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Thread: Text pixellating a lot....Is text really vector in Flash ?

  1. #1
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    Text pixellating a lot....Is text really vector in Flash ?

    Hi,

    I have a simple landing page that im making for a website.
    The title to the site. Just plain simple static text but its just always edgy and aliased ?
    I even tried making it orginally in a very large font size breaking it up and then reducing it in size. Still no luck.

    But when i zoom in using the right click menu its starts sharpening up and in real close-up seems razor sharp. But when the page is displayed at 100% size the text which is now much smaller is aliased.

    What is the right way to make sharp text and avoid this problem ?

    Thanks a lot in advance.
    Last edited by plainman007; 05-22-2009 at 03:11 PM.

  2. #2
    Ryan Thomson EvolveDesigns's Avatar
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    the most likely cause of that is not having your text and any movieclips that house the text on whole x/y coordinates. Select the text and check the properties bar, use whole numbers for x and y.
    Evolve Designs Interactive Media
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  3. #3
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    Do you have anti-aliasing on?

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    Senior Member joshstrike's Avatar
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    Yeah, the flash standalone player and the compiler don't smooth out vectors in general. Try it in a browser, it'll probably look fine.

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    Evolve > Thanks. I never knew even such a small pixel/co-ordinate overlap could create a problem. I will try what you suggested right away.

    AdobeMedia >
    Yes i have anti-alias on. I even tried the 2 options of anti-aliasing and it didnt help.

    Josh > Yes i tried it within the browser. Also by publishing to html. Hasn't helped.

  6. #6
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    Could you post a screenshot of what it looks like?

    @evolve
    This is not really the case with anti-aliased fonts, since they are anti-aliased. You only need to make sure of this when working with pixel/bitmap fonts.

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    Hi,

    Tried all above mentioned suggestions. Nothing worked, Same Edgyness. Is it because i shrunk the text slightly in height (wanted the text shorter in style) ?. But im able to see the same edginess even in unaltered text.

    Sure will post images, but i dont know if im allowed to post images here since im just a new member.

    Thanks
    Last edited by plainman007; 05-24-2009 at 10:16 AM.

  8. #8
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    You're allowed to attach images.

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    AdobeMedia > Hi, I know only one way to grab a screen shot and that is using a screengrabber software. But i dont think ud get the subtle naunces of the aliasing that im talking about. I tried publishing to .PNG and .JPG and the results look horrible even with tweaked jpeg and png settings. How do you suggest i grab the output ?

    Thanks
    Last edited by plainman007; 05-24-2009 at 11:21 AM.

  10. #10
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    My apologies for asking such naive questions .

  11. #11
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    Just do a print screen, open up the image editing software of your choice, paste, and save.
    Then upload it to some image site, like imageshack or tinypic.

  12. #12
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    How about stripping out the fla file so it contains not much else but the problem text and posting it here so people can test it. Make sure the text if the text is inside movie clips it stays that way.
    Someone will find the problem if they can see the actual file.

    When replying click the "go advanced" button, then below the reply window select the "manage attachments" button.
    Upload you file.

    Mark

  13. #13
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    Hi Mark,

    I tried uploading the files. But the forum doesnt let me.
    First it wouldnt let me attach the .html file.
    Then i zipped everything together and it wouldnt let me upload more than 300kb. .
    The fla seems to be 655kb by itself. Its got nothing but a black rectangular movie clip shape for the background and 2 lines of text.
    Is something seriously wrong here ?

    Regards...
    Last edited by plainman007; 05-26-2009 at 02:33 PM.

  14. #14
    Ryan Thomson EvolveDesigns's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Adobemedia View Post
    @evolve
    This is not really the case with anti-aliased fonts, since they are anti-aliased. You only need to make sure of this when working with pixel/bitmap fonts.
    I'm no font ninja so I don't know about the technical side of this, but I've never seen a single font that didn't blur when the x/y cords weren't rounded. I almost always use Verdana/Arial/Helvetica. Would those be pixel/bitmap fonts? All them them blur if the x/y isn't rounded.
    Evolve Designs Interactive Media
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  15. #15
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    I agree with Ryan. I always put fonts on whole number cords. You can see the difference no matter what anti-aliasing is on and not just pixel fonts.

    plainmann, can you try making a completely new movie with just what shows the problem.
    OR
    go to the library and click "select unused items" delete the selected one, do this again until nothing is selected by the menu command. Then try "save and compact" instead of save.
    You need only post the fla file.

    Is it a font no one is likely to have? You may have to supply that.
    mark

  16. #16
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    Ryan & Mark > Hi There !

    I will do that. I think i forgot to delete unused items from the library..

    Ill strip the fla of unused items and post again. I did do the whole numbers thing as Ryan suggested but i couldnt notice much difference. It might help to state that i have also transformed the text manually using Q to sort of squeeze the text vertically as i need the short stubby text look. Maybe that transform is causing the jaggies as it seems a little better when unsqueezed. Anyway i will just post it and see what your verdict is. It might even turn out hard to discover as ive got a very sharp eye, a little too sharp on these things, so you might even end up finding my expectations for sharpness unrealistic.

  17. #17
    Ryan Thomson EvolveDesigns's Avatar
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    nah, the text should look MINT, I doubt you're being unrealistic. The squishing of the text will definitely have some negative results. Better to look for a font that matches your needs or at least break it (ctrl+b twice) so it becomes straight up vector.
    Evolve Designs Interactive Media
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    Hi,

    I checked the file. Stripped out all imagery etc. Just a black rectangle for the black background and the single line of text (total of only these 2 elements are in the file) and still the .fla file is 656kb i wonder what on earth is wrong with my file ?


    I just went in and deleted the one block of actionscript just to see it if would reduce file size and guess what. The file size went up a notch and now stands at 700kb. Am i doomed..!
    Last edited by plainman007; 05-28-2009 at 01:01 PM.

  19. #19
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    Just made a new file at least to e able to upload and solve the text problem.

    Ive attached it here. Ryan & Mark, Please have a look and let me know what you feel.

    Thanks
    Attached Files Attached Files

  20. #20
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    Hey Guys,

    Ive attached the file as you asked. Im just bumping this up in case you didnt notice.

    Thanks...

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