Even if you specify a proportional font for text comments, pop-up notes may sometimes display in a monospaced font

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rakunavi
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Even if you specify a proportional font for text comments, pop-up notes may sometimes display in a monospaced font

Post by rakunavi »

Hello all,

Fonts come in two types: monospaced fonts and proportional fonts.

For Latin fonts, it is extremely rare or virtually nonexistent for the same font family name to offer both monospaced and proportional fonts. Instead, they are often designed under separate font names tailored to their respective uses. That is, fonts containing “Arial” in their name are fundamentally all proportional fonts, while fonts containing “Courier” in their name are fundamentally all monospaced fonts.

In contrast, Japanese fonts frequently offer both monospaced and proportional fonts under the same font family name. In such cases, the proportional font name includes a “P” or “K,” allowing users to distinguish it from the monospaced font based on these letters. Of course, some font families exist only as proportional fonts, while others exist only as monospaced fonts.

Currently, the following 10 Japanese font families are installed by default on all Windows 11 24H2 systems worldwide, without requiring additional language pack installations. Please note that the underlined font is used in the verification file attached to this post.

  1. MS Gothic (Monospace: MS Gothic / Proportional: MS PGothic)
  2. MS Mincho (Monospace: MS Mincho / Proportional: MS PMincho)
  3. BIZ UDGothic (Monospace: BIZ UDGothic / Proportional: BIZ UDPGothic)
  4. BIZ UDMincho Medium (Monospace: BIZ UDMincho Medium / Proportional: BIZ UDPMincho Medium)
  5. UD Digi Kyokasho N (Monospace: UD Digi Kyokasho N / Proportional: UD Digi Kyokasho NK, UD Digi Kyokasho NP)
    • Yu Gothic
    • Yu Mincho
    • Meiryo
    • Noto Sans JP
    • Noto Serif JP
    The first five are font families composed of both monospaced and proportional fonts, while the remaining five are font families composed solely of proportional fonts.

    In this case, I noticed that when specifying the proportional font from a Japanese font family that offers both monospaced and proportional fonts as the text comment font, the pop-up note uses the monospaced font from the same font family. Specifically, as shown in Case B in the figure, specifying “MS PGothic” as the text comment font causes the pop-up note to display as if “MS Gothic” had been specified.

    Conversely, as shown in Case A in the figure, if the monospaced font is specified for the text comment font, the same monospaced font is also used for the pop-up note font. Furthermore, even for Japanese fonts, if the font family consists solely of proportional fonts, as in Case C of the figure, the same proportional font will be used for the pop-up note font.

    The comment text on the first page of the sample file is ASCII art. This ASCII art is designed assuming a monospaced font. Therefore, if the text comment font is set to a monospaced font, it will display as intended. If a proportional font is set, it will appear distorted, which is normal behavior.

    However, in Case B, even though the proportional font “MS PGothic” is set, the ASCII art in the pop-up notes somehow displays without distortion.

    • figure1.png

      figure2.png
    • sample.pdf
    Comparing all cases, it seems only Case B, outlined in red in the figure, is a bit odd. Please note that this report is limited to Japanese fonts, but this is only because I have examined Japanese fonts exclusively. I do not know to what extent this issue applies to other languages.

    Up to this point, while this report has focused on the difference between the font used for text comments and the font used for pop-up notes, the same issue applies to pop-up notes for comments other than text comments. Specifically, even if you set a proportional font from a font family that includes both proportional and monospaced fonts for pop-up notes for all comment types, the monospaced font within that same font family (not the font the user intended) will be displayed.

    Hoping that the above information will be of some help to you.
    Thank you so much for your continued support.

    Best regards,
    rakunavi

    - PDF-XChange Editor PRO Version: 10.7.3 build 401
    - OS Version: Windows 11 Pro / Home 24H2 Build 26100.6584
    - PC Model: GMKtec Nucbox M7 Pro with HUION Kamvas Pro 19 / Lenovo IdeaPad C340-15IWL
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    Dimitar - PDF-XChange
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    Re: Even if you specify a proportional font for text comments, pop-up notes may sometimes display in a monospaced font

    Post by Dimitar - PDF-XChange »

    Hello Rakunavi,

    Thank you for the detailed problem report.

    I’ve forwarded it to our developers for further investigation.

    As always, we’ll keep you updated on any progress.

    Best regards.
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    Ivan - Tracker Software
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    Re: Even if you specify a proportional font for text comments, pop-up notes may sometimes display in a monospaced font

    Post by Ivan - Tracker Software »

    Fixed in 10.8
    PDF-XChange Co Ltd. (Project Director)

    When attaching files to any message - please ensure they are archived and posted as a .ZIP, .RAR or .7z format - or they will not be posted - thanks.
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    rakunavi
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    Re: Even if you specify a proportional font for text comments, pop-up notes may sometimes display in a monospaced font

    Post by rakunavi »

    Hello Ivan, thank you for taking the time to let us know.

    I appreciate all the hard work and efforts
    I look forward to the release of the future build.

    Best regards,
    rakunavi
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    Daniel - PDF-XChange
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    Even if you specify a proportional font for text comments, pop-up notes may sometimes display in a monospaced font

    Post by Daniel - PDF-XChange »

    :)
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