Ever since updating to FileMaker 14, I've noticed issues with ugly fonts in certain databases. I finally did a little investigation, and I think I've identified the problem. It seems that font smoothing is disabled when the layout part the font is on has no background fill or a transparent background fill. The result is that text looks jaggy and broken, especially at small font sizes, italic styling, or lighter font colors.
Surprisingly, if the object crosses a layout boundary, the portion on an opaque background is anti-aliased, while the portion on the transparent background is not. See attached screenshot for an example.
I get the same result for text objects and fields, as long as both the object and the layout behind it have a transparent fill.
I am running FileMaker 14 Pro Advanced on OS X 10.10.4. I haven't tested on other platforms or versions.
Is this a known issue?
ehall:
I was able to reproduce this result with FileMaker Pro 14.0.2 on OS X 10.9.5 and newer. This does not appear to be an issue before FileMaker Pro 14 and doesn't appear in the Windows Operating System.
Additionally, I have forwarded a report to Testing and Development for review. When I receive any feedback, I will let you know.
TSPigeon
FileMaker, Inc.