I'm not familiar with the MoTV program. I thought, erroneously it now
appears, you were using Word for some part of the process.
:"Add (say) a white rectangle by using some
: font that has a 'solid square character', with no gaps around the
: edges. Then, I could add my caption in (say) black, in the identical
: location", pretty much defines what a text frame is.
Not being familiar with the programmes you are using nor the programs
you have but are not using nor programmes you might be willing to
acquire and try/use, I really can't say how you might implement this
idea. Indeed, it is a promising method.
Taken literally, what you want to do is to place some text inside of a
glyph from some or other font file. Something like that is possible in a
vector editing programme such as Corel Draw. You would insert the text
and convert it to outlines; then insert other text inside the previous
square glyph that is now just another drawing object.
There are many fonts that contain box characters. Check the symbol fonts
you have. Exercise some care if viewing the font with an application
such as Character Map. It uses a box to indicate "no character defined
for this data point". Otherwise you might try to insert a box that is
not a box-if you follow.
'Do-able', perhaps but simpler to use a programme that uses frames.
However, I don't know how all this fits within the concept of using
MoTV.
Tom
MSMVP
Windows Shell/User
"Terry Pinnell" <***@THESEdial.pipex.com> wrote in message news:***@4ax.com...
: "Tom Ferguson" <***@gmail.com> wrote:
:
: >A few suggestions:
: >
: >Abandon the idea of using an outline font. Use a plain font like
Avenir,
: >Univers, Futura, Lucida Sans. You want glyphs ('pictures' that are
the
: >letters, punctuatiopn, &c) that are open and not too closely spaced.
:
: Thanks Tom, that makes sense.
:
: >Process your images in a graphics program before inserting in word.
: >Investigate the possibility of either placing the text on a blanked
out
: >area or an area with reduced contrast. Some graphics editing programs
: >will alow you to select an area and adjust that defined area or, if
it
: >does pixel editing, make changes on a pixel-by-pixel basis. With the
: >latter, you can set the pixels to gray, for example, and insert a
text
: >box over that area. (MS Paint does pixel editing and allows text
boxes
: >or frames.)
:
: Apart from the time and hassle of editing 50-100 images, and
: re-editing whenever I want to change a caption, that just wouldn't
: work. I pan and zoom around these slides. Permanently embedded as part
: of the bitmap, the text would pan and zoom too! MemoriesOnTV places
: the captions on a separate layer to avoid that, and to allow easy
: editing.
:
: Another idea that came to me last night, which I've not yet
: investigated, is to first add (say) a white rectangle by using some
: font that has a 'solid square character', with no gaps around the
: edges. Then, I could add my caption in (say) black, in the identical
: location. Do you know of a font with such a special character please?
: (I did try a simple blank space - but that was treated by MoTV as
: empty.)
:
: --
: Terry, West Sussex, UK
:
:
: >
: >
: >
: >"Terry Pinnell" <***@THESEdial.pipex.com> wrote in message
: >news:***@4ax.com...
: >: Character <***@cters.old.style> wrote:
: >:
: >: >Terry Pinnell wrote:
: >: >
: >: >> Just found this group (Suzanne Barnhill over in
: >: >> microsoft.public.word.drawing.graphics where I first posted
: >: >> recommended it to me). So I hope my quest will now soon be over!
: >: >>
: >: >> I'm looking for a clean outlined or shadowed font please. I
don't
: >mind
: >: >> if I have to pay a modest price for it, although I'm a bit
: >staggered
: >: >> by the prices of the few I've been pointed to so far (typically
£23
: >: >> UKP, $43 USD). I've installed about 30 free fonts, but still
: >haven't
: >: >> found what I'm after.
: >: >>
: >: >> I'm into making family DVDs, and need this for captioning.
: >: >>
: >: >> This one, Imprint MT Shadow, is about the best I've tried so
far.
: >But
: >: >> as you see from my example, it's very hard to see the third
: >placement,
: >: >> 'On fussy background'.
: >: >> http://www.terrypin.dial.pipex.com/Images/FontRequired.jpg
: >: >>
: >: >> Most of the 30 I mentioned are a bit too 'fancy', informal or
: >quirky
: >: >> in some way or other. A handful looked OK at first, but their
: >: >> visibility proved unacceptable. Another strange flaw was that at
: >sizes
: >: >> of 18 or smaller several of them (like Academy Engraved,
Highlight
: >LET
: >: >> Plain:1.0, etc) had large gaps between some characters.
: >: >>
: >: >> Is there an outlined/shadowed font out there that's 'plain' and
: >modern
: >: >> please? Like say Arial, Verdana, Tahoma, etc?
: >: >>
: >: >
: >: >The problem you're having is only partially due to your use of
: >Imprint
: >: >MT Shadow, which by the way is neither an outline font nor a
shadow
: >: >font but more commonly described as engraved or open.
