Re: [ft] Question about hinting and direct rendering

[Werner LEMBERG]

> I have a question regarding hinting (e.g., using TTF hinting rather
> than auto-hinting) and direct rendering.  It seems that
> FT_Outline_Render can be used for direct rendering but will it
> actually use TTF hinting or I should use FT_Render_Glyph for that
> (i.e., no direct rendering)?

The normal processing is


                 hinting                scan-conversion
   glyph data --------------> outline -------------------> bitmap


Since both FT_Outline_Render and FT_Render_Glyph work on outlines, no
hinting is involved if you call one of these functions.

> Also, I am confused about FT_Load_Glyph which loads a glyph to a
> slot.  But a slot FT_GlyphSlotRec contains bitmap, does it mean that
> bitmap is already prepared by doing Load_Glyph?  If so, how to avoid
> it for direct rendering?

The bitmap field in FT_GlyphSlotRec is for convenience.  If you don't
render the glyph (this is, if FT_LOAD_RENDER is not used), the field
is not used.

Can you suggest an improvement to the documentation?


    Werner