Differences in font handling between ACE2015 and ACE2017?

[Anonymous]

Hi there..

I'm currently busy getting AutoCAD Electrical 2017 ready for our users.

While checking our standerdized drawings, which are made in AutoCAD Electrical 2015, I found it hard to read some of the texts.

At first I thought it was me... but when switching back from 2017 to AutoCAD Electrical 2015 and the exact same drawing the text was a lot more crisp and sharp.

Has there been any changes in the 'Graphical Engine' or font handling that could cause this?

In AutoCAD it looks like the font is being handled like a True type font (used to do). Only sharp and readable at certain zoom levels.

The font used is isocp2.shx.

The same font is used for all the symbols in the libraries etc. changing this and all our standardized drawings will be a nightmare.

Is there a setting I've missed out on or is there another solution?

I will attach screenshots of the same DWG. One taken from ACE2017 and one from ACE2015 on the same zoom level and same monitor.

Take notice of the Yellow note in the left hand corner here the difference is seen clearly the text box is even bigger.

Thank you all...

[rhesusminus]

You should run the command 3DCONFIG and check out the options. Compare with the settings in 2015.

[Icemanau]

There are a couple of options if you want to change the font used in everything

The easy option is to change the text style.

The text style used in the blocks is normally WD.

Make sure that your Menu Bar is on and go to Format and select Text Style.

Select the WD style and change the font to the one you prefer.

You will notice any existing text using the WD style will now use the new font.

If you set this in your template dwgs, you will only have to change each existing dwg if required.

The one problem is that in existing dwgs, some text will not line up properly until you double click on it and then hit enter.

The harder option is to modify the symbol library.

First of all, BACKUP your current library as is. Just copy the directory to a new location.

Second, I recommend running this overnight as it will take over your system and you won't be able to do anything.

Under the Components menu from the Menu Bar, there is an sub menu called Symbol Library.

In the sub menu, there is an option to Modify Symbol Library.

Select the Library you wish to modify.

Select the tick box to modify the WD Style and select the new font.

Make sure you select the box to 'Do a SAVE even if no change'.

Check the other options to see if there are any other changes you want to make (like text size)

Click 'Start' and come back the next morning as it will take about 6 hours (or longer) to process all the blocks in a standard library.

Regards Brad

[Anonymous]

Hi All,

For everyone interested.

All the above proposed solutions didn't work for me or were already on the correct settings etc.

The problem still isn't fixed, but I suspect it has something to do with Line Smooting.

To make sure it isn't a Hardware problem I've installed both ACE2015 & ACE2017 on a different computer and it showed the same ragged fonts on every drawing I open or create from scratch in ACE2017 with both True Type and SHX fonts. ACE 2015 shows all Fonts as it is supposed to, nice and crisp.

When running the Tuner Log from the Graphics Perfomance in both ACE2015 & ACE2017 and on both computers (one workstation and one Laptop)

The difference between the ACE2015 & ACE2017 Log files on both computers is:

ACE2015: ACAD_LineSmoothing   supported     turned on

ACE2017: ACAD_LineSmoothing   not supported   turned on

At the moment I'm working closely with our reseller to trie to find a solution.

If any of you reading this has an idea please let me know in a reply.

Thank you...

[rhesusminus]

Make sure you have the latest supported driver for your graphics card:
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/syscert?siteID=123112&id=18844534&results=1&stype=graphic&produ...

Also, what version Windows are you running?

[Anonymous]

Hi Rhesusminus,

Checking my Graphics card drivers was one of the first things I did.

I even installed an older version which was both recommended and certified bij Autodesk.

I'm on 21.21.13.7586 for my Quadro 2000 running DirectX 11.

I'm running Windows 7 64bit. Unfortunately upgrading to Windows 10 isn't an option in our office yet.

Nevertheless thank you for your input.

[rhesusminus]

Just for the fun of it.. Have you tried using DirectX 9 ?
https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/autocad/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/How-to...

[jamorrison]

Are you saying the shx fonts look good, and the true-type is hard to read?  I had the same issue. I hate how ACADE displays true type fonts, so I only use shx fonts for display.  However, the shx font plots too light on my printer, so I use the font mapping file to print with true-type fonts. Once you set it up, it's done, and it works well for our company.

[Anonymous]

I've tried DirectX 9 but there weren't any impovements.

AutoCAD Electrical 2017 still showed the jagged fonts while ACE2015 displayed everything correct.

[rhesusminus · Accepted solution]

This isn't just because acade.fmp substitutes the fonts? In options... Make ACAD.FMP the default fontmap file and see if that fixes it.

[Anonymous]

Thank you Rhesusminus !!

You are brilliant good sir!!

This nearly fixed my problem, the only thing I had to do after changing the .FMP was turn off High quality geometry and done... fixed.

Again thank you for your time and advice. 

[Anonymous]

That fixed the problem I was having as well.  I'm going to try to link my question to this solution.