Use the following method to smooth the edges of fonts.

18 Comments to “Tired Eyes? Got XP? Switch to Clear Type”

1. January 24th, 2006 at 9:06 pm
   John Cox said

   Clear Type

   Successful Blog has a very nice tip for Windows users in switching your font smoothing to ClearType. I did this on my laptop and noticed a very nice effect of the readibility of documents. Worth the look.

2. January 25th, 2006 at 8:56 am
   kOoLiNuS said

   Permit me to suggest you the: ClearType Tuner PowerToy from Microsoft Powertoys [1].

   It’s usefull too.

   [1] http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx

3. January 25th, 2006 at 9:13 am
   ME Strauss said

   Thank you KOoLiNuS
   I haven’t had a chance to try that yet. I’m not sure what it does.
   Liz

4. January 25th, 2006 at 3:28 pm
   HART (1-800-HART) said

   It was a good tip, worth investigating. After a day’s use however, I found it quite annoying an put it back to the “standard” setting. But, keep the tips coming!

5. January 25th, 2006 at 6:17 pm
   ME Strauss said

   Hi Hart,
   What became annoying about it? I had forgotten that I had it on.
   Liz

6. January 25th, 2006 at 9:36 pm
   HART (1-800-HART) said

   Hi Liz .. It was hard to put my finger on trying to describe it, but while it looked less edgy at first, over time it started to seem like a hazy milky color around the text on whitespace. Then, working on the screen for about 16 hours since my eyes were going buggy and the text almost seemed to be bouncing horizontally squishing itself and back, and playing micro-tricks on my eyes, almost like .. stuff like on this page. When I changed the setting back to the ‘standard’ setting, the optical illusion effect stopped for me. It could be my monitor.. I’ve got a SyncMaster 912N by Mrs.HART has it configured for optimal Sims2 viewing pleasure. // Take care.

7. January 25th, 2006 at 10:00 pm
   ME Strauss said

   Interesting Hart,
   I tried that tool that works with Clear Type just above you. It was like going to the eye doctor–do you like A or B? and now A or B? So maybe that’s why I’m not having the same effect. Hmmmmm

   Come back and see me.
   Liz

8. January 26th, 2006 at 11:11 pm
   Martin said

   Interesting tip, Liz … I’m trying it right now – so far so good, it’s softer.

   Maybe from HARTS experience it’s a case of when it gets too much in Clear Type go back to the other, and then back again and so forth …

   But I think nothing much will help with 10 hours a day in front of the monitor – where’s that E-Ink that’s being mooted as the answer?

9. January 26th, 2006 at 11:13 pm
   ME Strauss said

   So Martin,
   Does Clear Type help you read your new title in the sidebar?
   I’ve not heard of E-Ink. Tell me about it.

   Liz

10. January 27th, 2006 at 12:06 am
    Martin said

    Liz,

    Hey … I just noticed – King Martin of Down Under, wow, once again: I’d like to thank my Mum and Dad for you know what, obviously God (Allah, Buddha, Jesus … take your choice), my inspirations: Ernest Hemingway, James Ellroy, The Sopranos, U2 and Motley Crue. Do I get a crown?

    Waaah … this king also wants to have a SOB Directory entry – I just noticed it. Waaah (king having a hissy fit)

    It’s been a long, hot week (Aussie Day yesterday ergo: bbq and beer) – so forgive me for my long acceptance speech.

    E-Ink (aka electronic ink) – I’m a lazy boy at times so here’s 2 links – HERE and HERE.

11. January 27th, 2006 at 6:14 am
    ME Strauss said

    Oh King Martin,
    Send me your erudite and compelling description of Home Office Voice and you, too, can have a top level entry in the SOB Directory. If you really want the code, I’m happy to share it and you can have an SOB Directory all your own as well.

    Goodness royalty sure is demanding these days.

    I’ll check out E-Ink.
    Liz

12. January 27th, 2006 at 11:35 pm
    Good Blogger » Smoother blog reading said

    [...] I’d actually been meaning to post about how to turn ClearType on in XP- but Liz already has. Go read her instructions- and trust me, it’s the single kindest thing you can do for your eyes if you read a lot of blogs. [...]

13. February 1st, 2006 at 3:37 pm
    PhilaBytes » Eyestrain Tip said

    [...] Eyestrain can be a serious issue when on a polyphasic schedule; it’s been huge with me. Successful Blog has this excellent tip for reducing eyestrain on the computer by switching to Clear Type. I tried it last night and my eyes are  loving it. Now I don’t have to increase my font sizes quite as much. Give it at try; you’ll be glad you did. You can also bookmark this on del.icio.us or check the cosmos [...]

14. April 27th, 2006 at 12:11 pm
    Claire said

    I’ll tell you what causes eyestrain for me: tiny typefaces! At home where I use Firefox, it’s easy for me to increase the font size on the screen. But I also use a computer with IE, which has a fairly involved method for increasing font size, so I don’t always do it. But besides that, I don’t really get why so many people use what looks like 8 point type on their sites! I’m including you, Liz, in this group. It’s not like you’re going to run out of room here. What’s the deal?

15. April 27th, 2006 at 2:32 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Clair On IE go to View and Pull down the menu and choose the text size you want. The text size for this blog design is 13 point Trebuchet MS. So something is not reading.

    Another place to look in IE is Tools >Internet Options > Accessiblity if those boxes are checked that can change what you see.

    Hope that helps.
    I’m not using 8 point type. I’ve had glasses most of my life.

    Liz

16. May 21st, 2006 at 5:07 pm
    Joe said

    Hey Liz,
    I tried this the other day. It makes things so much clearer.

    I couldn’t find this post to make a comment, but now I did because you finally had a link to it.

    Thanks, from a not-seeing-as-well-as-I-used-to guy.

    Joe

17. May 21st, 2006 at 5:10 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Joe,
    Glad you found it. Glad it works for you too!
    I always forget that there’s a search box on this blog. Hope that’s what happened to you as well.

18. November 4th, 2009 at 11:56 am
    aks said

    ya it is awesome .it helps