has been updated since this post.
I’ve been back less than 36 hours but have managed to spend a little more time working on Envy Code R.
I made the decision to keep it as close as Envy Code B as possible for the initial release except where compromises were made in Code B.
Changes include “hnruc” getting stronger curve, “0MN#!~,;:.” being brought in line with Code B, the “%” symbol redrawn. Most of the foreign accented characters for the Windows Latin 1252 code-page are done. Here’s how that Visual Studio sample now looks (again with ClearType)
The font is also looking very similar with standard (non-ClearType) font smoothing switched on. CRT users rejoice ;-)
There are still some problems – it appears that ClearType likes to squash characters up rather than let two touch each other hence the messed-up @ symbol and spacing issues with { and } right now. Also while the font is usable at other sizes it’s not as pretty and if you like your fonts large Inconsolata or Consolas will look much better.
I’m hoping to get an initial version out before Christmas which won’t include bold or any characters/symbols outside the standard 1252 character set. Bold is technically a whole second font and there are enough characters in Unicode to spend a lifetime drawing…
[)amien