Vertical compactness? #7

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opened 2025-12-30 01:28:59 +01:00 by adam · 1 comment
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Originally created by @joshtriplett on GitHub (Nov 8, 2025).

Originally assigned to: @sayyadirfanali on GitHub.

Thank you for building and sharing an Open Source font!

The Open Source fonts "DejaVu Sans Mono", "Liberation Mono", and "Noto Mono", like Courier New that they're metrics-compatible with, have dense vertical spacing. On my screen, at 12pt, they provide a 255x75 terminal.

Myna is very horizontally condensed, but has higher vertical spacing at the same font size. On my screen, at 12pt, it provides a 319x68 terminal.

In practice, I care a lot about fitting more lines of code.

11pt DejaVu Sans Mono gives me 284x79 (same columns as 12pt Hera but more lines) and 10pt gives 319x84 (same columns as 12pt Myna but many more lines).

Originally created by @joshtriplett on GitHub (Nov 8, 2025). Originally assigned to: @sayyadirfanali on GitHub. Thank you for building and sharing an Open Source font! The Open Source fonts "DejaVu Sans Mono", "Liberation Mono", and "Noto Mono", like Courier New that they're metrics-compatible with, have dense vertical spacing. On my screen, at 12pt, they provide a 255x75 terminal. Myna is very horizontally condensed, but has higher vertical spacing at the same font size. On my screen, at 12pt, it provides a 319x68 terminal. In practice, I care a *lot* about fitting more lines of code. 11pt DejaVu Sans Mono gives me 284x79 (same columns as 12pt Hera but more lines) and 10pt gives 319x84 (same columns as 12pt Myna but many more lines).
adam added the enhancement label 2025-12-30 01:28:59 +01:00
adam closed this issue 2025-12-30 01:28:59 +01:00
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@sayyadirfanali commented on GitHub (Nov 9, 2025):

@joshtriplett if changing the line height of the terminal doesn't work, then try changing the vertical metrics using a simple script i'm pushing (which needs fontforge installed). you can tweak with the RATIO to see if that works. that won't change the shape but decrease the space between lines so one screen can hold more lines (but might look a bit congested). you'd need to run build after that.

i feel changing the vertical spacing directly in the font would have unintended side-effects for anyone using it (including myself).

same goes for changing the vertical size of the glyphs themselves which would distort the shape completely for most glyphs.

@sayyadirfanali commented on GitHub (Nov 9, 2025): @joshtriplett if changing the line height of the terminal doesn't work, then try changing the vertical metrics using a simple script i'm pushing (which needs `fontforge` installed). you can tweak with the `RATIO` to see if that works. that won't change the shape but decrease the space between lines so one screen can hold more lines (but might look a bit congested). you'd need to run `build` after that. i feel changing the vertical spacing directly in the font would have unintended side-effects for anyone using it (including myself). same goes for changing the vertical size of the glyphs themselves which would distort the shape completely for most glyphs.
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Reference: starred/Myna#7