Site-supported fonts for translators

Posted under Bugs & Features

Shinjidude

BrokenEagle98 said:

Bumping this topic because there has been at least one more font type that would be useful for me but is currently lacking.

The font I'm thinking of is what is rendered when the generic font family "monospace" is used, which on my computer is Consolas, but could also be something like Courier; basically, something that looks robotic. This is useful for text boxes when robot-like speech needs to be emphasized. The current monospace will render differently on different computers/devices, so having something the site provides would help with sizing the font correctly (especially for embedded notes).

There's also:

Both of which were developed and released under the open source OFL licence

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Zurreak

I've come across the works of Vic Fieger, who graciously allows for some of his better fonts to be used, modified, and distributed for any purpose 100% free, as is stated here on his website. I've selected 3 of them which I think are worth consideration to be added to danbooru's site-supported font collection.

The first is Fawn Script. It's a thick, neat print font with light stylization.
Capital 'I' has crossbars. Excellent coverage of accented characters; missing some special characters.

Next is Gisele Script. It's a more-heavily stylized handwritten font. Has a feminine style.
Capital 'I' has crossbars. Excellent coverage of accented characters; missing some special characters.

The last one is EDO SZ. It looks a lot like Anarchy (the font we currently have aliased to "scary"), but less stylized. The similar appearance is due to the similar creation processes used for each. In my opinion, the two look different enough to cover different use cases.
Capital 'I' does not have crossbars. Majuscules only. Excellent coverage of accented characters.

I'd be interested in knowing what others think of these candidates.

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BrokenEagle98

Zurreak said:

The first is Fawn Script. It's a thick, neat print font with light stylization.
Capital 'I' has crossbars. Excellent coverage of accented characters; missing some special characters.

Seems very close to the already existing print font, i.e. Kalam

Next is Gisele Script. It's a more-heavily stylized handwritten font. Has a feminine style.
Capital 'I' has crossbars. Excellent coverage of accented characters; missing some special characters.

This one has some real potential. It has a lot of nice simple loops typical of what one might find in a children's course on teaching the alphabet, and could be used in some uses as childrens' writing and also jotted notes. Perhaps the font alias could be "child", or "children", or something else if somebody has a better idea.

The last one is EDO SZ. It looks a lot like Anarchy (the font we currently have aliased to "scary"), but less stylized. The similar appearance is due to the similar creation processes used for each. In my opinion, the two look different enough to cover different use cases.
Capital 'I' does not have crossbars. Majuscules only. Excellent coverage of accented characters.

As you said, it looks close, and in my opinion, too close to the current scary font, Anarchy.

Edit:

Actually, looking at it again, perhaps the EDO SZ could be used when translating brush-stroked Kanji? Since all of the letters looks like they've been done with a brush.

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Zurreak

At first I really liked the idea of Fawn Script for the site, but now that you mention it I realize that Kalam will be the more-fitting font for most of Fawn Script's potential use cases, so I've changed my mind. I'm glad you like Giselle Script. I was always ambivalent about EDO SZ. It could work as a brush calligraphy font, but there might also be a better alternative to it (for free) out there. I haven't really looked into those sorts of fonts at all.

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BrokenEagle98

Bringing up this topic again, as I've observed that the **Blackletter** font that is currently supported by the site is very hard to read, even for a native reader of the Latin alphabet. This is probably why there has only been 34 usages of it on the site so far (note search), even though it's been out for 2.5 years. From my own experience, I've always wanted something more stylish like a blackletter, but have been unable to due to the unreadability of the current font.

So I went out and compiled a list of potential replacements that are free for commercial use, which I prioritized the readability over its stylishness, and ordered according to my own perspective on how readable they were while still incorporating stylishness.

For myself, I liked the Alpine font the best, as it adds a great degree of stylishness, while still being readable.

I'm looking for feedback from other users though, since even if you are not a translator yourself, you would still be a reader.

Any other ideas for a replacement font are welcome, as long as they meet the condition of free for commercial use.

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pronebone

I'd say either of the Woodtype ones, since they hold the same style of blackletter, like the capital letters and what it has going with the readability, and it feels a lighter blackletter style, at least to me.

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GabrielWB

@Arcana55

Bumping this topic because of a small discussion that happened here regarding our current Blackletter font UnifrakturMaguntia, and its legibility issues.
And looking back just above this post, and at issue #5189, and some messages in the Discord, I see that this has been playing for longer.
Now that we have the magic of 🌈ASSETS🌈, I can share the Blackletter experience with those that haven't seen this font in its full glory.

Can you read the following text:

Answer:
GRAPEFLAVOREDBLOBCAT
QUALITYCHECK PENDING
UNAPPROVED SEXYTIME
FLAGGEDFORDELETION XYZ xyz

The capital letters especially are severely lacking in distinctiveness.

Besides the fonts mentioned by @BrokenEagle98, I would like to propose Manufacturing Consent from the Google Fonts set.

It still has those heavily flourished capital letters, but they are far more distinctively shaped.
The letters are more angular with straight strokes, and the dots on the I and J are diamond-shaped which are elements that I far more associate with Blackletter fonts.

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BrokenEagle98

I could read all of the words/letters from the second example without cheating. The first example looks like a magical runes, and I can't read it at all without cheating.

Anything though would be better than what we currently have. That's my two red cents.

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trapster77

btw i read it as

grudegeuboredbeobeue
quuegebeheer berdgrG
uruvvrobed gexbegme
feuggedfordelesgor xb3 rd3

and i still can't figure out the fuck is that last part supposed to be "xyz" like how do you write an "x" that looks like an "r"?

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