Font used in the help files accessed via the Help and Support link

[Ken Springer]

Is there a way, in Windows 7, to control the font used for printing of
these help files? I know there's minimal means in XP, but just
beginning the search for a Windows 7 solution.

I don't mind installing small utility to control this. In fact, I'd
rather do it that way than edit the registry or some configuration file.
My reason for this is I'd like to be able to pass that ability on to
others that would not have the skills to edit files at that level.

Open to any or all other suggestions as to how to get a Windows help
file printed with a font other than the default.


--
Ken

Mac OS X 10.6.8
Firefox 12.0
Thunderbird 12.0.1
LibreOffice 3.5.2.2

 

[Dave-UK]

Is there a way, in Windows 7, to control the font used for printing of
these help files? I know there's minimal means in XP, but just
beginning the search for a Windows 7 solution.

I don't mind installing small utility to control this. In fact, I'd
rather do it that way than edit the registry or some configuration file.
My reason for this is I'd like to be able to pass that ability on to
others that would not have the skills to edit files at that level.

Open to any or all other suggestions as to how to get a Windows help
file printed with a font other than the default.

What's wrong with the default font ?

 

[Ken Springer]

What's wrong with the default font ?

Assuming the current font used for printing is Times-New Roman
(sometimes called Dutch and something else)...

Readability, for one. The conventional wisdom is the font design has a
big impact on readability. Times-New Roman font was specifically
designed for easy reading at a small point size, by the New York Times,
to make the newspaper easier to read. But as the point size of
Times-New Roman is increased, it is harder and more tiring on the eyes
to read. Other fonts, such as Palatino, Garamond, Baskerville, Bodoni,
etc. are easier to read depending on the size and character/word spacing.

As I want to print a number of the help articles, changing the font
and/or size will also minimize the amount of paper used.

Ideally, I can then "print" the articles as multiple PDF files, and then
combine the small PDF's into a single PDF file. But the free PDF
printer drivers seem to do things differently depending on something I
haven't figured out. In one Vista install I have, direct printing ends
up with a serif font, but the PDF is a sans-serif font. In Win 7, both
fonts are serif fonts, but apparently not the same serif font, unless
the the printing process is not using the same character/word spacing
settings.


--
Ken

Mac OS X 10.6.8
Firefox 12.0
Thunderbird 12.0.1
LibreOffice 3.5.2.2

 

[Dave-UK]

Assuming the current font used for printing is Times-New Roman
(sometimes called Dutch and something else)...

Readability, for one. The conventional wisdom is the font design has a
big impact on readability. Times-New Roman font was specifically
designed for easy reading at a small point size, by the New York Times,
to make the newspaper easier to read. But as the point size of
Times-New Roman is increased, it is harder and more tiring on the eyes
to read. Other fonts, such as Palatino, Garamond, Baskerville, Bodoni,
etc. are easier to read depending on the size and character/word spacing.

As I want to print a number of the help articles, changing the font
and/or size will also minimize the amount of paper used.

Ideally, I can then "print" the articles as multiple PDF files, and then
combine the small PDF's into a single PDF file. But the free PDF
printer drivers seem to do things differently depending on something I
haven't figured out. In one Vista install I have, direct printing ends
up with a serif font, but the PDF is a sans-serif font. In Win 7, both
fonts are serif fonts, but apparently not the same serif font, unless
the the printing process is not using the same character/word spacing
settings.

I think you'll find the font is Segoe UI.
I don't know how to change the font in the
Help and Support files but you can change the size:
Start > Help and Support > Options > Text size.

 

[Ken Springer]

I think you'll find the font is Segoe UI.
I don't know how to change the font in the
Help and Support files but you can change the size:
Start> Help and Support> Options> Text size.

Segoe UI apparently is just the screen font. Checking my Vista install
for this, as it's a virtual machine on this Mac. It's a sans-serif font.

But the direct print and the PDF have a serif font, although the printed
output isn't identical. Also interesting, both have the same printing
error.

I was just poking around in the help file, and took a look at the
source. It's HTML4, and MS has some stylesheets on the drive. If I
could find and edit those stylesheets, that would solve the problem for
me, but not for my endgame, which is making things easier for others.

But it would be a start.

--
Ken

Mac OS X 10.6.8
Firefox 12.0
Thunderbird 12.0.1
LibreOffice 3.5.2.2

 

[Dave-UK]

Segoe UI apparently is just the screen font. Checking my Vista install
for this, as it's a virtual machine on this Mac. It's a sans-serif font.

But the direct print and the PDF have a serif font, although the printed
output isn't identical. Also interesting, both have the same printing
error.

I was just poking around in the help file, and took a look at the
source. It's HTML4, and MS has some stylesheets on the drive. If I
could find and edit those stylesheets, that would solve the problem for
me, but not for my endgame, which is making things easier for others.

But it would be a start.

If you want to end up with a PDF file how about printing
the help file with the Windows built-in XPS printer and
then converting to PDF format with something like PDFlite.

 

[Ken Springer]

If you want to end up with a PDF file how about printing
the help file with the Windows built-in XPS printer and
then converting to PDF format with something like PDFlite.

I've never taken the time to work with the XPS printer. But, that adds
an extra step from just using a printer driver that creates a PDF file
directly.

The more of the mundane stuff I can make the computer do for me, the
happier I am!