: >:
: >: Thanks, appreciate your interest and response.
: >:
: >: OK, odd choice of name then, isn't it?
: >:
: >: >Either way,
: >: >you're right - the glyphs are much too complex for this
application.
: >:
: >: Not sure what a 'glyph' is, but I'll take your word for that ;-)
: >:
: >: >You haven't said whether your output will be used in print media.
: >: >computer screen, or a movie theater. It makes a difference.
: >:
: >: As mentioned, family DVD. So it will typically be seen on a TV.
: >:
: >: >Type styles that rely on the significance of both the dark and
light
: >: >portions are not suitable for graphic backgrounds, and this is
even
: >: >more pronounced on screen than in print because of the much
coarser
: >: >resolution. In your example, I didn't even SEE the text over the
: >: >houses until I re-read your message mentioning the "third
placement"
: >: >and "fussy background".
: >:
: >: Deliberate intention to reinforce my point!
: >:
: >: >The discrimination between the text and the
: >: >backround is lost because of the color similarities and is made
even
: >: >worse by the text size chosen relative to the size of the elements
in
: >: >the image. If they're that close they WILL get confused and
lost.In
: >: >practice, you want to use dark lettering on light backgrounds,
light
: >: >lettering on dark backgrounds, and lettering that's large enough
to
: >: >create a size contrast with the background pattern.
: >:
: >: Understood. I'm beginning to see maybe I'm being too ambitious, and
: >: that maybe *no* font will do what I originally set out to achieve.
: >:
: >: One self-imposed obstacle is that I don't like text to be
intrusively
: >: large on most slides or clips. For a 'major' caption I'll use size
18
: >: (as when specifying a date on the *first* of a series of slides all
: >: with that date) and for normal captions size 14.
: >:
: >: >Closed captions on TV are always placed on a consistent background
to
: >: >avoid just such problems. GOOD movie subtitles either do the same
or
: >: >vary the text color intensity with the background. There's nothing
: >: >worse than seeing black subtitles for a foreign-language film for
a
: >: >crucial scene taking place inside an unlit coal mine at midnight.
: >:
: >: Agreed - gets me very cross, as my wife will testify. (But not so
: >: often as the near inaudibility of some movie dialogues these days,
: >: drowned by background music and special effects...)
: >:
: >: >There are plenty of plainer fonts available, both pay and free.
With
: >: >free fonts there's the very real danger of getting what you paid
for.
: >:
: >: Yep, plenty of evidence of that amongst the 30 or so I've installed
: >: since starting this quest.
: >:
: >: >A small drop-shadow or thin outline can help maintain contrast;
: >: >mis-used, though, they can also introduce jarring visual elements.
: >: >
: >: >I'd suggest finding some everyday magazines and looking at how the
: >: >advertisers present their messages. A good graphic design book
could
: >: >also help.
: >: >
: >: > - Character
: >:
: >: Many thanks.
: >:
: >: BTW, I can sometimes break up a single line caption into 2 or 3
: >: shorter lines if that helps me to place it on a suitably 'plain'
: >: section of background. But just occasionally even that doesn't cut
the
: >: mustard.
: >:
: >: Although I'll continue looking for an improvement on Imprint MT
: >: Shadow, the conclusion I'm coming to squares with your reply. I
need
: >: to find an easy technique for adding a solid contrasting rectangle
: >: behind my captions. I hesitate though, because *most* of the text
: >: captions on my finished DVDs so far are OK. It's just the odd few
with
: >: really challenging backgrounds that prompted this quest. And I want
: >: uniformity.
: >:
: >: Looking at some of those fonts I now have installed, they *look* as
if
: >: they'll be OK, when seen displayed neatly on a white background.
But
: >: at size 14 on a tough coloured background, NOT!
: >:
: >: BTW, some are *wildly* different in apparent size. Why is that? All
: >: these are shown at size 18, yet some are half the size of others.
: >: http://www.terrypin.dial.pipex.com/Images/FontIssues1.jpg
: >:
: >: And, re my earlier post, why do some (like Academy Engraved in the
: >: extract) have intermittent large gaps between characters please?
(That
: >: issue seems confined to size 18 and lower.)
: >:
: >: Finally, note that none of this would be necessary if the program
I'm
: >: using, MemoriesOnTV, actually did what it advertised. One of main
: >: reasons I upgraded to its version 3 was that it claimed to allow
: >: outlining to be applied (in any colour) to any text. And the
: >: screenshot example it provided illustrated that. But it doesn't
work.
: >: The developers, Codejam, assure me they're still trying to fix that
: >: bug, but on past experience I'm not optimistic. Hence this search
for
: >: a font...
: >:
: >: --
: >: Terry, West Sussex, UK
: >:
: >:
: >:
: >:
: >:
: >:
: >
