[workbench] font outline/shadow, window shadow & other enhancements

[honx]

i'm looking for a tool which gives icon text some kind of outline or shadow for more readability. like in modern os.
have already tried outlinefont and outlinefont2 from aminet, but i never got them working on os 3.9 workbench.
and i'm also looking for a tool which gives windows a shadow like in modern os. does something like this exist?
last but not least, which (in your opinion very important) workbench enhancements would you suggest further?
i'm already utilizing birdie for titlebar images, visualprefs for 3d gadgets, magicmenu for transparent menus, mui...

[AMIGASYSTEM]

Install Amikit or AFA OS

AFA OS
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Amikit
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[honx]

no, i want to configure my system myself. want to achieve everything myself.
that's why i don't like preconfigured environments very much.

[PeterK]

Get icon.library 46.4 from Aminet, copy Libs/icon.library_68020 to Libs:icon.library, copy c/ShadowIconText and c/OutlineIconText to C: and call one of these instructions above LoadWB in your startup-sequence.

http://aminet.net/package/util/libs/IconLib_46.4

[honx]

thx, now i have outlined icons which work! is there a software which gives windows a shadow?
btw., icon.library itsself already included in boingbag 4. needed only additions for C: drawer.
and is there a program for changing wallpaper automatically like wally does on linux based os?
in attachment you'll see, what my workbench is looking right now.

btw., is it possible to install true type fonts and use these in word processors or workbench?
what about windows and icons being transparent while dragging on screen instead of invisible?

[honx]

so no way further from here?

[Daedalus]

Do you mean changing the wallpaper at timed intervals? There's this on Aminet that seems to do it, though I haven't used it myself.

And yes, there's a TTF library and it works quite well. Just bear in mind that they're computationally expensive (just like the CG fonts already included with the Amiga), so for Workbench use it's best to use the TTF tool that comes with the TTF library to create bitmap versions of the fonts at the desired sizes.

[emufan]

the truetype font engine comes with a ttfmanager tool.
here you can install *.ttf fonts. it produces those *.font and *.otag files - when installing the *.ttf fonts.
as target folder for the *.ttf fonts, use something like that: fonts:_TrueType
so you have them in one place.

i think Daedalus is referring to this ?!

#1) just tested one of those ttf fonts, installed with ttfmanager.
using prefs -> fonts -> select workbench icon text you can scroll to that font, it may list size
only 10 and 15, enter maybe "30" in size box and use this one - does work.
you can add those fonts in Finalwriter: prefs -> fonts -> add, point to the fonts:*.font file.
does also work in Deluxe Paint V (not with dpaint4)

[honx]

thx, randomwbpatt is working. but i have to take a pass on wbbump because the two don't mix.
i'm looking for an alternative to wbbump or maybe a newer version which did not appear on aminet.
i also installed true ttflib (type font engine), but installing fonts gets a bit complicated.
i did a test run with signet roundhand att, it took me three attempts to get this font working...
well, at least i can use this font in amigawriter. but not in prefs, see error message attached.
is there a tool which makes windows and icons transparent while dragging on screen instead?
and something which adds shadows to windows?
btw. in wordworth 7 i can only use one single font: "shannon book", no other fonts available...
where can i get more fonts for wordworth 7? and where can i get german version of fw97?

[Daedalus]

Yep, that's the one I was thinking of (I was in a bit of a hurry and wasn't in front of my Amiga when I replied). It's a little clunky to use fonts like that becaause of the conversion needed, but isn't that part of the fun of using Amigas?

There aren't really tools for adding shadows like that for OS3 that I've seen, or for making the windows transparent while dragging (I presume you mean semi-transparent as opposed to invisible), maybe because those sort of effects are pretty heavy computationally. OS4 can use a supported GPU for those effects. Using icon.library v46.4 will give you semi-transparent icons when dragging them and when default icons are used.

As for WBBump not working properly, it's because there's no real alpha blending on OS3 (same reason for no semi-transparent windows). Instead it takes a snapshot of the screen behind it and uses that to simulate transparency. You'll find other programs such as various clocks etc. will have the same problem when you change the background like that.

[honx]

yeah, semi-transparency is exactly what i was looking for.
icon.library v46.4 is installed. some of marked icons are semi-transparent. but some are invisible...
as for wbbump vs randomwbpatt this means: one or another. i guess, i'll stick with randomwbpatt...
btw. in wordworth 7 i can only use one single font: "shannon book", no other fonts available...
where can i get more fonts for wordworth 7? and where can i get german version of fw97?
how can i get mouse scrolling work in os 3.9 classaction/reaction based apps (editpad, etc.)?
scrolling by mousewheel works almost everywhere else thanks freewheel and muiwheel.

[idrougge]

Wordworth uses its own fonts system. Look inside WWFONTS:

[honx]

Originally Posted by idrougge

Wordworth uses its own fonts system. Look inside WWFONTS:

something must have gone wrong while installing wordworth 7, because there aren't any assigns.
do you know, which assigns i have to set for wordworth working correctly and finding its fonts?

[idrougge]

Just look in the fonts directory inside your WW directory then.

[emufan]

Originally Posted by honx

and where can i get german version of fw97?

take a look here, i think thats the package.
68030 Patches for FinalWriter 97 - for german and us version.
Convert to PDF for Finalwriter - you need to install Ghostscript (see instructions).

[honx]

Originally Posted by idrougge

Just look in the fonts directory inside your WW directory then.

four folders in ww7/wwfonts (intellifont, postscript, truetype, ufst), postscript and truetype are empty. intellifont and ufst contain files.
but only this shannon book font is available in wordworth 7. i guess, wordworth 7 needs some assigns. but which assigns?

Originally Posted by emufan

take a look here, i think thats the package.

this i already downloaded. but it is not a upgrade, it's a full install. but it only contains first two disks.
consequently disks 3-9 of the installation disks are missing and i can't continue installing the software.

[emufan]

Originally Posted by honx

four folders in ww7/wwfonts (intellifont, postscript, truetype, ufst), postscript and truetype are empty. intellifont and ufst contain files.
but only this shannon book font is available in wordworth 7. i guess, wordworth 7 needs some assigns. but which assigns?

this i already downloaded. but it is not a upgrade, it's a full install. but it only contains first two disks.
consequently disks 3-9 of the installation disks are missing and i can't continue installing the software.

i'll take a look- meanwhile you can try to use the two german "upgrade" disks
as a replacement for the missing disks 1 and 2

#1) just use the mising disks from the us version, it should work.

[honx]

thx, i'll try.

[daxb]

Have a look at Wordworth7/WwTools/ drawer. "InstallFonts" might help with using fonts.

Edit:
If you look at the WwFonts drawer for ShannonBook.type and it is the only font there then you need to copy other fonts there of course.

[honx]

i made a screenshot of the contents of wwfonts and its subfolders.
even if i copy a .ttf font into truetypefolder, it isn't recognized by ww7.
where do i get other fonts for use in wordworth 7?