Text jagged edges

Chat about the original Pixelmator.
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2019-12-07 22:21:38

I'm finding that the text in exported files seems to be less than sharp - jagged edges.
Are there any settings within Pixelmator that would improve things? or am I doing something wrong.

Should you convert text to pixels before exporting?
Thanks J
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2019-12-08 07:21:39

Hi J.
I don't think that text should look jagged (beyond aligning with pixel boundaries), nor do I think that converting text to pixels will change what that text looks like on export (see below).
Image
If you post an example of the effect you're getting, maybe the collective brain here can figure out what's going on...
- Stef.
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2019-12-08 10:39:10

Hi thanks for getting back to me. Maybe I was looking zoomed in a bit - would you expect to see jagged edges as soon as you zoom? Image
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2019-12-08 12:54:26

would you expect to see jagged edges as soon as you zoom?
It depends on how big the text is and how much you zoom in on it. :grin:
Pixelmator is very much pixel-based and that includes the size of the text it renders (as of version 3.9 anyhow). So when you're setting a text size of 72, that is 72 pixels (not points) typically measured from the top of an ascender (e.g. the top of an 'h') to the bottom of a descender (e.g. the bottom of a 'g'). So the '2' at the end of your 'Text Here 72' will be around 50 pixels high depending on the font you use. Would I expect to see pixels when I zoom in on something 50 pixels high? Yes. Yes I would.
So the trick is to work out how big you want your text to be. Say you're designing something that you're going to print at 300ppi (a fairly standard resolution for print). There are 72 points to an inch so a 72 point print font will translate to a 300 pixel font at this resolution. Try setting a font to a size of 300 pixels and zoom in. You'll still see pixels but it's all much smoother. And those are inch high letters (again measured from the top of an 'h' to the bottom of a 'g').
Hope this helps some.
- Stef.