Is there any reason why Nisus used a different anti-aliasing system from Word or Pages? When I view a page with relatively small type the Nisus version is smoother but rather washed out.
(In the attached screenshot, the version on the left is Nisus, that on the right is Pages.)
Martin S Taylor
Anti-aliasing
-
Martin S Taylor
- Posts: 6
- Joined: 2018-10-08 02:37:48
Anti-aliasing
- Attachments
-
- Screenshot 2021-04-02 at 17.22.25.png (82.69 KiB) Viewed 5236 times
-
martin
- Official Nisus Person
- Posts: 5230
- Joined: 2002-07-11 17:14:10
- Location: San Diego, CA
- Contact:
Re: Anti-aliasing
Nisus Writer uses a heavily modified version of the macOS text layout engine. This is provided by Apple as part of the system and ultimately it handles fundamental aspects of text display on screen.
Microsoft Word and Apple Pages likely use different layout engines. I believe Pages uses WebKit, the same engine used by web browsers like Safari. Word probably has its own custom layout engine. These different engines likely explain some of the text display differences you're seeing.
That said, I wouldn't expect the text display differences to be so stark. Does your screenshot really show exactly the same font using exactly the same formatting options and zoom? Here's how the 3 apps show exactly the same text at 200% zoom on my Mac:
The apps are Nisus Writer, Pages, and Word (from left to right) showing the fonts Times New Roman, Adobe Caslon Pro, and Helvetica (from top to bottom). You can see there's really not too much difference.
Microsoft Word and Apple Pages likely use different layout engines. I believe Pages uses WebKit, the same engine used by web browsers like Safari. Word probably has its own custom layout engine. These different engines likely explain some of the text display differences you're seeing.
That said, I wouldn't expect the text display differences to be so stark. Does your screenshot really show exactly the same font using exactly the same formatting options and zoom? Here's how the 3 apps show exactly the same text at 200% zoom on my Mac:
- font_comp.png (83.68 KiB) Viewed 5202 times
The apps are Nisus Writer, Pages, and Word (from left to right) showing the fonts Times New Roman, Adobe Caslon Pro, and Helvetica (from top to bottom). You can see there's really not too much difference.