Bundle a Handwrite-y Font

[maymage]

Hi all,

my understanding is, that the text fonts, that I can choose from here

are those from my system - correct me, if I am wrong.

If so, I do lack a nice looking handwrite-y font, that blends in well with the idea of a note taking app; like in may case, I'd imagine that many people don't really know how to install an additional font, or if they could learn, are too lazy for it.

Therefore, in order to improve the default experience, I would suggest to

• bundle at least one handwrite-y font with flathub
• set it by default

Personally I like the Virgil font that's used by Excalidraw. Tldraw uses Shantellsans.

[maymage]

Just for fun: Cantarell vs Virgil

[maymage]

Just to show off..

[flxzt]

I like it! it would complement the handwriting very well. I'll see if we can include this in the next release

[flxzt]

@dehesselle what would be the best way to bundle a font on MacOS, or do you know how Inkscape will do it in v1.3? Unfortunately I could not find a good way to load in a custom font programmatically, so I think we have to install it to the system on all platforms.

[dehesselle]

I think I'll add it to the application bundle and add the path so that fontconfig finds it. I'll need to run some tests to confirm.

[dehesselle]

I've figured it out. (And I noticed "I've done this before" somewhere 😆.) It's an easy setting, doesn't involve fontconfig. I can move forward anytime, I just need to know which font to bundle.

[dehesselle]

One more thing: this feature has an impact on export formats like PDF. The font needs to be embedded during export, otherwise Rnote will create PDFs that don't look like the original drawing.

[flxzt]

Currently the text is converted into paths for all vectorized exports during the simplification step (not ideal, I know), so it shouldn't be an issue. But this should definitely be kept in mind for the future.

[flxzt]

Here's a small comparison between different open handwrite-y fonts. Open for discussion which ones should be included (the last one is a typewriter font, but it is fun and could be added as well in my opinion):

[maymage]

Personally, for aesthetic and readability reasons

Virgil ~ ShantellSans > Gloriah Hallelujah > Grape Nuts

Is there are reason, we have to choose? Depending on personal handwriting, one may have a preference for one specific font over another, so a few distinct, yet lightweight fonts may be desirable.

[flxzt]

No, it is possible to bundle multiple fonts. I want to cover a variety of handwriting styles, in the PR right now Virgil and Grape Nuts is bundled. I personally like Gloriah Hallelujah, but it has a really large line height for some reason and ShantellSans style is almost too little handwrite-y in my opinion.

I am also open to bundling alternatives/other (open) fonts if there are other suggestions.