Font rendering looks ugly on Linux

[sivakov512]

• VSCode Version: Code 1.17.0 (be377c0, 2017-10-04T23:33:45.303Z)
• OS Version: Linux x64 4.12.13_1
• Extensions: Extensions are disabled

---

All fonts look ugly, you can see it on screenshot:

Console output (when runs with verbose option):

node[23225]: pthread_create: Invalid argument
[23231:1006/140049.274771:ERROR:platform_thread_posix.cc(119)] pthread_create: Invalid argument
[23231:1006/140049.275482:ERROR:atom_browser_main_parts_posix.cc(199)] Failed to create shutdown detector task.
[main 2:00:49 PM] Starting VS Code in verbose mode
[main 2:00:49 PM] from: /home/cryptomaniac/Downloads/VSCode-linux-x64/resources/app
[main 2:00:49 PM] args: { _: [],
  help: false,
  h: false,
  version: false,
  v: false,
  wait: false,
  w: false,
  diff: false,
  d: false,
  add: false,
  a: false,
  goto: false,
  g: false,
  'new-window': false,
  n: false,
  'unity-launch': false,
  'reuse-window': false,
  r: false,
  performance: false,
  p: false,
  'prof-startup': false,
  verbose: true,
  logExtensionHostCommunication: false,
  'disable-extensions': true,
  disableExtensions: true,
  'list-extensions': false,
  'show-versions': false,
  nolazy: false,
  'skip-getting-started': false,
  'sticky-quickopen': false }
[main 2:00:49 PM] Unable to read folders in /home/cryptomaniac/.config/Code/Workspaces (Error: ENOENT: no such file or directory, scandir '/home/cryptomaniac/.config/Code/Workspaces').
[main 2:00:50 PM] IPC#vscode-machineId
node[23309]: pthread_create: Invalid argument
[23231:1006/140050.847055:INFO:CONSOLE(28)] "%c[Extension Host] %cdebugger inspector at %cnode[23308]: pthread_create: Invalid argument
", source: file:///home/cryptomaniac/Downloads/VSCode-linux-x64/resources/app/out/vs/workbench/workbench.main.js (28)
[main 2:00:51 PM] IPC#vscode-workbenchLoaded

Also, vscode font size outside editor (tabs, menus, etc) too small, - this is not from my gtk settings.
For example, this is a screenshot of working emacs - all fonts are looks well.

I'm working on Void Linux, VSCode ran from downloaded archive.
Also, I use Chromium and have no any troubles.

Reproduces without extensions: Yes

[chrmarti]

@Tyriar There might be a font that is missing? (This is Linux.)

[sivakov512]

@chrmarti as for editor, I set exists fonts for editor (Droid Sans Mono Slashed, DejaVu Sans Mono and Droid Sans)

[Tyriar]

@cryptomaniac512 does it look right when you remove your custom font setting?

[sivakov512]

@Tyriar, no.

[bpasero]

@cryptomaniac512 is this a recent regression or are you using VS Code for the first time?

[sivakov512]

@bpasero, I used the editor about 2 months ago and everything was fine.

[sivakov512]

But font has always been small in spite of GTK settings :(

[bpasero]

@cryptomaniac512 any difference with our previous release (1.16) to see if this is a regression in 1.17 alone?

[sivakov512]

Same problem

[bpasero]

@cryptomaniac512 I should have posted the link for 1.15 because in 1.16 we updated our UI framework (Electron) and that might have an impact too. How does it look in VSCode 1.15?

[sivakov512]

:(

[sivakov512]

Maybe try with 1.15.0 and 1.14?

[sivakov512]

This problem reproduced with 1.14.2.
It looks like a problem with another software, but I have no problem anywhere instead of vscode.

And I'm sure that everything was fine a couple of months ago

[sivakov512]

Fonts look good when I set sub-pixel geometry to none instead of RGB

This screenshot is for the 1.14.2

[sivakov512]

But fonts in latest release and 1.16 are too small (I'm working with 112 dpi)

Look at window bar (File, Edit, Selection, etc)

[mgoku]

Probably problem with Freetype.

I got the same problem when I upgrade to Freetype 2.8.1. Everything work fine with an older version of Freetype.

