Bug 147531 - Thai default font on Linux is too big
Summary: Thai default font on Linux is too big
Status: RESOLVED INSUFFICIENTDATA
Alias: None
Product: LibreOffice
Classification: Unclassified
Component: Writer (show other bugs)
Version:
(earliest affected)
7.3.0.3 release
Hardware: All Linux (All)
: medium minor
Assignee: Not Assigned
URL:
Whiteboard:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2022-02-19 08:35 UTC by Theppitak Karoonboonyanan
Modified: 2024-03-29 03:15 UTC (History)
1 user (show)

See Also:
Crash report or crash signature:


Attachments
Screenshot showing default CTL font for Thai (77.31 KB, image/png)
2022-02-19 08:35 UTC, Theppitak Karoonboonyanan
Details
Screenshot when Thai font size is customized to be 12pt (75.67 KB, image/png)
2022-02-19 08:43 UTC, Theppitak Karoonboonyanan
Details

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Description Theppitak Karoonboonyanan 2022-02-19 08:35:22 UTC
Created attachment 178392 [details]
Screenshot showing default CTL font for Thai

Default CTL font for Thai on Linux is Kinnari 16pt, while that for Western is Liberation Serif 12pt. This causes incompatible character size between English and Thai text in the default config, making customization mandatory.

While it might be the case on Windows that Thai fonts are usually scaled down to gain some vertical space for multi-level combining characters, and scaling up is thus necessary when mixed with Western fonts, it's different on Linux, especially for the Kinnari font. On Linux, Thai fonts are made compatible in metrics with Western fonts, so that one can mix fonts in multilingual text using the same point size.

Therefore, the default CTL font for Thai on Linux should be of the same size as that of Western, i.e. 12pt in this case.
Comment 1 Theppitak Karoonboonyanan 2022-02-19 08:43:28 UTC
Created attachment 178394 [details]
Screenshot when Thai font size is customized to be 12pt
Comment 2 Theppitak Karoonboonyanan 2022-02-20 08:36:00 UTC
The relevant changes in the past appeared to be:
- commit 773d8070ced38036ce2464631431d56e2e6710a8
  (From AOO issue 42725 https://bz.apache.org/ooo/show_bug.cgi?id=42725)
- commit 3d2b470d2b117c2cb5c8d0cb6cf1a278117bb075
  (From AOO issue 59410 https://bz.apache.org/ooo/show_bug.cgi?id=59410)

I agree with Samphan's proposal in the description of AOO issue 42725
(https://bz.apache.org/ooo/show_bug.cgi?id=42725#c0), which seemed not to be 
adopted:

> I'm not exactly sure what the right solution is. I think part of it is probably
> to allow officecfg/registry/data/org/openoffice/VCL.xcu to optionally specify a
> font size for each default font, e.g.
> 
> <value>Norasi:16;Bistream Vera Sans:12;Tahoma:12</value>
Comment 3 Theppitak Karoonboonyanan 2022-02-20 14:42:41 UTC
Alternatively, instead of hard-coding font sizes, we may just add proper
scaling for fonts in need, such as:

<value>Angsana New@4:3;AngsanaUPC@4:3;Kinnari;Norasi;Tahoma;...</value>
Comment 4 Dieter 2022-03-08 07:06:57 UTC
What about the settings in Options -> LibreOffice Writer -> Basic Fonts (CTL)?
Comment 5 Theppitak Karoonboonyanan 2022-03-13 04:17:11 UTC
(In reply to Dieter from comment #4)
> What about the settings in Options -> LibreOffice Writer -> Basic Fonts
> (CTL)?

And this confirms that customization is mandatory for Linux users,
albeit a minimal one.

Technically, it looks like the real bug is in Windows font size,
which should be special cased. But non-technically, its market share
just wins. However, many newer fonts are created with Western-compatible
metrics, including Chularbhorn Likit, which has just been added to the
official font list to be used in official documents. I think the need
of distinguishing fonts with the two practices would be growing as time
goes by, until the new one takes over.
Comment 6 Dieter 2023-08-30 18:44:22 UTC
Hello Theppitak Karoonboonyanan, a new major major release of LibreOffice is available since this bug was reported. Could you please try to  reproduce it with the latest version of LibreOffice from https://www.libreoffice.org/download/libreoffice-fresh/ ?
I have set the bug's status to 'NEEDINFO'. Please change it back to 'UNCONFIRMED' if the bug is still present in the latest version.
Comment 7 QA Administrators 2024-02-27 03:13:30 UTC Comment hidden (obsolete)
Comment 8 QA Administrators 2024-03-29 03:14:59 UTC
Dear Theppitak Karoonboonyanan,

Please read this message in its entirety before proceeding.

Your bug report is being closed as INSUFFICIENTDATA due to inactivity and
a lack of information which is needed in order to accurately
reproduce and confirm the problem. We encourage you to retest
your bug against the latest release. If the issue is still
present in the latest stable release, we need the following
information (please ignore any that you've already provided):

a) Provide details of your system including your operating
   system and the latest version of LibreOffice that you have
   confirmed the bug to be present

b) Provide easy to reproduce steps – the simpler the better

c) Provide any test case(s) which will help us confirm the problem

d) Provide screenshots of the problem if you think it might help

e) Read all comments and provide any requested information

Once all of this is done, please set the bug back to UNCONFIRMED
and we will attempt to reproduce the issue. Please do not:

a) respond via email 

b) update the version field in the bug or any of the other details
   on the top section of our bug tracker

Warm Regards,
QA Team

MassPing-NeedInfo-FollowUp