Java custom font?

[pepijndevos]

Is it possible to embed a custom font in a Kindlet?

The Font class seems to be missing a createFont method.

I know there is a font hack, but it's opaque and I don't care to have Droid Sans on my Kindle. I just want a better monospaced font.

There is a /usr/java/lib/fonts directory, can I just dump stuff in there?

Does OTF work?

[twobob]

IIRC I did exactly that.

I think I replaced the current ones with just some other ones renamed to the same thing. That's not exactly portable but did the job for me... let me go check first.

[root@kindle root]# cd /usr/java/lib/fonts
[root@kindle fonts]# ls -al

Spoiler:

total 41977
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 8192 Sep 17 02:44 .
drwxr-xr-x 7 root root 1024 Sep 12 23:18 ..
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 3727996 Mar 3 2012 CJK.ttf
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 268360 Sep 17 02:21 Caecilia_LT_65_Medium.ttf
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 253844 Sep 17 02:21 Caecilia_LT_66_Medium_Italic.ttf
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 276436 Sep 17 02:21 Caecilia_LT_67_Cond_Medium.ttf
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 253592 Sep 17 02:21 Caecilia_LT_68_Cond_Medium_Italic.ttf
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 243664 Sep 17 02:21 Caecilia_LT_75_Bold.ttf
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 254552 Sep 17 02:21 Caecilia_LT_76_Bold_Italic.ttf
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 242692 Sep 17 02:21 Caecilia_LT_77_Cond_Bold.ttf
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 269412 Sep 17 02:21 Caecilia_LT_78_Cond_Bold_Italic.ttf
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 48880 Sep 14 14:34 DroidSerif-Bold.ttf
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 45652 Sep 14 14:34 DroidSerif-BoldItalic.ttf
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 40416 Sep 14 14:34 DroidSerif-Italic.ttf
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 43648 Sep 14 14:34 DroidSerif-Regular.ttf
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 3055256 Sep 17 02:21 HangulGothMTC_E.ttf
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 3082504 Sep 17 02:21 HangulGothMTC_E_Bold.ttf
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 2322776 Sep 17 02:21 HeiSeiMaruGoth213_E.ttf
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 2438580 Sep 17 02:21 HeiSeiMaruGoth213_E_Bold.ttf
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 130848 Sep 17 02:21 Helvetica_LT_65_Medium.ttf
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 133072 Sep 17 02:21 Helvetica_LT_66_Medium_Italic.ttf
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 128188 Sep 17 02:21 Helvetica_LT_75_Bold.ttf
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 128448 Sep 17 02:21 Helvetica_LT_76_Bold_Italic.ttf
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 720012 Nov 25 2011 I18N.ttf
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 102396 Sep 17 02:21 KindleBlackboxBold.ttf
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 107848 Sep 17 02:21 KindleBlackboxBoldItalic.ttf
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 108448 Sep 17 02:21 KindleBlackboxItalic.ttf
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 103512 Sep 17 02:21 KindleBlackboxRegular.ttf
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 102396 Sep 13 01:39 KindleBlackbox_Bold.ttf
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 107848 Sep 13 01:39 KindleBlackbox_BoldItalic.ttf
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 108448 Sep 13 01:39 KindleBlackbox_Italic.ttf
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 103512 Sep 13 01:39 KindleBlackbox_Regular.ttf
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 20968 Sep 17 02:21 Kindle_MonospacedSymbol.ttf
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 70316 Sep 17 02:21 Kindle_Symbol.ttf
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 2922236 Sep 17 02:21 MHeiM-Big5HKSCS_E.ttf
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 3103388 Sep 17 02:21 MHeiM-Big5HKSCS_E_Bold.ttf
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 3896632 Sep 17 02:21 MHeiM18030_E.ttf
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 3951600 Sep 17 02:21 MHeiM18030_E_Bold.ttf
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 303644 Sep 17 02:44 Mono_Bold.ttf
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 224936 Sep 17 02:44 Mono_BoldItalic.ttf
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 231000 Sep 17 02:44 Mono_Italic.ttf
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 323288 Sep 17 02:44 Mono_Regular.ttf
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 30980 Sep 17 02:44 Sans_Bold.ttf
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 24268 Sep 17 02:44 Sans_BoldItalic.ttf
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 28328 Sep 17 02:44 Sans_Italic.ttf
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 32192 Sep 17 02:44 Sans_Regular.ttf
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 30460 Sep 17 02:44 Serif_Bold.ttf
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 33508 Sep 17 02:44 Serif_BoldItalic.ttf
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 30636 Sep 17 02:44 Serif_Italic.ttf
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 30396 Sep 17 02:44 Serif_Regular.ttf
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 48880 Sep 14 14:34 alt-Bold.ttf
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 45652 Sep 14 14:34 alt-BoldItalic.ttf
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 40416 Sep 14 14:34 alt-Italic.ttf
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 43648 Sep 14 14:34 alt-Regular.ttf
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 8377136 Sep 17 02:21 code2000.ttf

Niluje will be able to give you the ins and outs of it all.