Someone on Phoronix forum said something about bugs with older version of Google Skia.

https://www.phoronix.com/forums/forum/software/desktop-linux/979076-freetype-improvements-for-the-adobe-engine?p=979131#post979131

[christianburger]

I have the same problem here, please advise if you find a solution / workaround.
This font rendering issue occurs similarly with Atom in my case, no other applications are affected.
Tested with Chromium Version 62.0.3202.18 (Developer Build) (64-bit) but also other versions, same result.
I've tried also tweaking the antialias settings for my NVidia card and plasma5 environment, no success.
It's really unuseable at the moment.

[theychx]

I can confirm that this is a FreeType related problem. Downgrading the libfreetype6 package on my Debian Sid box from 2.8.1-0.1 to 2.8-0.2 resolved this issue for me (I have also not had any problems with other applications).

[christianburger]

Yes, I`m amazed, I've also downgraded to 2.8.0 on my gentoo desktop and the issue is gone.
Thanks a lot for your reply.

[julian-klode]

This seems to be Skia bug 6663:

https://bugs.chromium.org/p/skia/issues/detail?id=6663

[Obbi89]

@paladdins maybe change it to:

sudo dpkg -i libfreetype6_2.8-0.2_amd64.deb
sudo apt-mark hold libfreetype6 

otherwise apt upgrade would reinstall the latest one. And the latest updates did not fix the issue.
People just need to remember to track that issue. Apt will show that a package is being held and not updated.

[fsevenm]

Thanks a lot. The solution fixed my problem also. But I wonder how to release the hold after executing it.
sudo apt-mark hold libfreetype6

[sarbash]

But I wonder how to release the hold after executing it.

$ sudo apt-mark unhold libfreetype6
$ man apt-mark

[peterducai]

on Ubuntu I think I fixed with

sudo apt install ubuntu-restricted-extras

please confirm someone.. (without downgrading libfreetype)

[Obbi89]

Could be. It contains M$ proprietary ttf fonts. Might be that those are chosen then and cause less issues?

[simlevesque]

@peterducai I tried your package on a new install and it did not fix the issue. Downgrading freetype worked instantly.

[akurtovic]

I can confirm the issue on a fresh install of Ubuntu 18.04 beta with latest vscode. And downgrading libfreetype6 to 2.8-0.2 did fix it for me as well.

[dmitryvk]

Latest "insiders" build works fine with fresh version of freetype.

[Obbi89]

@dmitryvk yeah It has been known that newer electron versions did not have this issue.
So I guess they updated it finally. So we might expect this to be fixed by the next release.
Maybe this can be closed with the next monthly then :)

---

Again tl;dr
fix:

1. Download http://snapshot.debian.org/package/freetype/2.8-0.2/#libfreetype6_2.8-0.2
2. Install using sudo dpkg -i libfreetype6_2.8-0.2_amd64.deb
3. Hold it (protect against upgrade/uninstall) with sudo apt-mark hold libfreetype6
4. ????
5. Profit!

Thanks to @paladdins et al.

[ramya-rao-a]

Marking as verified as per updates above

[ziyan-junaideen]

I am on an Ubuntu 18.04 pre release and had artifacts in rendered fonts as described. Following the last few comments I installed code-insiders. The artifacts are no longer there. My libfreetype6 version is 2.8.1-2ubuntu1. Thank you.

[sta-c0000]

I’m on Debian Stretch (stable), just tried code-insider-1.22.0-1522420669, still looks bad, but have not changed libfreetype6… but I also do not have other apps with bad font rendering.

I will simply continue using vscode stable with a simple patch: -webkit-text-stroke:0.25px; …If interested, you might want anywhere from 0.1px to 0.5px, perhaps 0.33px or 0.4px. This renders fonts with smoothing, potentially fat if you want them. Here is where to apply the patch:

What	Top level affects most VSCode content
Where	resources/app/out/vs/workbench/electron-browser/bootstrap/preload.js
From	s.innerHTML=".monaco-shell { background-color:"+o+"; color:"+r+"; }"
To	s.innerHTML=".monaco-shell { background-color:"+o+"; color:"+r+"; -webkit-text-stroke:0.25px; }"

What	Markdown preview and webview (e.g. Help → Welcome)
Where	resources/app/out/vs/workbench/parts/html/browser/webview-pre.js
From	tmargin: 0;\n\t\t\t\tpadding: 0 20px;\n\t\t\t}
To	tmargin: 0;\n\t\t\t\tpadding: 0 20px; -webkit-text-stroke:0.25px;}

[ffk27]

Only this one worked for me https://launchpad.net/~no1wantdthisname/+archive/ubuntu/ppa/+build/13557985

[ulrich]

I had the same problem on Ubuntu Bionic and it's works fine when I downgrade FreeType to 2.8.0.