--
Ken

Mac OS X 10.6.8
Firefox 12.0
Thunderbird 12.0.1
LibreOffice 3.5.2.2

 

[Dave-UK]

I've never taken the time to work with the XPS printer. But, that adds
an extra step from just using a printer driver that creates a PDF file
directly.

The more of the mundane stuff I can make the computer do for me, the
happier I am!

OK, well good luck with changing the font and/or sizes.

 

[James Silverton]

If you want to end up with a PDF file how about printing
the help file with the Windows built-in XPS printer and then converting
to PDF format with something like PDFlite.

It's a bit cumbersome but you could use CTRL-A and then CTRL-C/CTRL-V
to copy it to a scratch pad. Copying back to a Word file with CTRL-V
allows editing.

 

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

In message <[email protected]>, James Silverton

It's a bit cumbersome but you could use CTRL-A and then CTRL-C/CTRL-V
to copy it to a scratch pad. Copying back to a Word file with CTRL-V
allows editing.

Just out of curiosity: why use the scratch pad, rather than straight
into Word?
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G.5AL-IS-P--Ch++(p)Ar@T0H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

I'm sometimes a bit bewildered by that, really - there are no young people in
it, there's no sex, there's no violence, no car chases and there's no action
and no vampires. - Colin Firth on the success of the film "The King's Speech".
Radio Times 10-16 September 2011

 

[Ken Springer]

It's a bit cumbersome but you could use CTRL-A and then CTRL-C/CTRL-V
to copy it to a scratch pad. Copying back to a Word file with CTRL-V
allows editing.

Haven't tried that, but often I've lost formatting when doing that
method, and formatting is something I'm hoping to retain.


--
Ken

Mac OS X 10.6.8
Firefox 12.0
Thunderbird 12.0.1
LibreOffice 3.5.2.2

 

[Stan Brown]

On 5/6/12 1:12 PM, James Silverton wrote:

Haven't tried that, but often I've lost formatting when doing that
method, and formatting is something I'm hoping to retain.

Wouldn't it have been quicker to try it than to post speculations on
whether it would work or not?

I'll save you the trouble -- headings are formatted after pasting in
Word, but the formatting is ugly and I think would take a lot of hand
editing.

Is there some reason you can't use Options » Text Size right in Help?

 

[Ken Springer]

Wouldn't it have been quicker to try it than to post speculations on
whether it would work or not?

The speculation was an expectation based on past experience.

I'll save you the trouble -- headings are formatted after pasting in
Word, but the formatting is ugly and I think would take a lot of hand
editing.

Not surprising to me. And as I said earlier, I want the computer to do
all this kind of stuff, not have to do it by hand. That's one of the
reasons computers were created in the first place.

Is there some reason you can't use Options » Text Size right in Help?

Didn't know it existed. I'm just getting started with Windows 7.

Going the next size smaller makes the printing font too small, far too
small.

But, if I was going to be regular and not a part time Windows user, I'd
want to set the help files to have a larger font for screen display, and
a smaller one for printing.

Don't take this wrong, Stan, your info is good to know, but actually
doesn't answer my question of how to actually change the printed font.
I actually like the screen font.


--
Ken

Mac OS X 10.6.8
Firefox 12.0
Thunderbird 12.0.1
LibreOffice 3.5.2.2

 

[Wolf K]

Is there a way, in Windows 7, to control the font used for printing of
these help files? I know there's minimal means in XP, but just beginning
the search for a Windows 7 solution.

I don't mind installing small utility to control this. In fact, I'd
rather do it that way than edit the registry or some configuration file.
My reason for this is I'd like to be able to pass that ability on to
others that would not have the skills to edit files at that level.

Open to any or all other suggestions as to how to get a Windows help
file printed with a font other than the default.

Only way I know is to Copy'n'Paste into a word processor.

Wolf K.

 

[James Silverton]

Haven't tried that, but often I've lost formatting when doing that
method, and formatting is something I'm hoping to retain.

The cumbersome method does remove the formatting but that seems
necessary. I know a method that would just change the font might be what
you actually wanted.

 

[James Silverton]

The cumbersome method does remove the formatting but that seems
necessary. I know a method that would just change the font might be what
you actually wanted.

I ran into problems with headers using click and drag to copy the Help
window but I now see that if you copy the whole Help window with CTRL-a
and Ctrl-c, then paste into an empty Word document, you can edit the
font type and size.

 

[Ken Springer]

I ran into problems with headers using click and drag to copy the Help
window but I now see that if you copy the whole Help window with CTRL-a
and Ctrl-c, then paste into an empty Word document, you can edit the
font type and size.

True. If my search was just for me, I'd do it this way on a one or two
time basis. But, "just for me" is not the ultimate goal.

The end game is to benefit both me and others, and I can guarantee they
probably won't have Word.




--
Ken

Mac OS X 10.6.8
Firefox 12.0
Thunderbird 12.0.1
LibreOffice 3.5.2.2

 

[Zaidy036]

--- snip---

If Segoe is a named font in your font folder can you copy another font that
you prefer into it?

I am traveling with an iPad and cannot test.

 

[Ken Springer]

--- snip---

If Segoe is a named font in your font folder can you copy another font that
you prefer into it?

I am traveling with an iPad and cannot test.

There are X number of fonts in the font folder. I could really do the
crappy thing, call a different font Segoe and substitute it, if Dave-UK
is correct about which font it is.

But, that's the display font, and I'm more interested in changing the
printed font.

--
Ken

Mac OS X 10.6.8
Firefox 12.0
Thunderbird 12.0.1
LibreOffice 3.5.2.2