But I'm fairly certain I have at some point just jumped fonts in there and renamed them. I don't recall why. for the WAFs testing perhaps.

So if your question is can I dump fonts in there and not trash the system then yes. If it is will this automagically change the relevant fonts, I think you need to run a fc-cache -f -v see Nilujes comments below: and then restart.

That should do the job IIRC.

EDIT: Hmm yeah I just did this to get huge fonts on the 5 with no Hacks. (well, font ones) That's why I remember it.

[twobob]

Originally Posted by pepijndevos

...
Does OTF work?

No idea. The way I was suggesting was simply renaming the fonts to replace the relevant current entries.

Niluje has a great thread containing info about which fonts are used when.

HTH

[twobob]

One more thing. I'm a bit confused about the request.

You ask in a "in a kindlet", IIRC only one or two of the fonts are used "In Kindlets".

So replacing them would replace the fonts used in a kindlet. I think?

If you mean "can I create a reference to a custom font... that I can use in a Kindlet"

I'm not sure mate.
probably, with enough digging.

[NiLuJe]

Yep, the Fonts hack will switch the fonts *everywhere*, including in Kindlets. And it allows you to switch the serif/sans serif/monospace & CJK/fallback families, so, yep.

(And, yeah, dumping new stuff in java/lib/fonts & tweaking the java font prefs & fontconfig to pick those up is the gist of it on the K2/3/4).

@twobob: The fc-cache stuff is specific to the Touch. The ALT_FONTS thing is still doable on those older devices, though: cf. this thread.

And, yeah, the Kindle handles OTF fonts. It might horribly choke up on some fonts for no apparent reason when using the system's FreeType lib, though.

As for bundling/using a custom font in a dedicated Kindlet on a vanilla Kindle, no idea, sorry .

[twobob]

I think the collection manager is a kindlet? as is JBPatch's interface.

(by that I mean that Ixtab hasn't pulled any ninja moves on them and made them render "via space" or something impressive, assuming they are "fairly standard": they should be Okay examples for this...)

replacement (huge) font pictured using your method

EDIT: added a couple from JBPatch to show comparison with fonts that are unaffected by me (the tiny ones)

[pepijndevos]

To clarify. The AWT-derived KTextSomething have a setFont method. I was hoping I could put fonts in that folder and load them in the Kindlet.

It currently uses the monospace font, which I would like to replace with a "programmer font". No need to change it anywhere else.

Thanks for the info. I will experiment. *googles "java font prefs"*

[twobob]

ah right yeah. well that folder would be a helpful place as there is some mechanism to re-read the java font cache IIRC (I did this once on my PC) and that folder would be included AFAIK as the default.

I know almost zero Java but have noticed the method stub you refer to while fiddling. didn't have a play mate.

here's some resources (they don't contain your stuff AFAICT but helpful anyways to others...)

personal basis (check your version, future reader)
http://docs.oracle.com/javame/config...217/index.html

Some kindlet stuff: (always check your references are the right version)
https://kdk-javadocs.s3.amazonaws.co...w-summary.html

Sorry I can't help more mate.

If you do figure it out it would be great to know. Thanks.

[pepijndevos]

I dropped a few fonts in there, but logging all the font family names Java knows about, I only see serif, sans-serif monospaced, dialog, default, etc.

I tried adding another name to font.properties in /usr/java/lib, but that did not work.

Then I just replaced the monospace section with my own font. I think it worked. I say "I think", because I'm not a font expert. It seems to look slightly different, but I might be imagining stuff.

[twobob]

nah that would work I think. I do that all the time. (just dump fonts in to try stuff out)

[twobob]

Originally Posted by pepijndevos

I dropped a few fonts in there, but logging all the font family names Java knows about, I only see serif, sans-serif monospaced, dialog, default, etc.

I tried adding another name to font.properties in /usr/java/lib, but that did not work.

It would be better if you explained your testing methods than saying "it did not work". I honestly don't know what "working" would be in this instance.

How would we know if in fact that font was available and it was an invocation error? for example.

So.. perhaps just set out your expectations, assumptions and a worked example and you will get better help.

: )

[pepijndevos]

"did not work" as in, after adding more fonts, Java gives me the same list of aliases. I just called GraphicsEnvironment.getAvailableFontFamilyNames()

But after modifying the monospaced alias in the properties file, it appears to use the new one. So I'm happy. I can just edit the file to use whatever font I want.

[twobob]

Aye. fair enough. possibly the method is nerfed or limited in some way. hard to tell through all that obfuscation and fog.

Pleased the "final result" method works for you. I was happy enough with it.

possibly there is a way via Azw3 format? but I don't know the ins and outs of embedding other bits of other formats and suspect you would end up writing an entire parser for the sake of a few pixels

although it seems like web fonts should work to me, just not sure why I thought that. probably all that javascript kicking about in WAFS, it gets me all confused about exactly what I am talking about.

Happy you are now happy