[thinw002]

I had a similar issue on Windows after upgrading to the latest VS Code. I fixed it considerably by changing the fontFamily setting:

{
    "editor.fontFamily": "Inconsolata, Monaco, Consolas, 'Courier New', monospace"
}

[AydinChavez]

When will vs code support the libfreetyp6 version 2.8.1 - does anybody know?
downgrading / apt-mark hold for a package is just a workaround for the time being but not a final solution

[gombosg]

Oh, I just installed v1.22.1, font rendering is so beautiful now! The code editor fonts were OK before using custom fonts like Anonymous Pro, but the UI & integrated terminal fonts look way better now. Kudos!

(Info: I'm on Fedora 27, using the RPM vscode package, freetype 2.8.8, using "Better font rendering" plugin from Fedy)

[ashrafuzzaman]

I did not have this issue until I upgraded Ubuntu 17.10 to Ubuntu 18.04 Bionic Beaver (development branch)

[AydinChavez]

Ok, just received visual code 1.22.1 on my ubuntu via apt which finally solved the issue with libfreetype 2.8.1
Thanks to the contributors.

Details:
https://code.visualstudio.com/updates/v1_22

[jacmoe]

The March update (1.22) brought back VSCode for me - thanks a lot 😄
I almost forgotten how it looked like.
My system is Void Linux (rolling release), so if it works here, it would work anywhere :)

[sandangel]

Why I still having this issue:

here is my settings:

{
  "workbench.iconTheme": "material-icon-theme",
  "workbench.colorTheme": "An Old Hope",
  "files.useExperimentalFileWatcher": true,
  "editor.wordWrap": "on",
  "editor.fontFamily": "'Operator Mono', 'Ubuntu Mono', 'Fira Mono for Powerline'",
  "editor.fontSize": 14,
  "editor.fontLigatures": true,
  "editor.fontWeight": "100",
  "editor.dragAndDrop": false,
  "editor.quickSuggestions": {
    "other": true,
    "comments": true,
    "strings": true
  },
  "terminal.integrated.fontSize": 14,
  "terminal.integrated.confirmOnExit": true,
  "terminal.integrated.shell.windows": "C:\\Program Files\\Git\\bin\\bash.exe",
  "terminal.integrated.fontFamily": "'Ubuntu Mono derivative Powerline', 'Fira Mono for Powerline'",
  "emmet.triggerExpansionOnTab": true,
  "sync.lastUpload": "",
  "sync.autoDownload": false,
  "sync.autoUpload": false,
  "sync.lastDownload": "2018-03-31T03:42:49.973Z",
  "sync.forceDownload": false,
  "sync.host": "",
  "sync.pathPrefix": "",
  "sync.quietSync": false,
  "sync.askGistName": false,
  "html.format.wrapAttributes": "force-aligned",
  "debug.inlineValues": true,
  "gitlens.codeLens.recentChange.enabled": false,
  "gitlens.codeLens.authors.enabled": false,
  "prettier.singleQuote": true,
  "prettier.printWidth": 100,
  "ng-c-ext.shutupMode": true,
  "ng42.barrels.useTemplates": {
    "header": false,
    "footer": false
  },
  "html-css-class-completion.includeGlobPattern": "**/*.{scss,css,html}",
  "rust-client.channel": "stable",
  "guides.enabled": false,
  "gitlens.keymap": "alternate",
  "sync.removeExtensions": true,
  "sync.syncExtensions": true,
  "gitlens.advanced.messages": {
    "suppressCommitHasNoPreviousCommitWarning": false,
    "suppressCommitNotFoundWarning": false,
    "suppressFileNotUnderSourceControlWarning": false,
    "suppressGitVersionWarning": false,
    "suppressLineUncommittedWarning": false,
    "suppressNoRepositoryWarning": false,
    "suppressResultsExplorerNotice": false,
    "suppressShowKeyBindingsNotice": true
  }
}

[Obbi89]

@sandangel
Sorry can't see any issue in your image. Especially not the rendering issues this issue is related to

[sandangel]

hi, my image is showing how the font look like in linux and windows at the same time and on the same machine using vmware for virtual linux machine. they are very different although I’m using the same font and setup on both. the font look very urgly on linux but very beautiful in windows