Turn off cleartype globally (Office 2007) for EVERYTHING (!!!)

[Arnoud]

Please enable the possibility to turn off ClearType in Office 2007. After
turning it off in the Word AND Outlook options, I *still* see most of the
text in ClearType and it gives me a headache. It's very confusing when the
rest of the interface is not using ClearType (like other software programs,
desktop) too, and no I don't want to turn it on globally. Besides being
confusing, it's not very comfortable for the eyes to switch from an
application that uses ClearType to one that doesn't as well.

Please, if you want to enforce ClearType onto users, do it globally and not
per application *and* give us users who get headaches from ClearType the
option to turn it off with one button. Thank you..

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http://www.microsoft.com/office/com...-3b97cba7d062&dg=microsoft.public.office.misc

 

[rhubarb]

I have a theory: I'd like to get all of the cleartype-lovers lined up against
the haters, including the subjects of those oft-quote tests (plural?), and
test their eyesight. I suspect that the haters have better eyesight, and are
used to a high degree of detail in fonts.

Maybe my theory is bogus. But I would like to see more tests - the ones
quoted have too few test subjects, and I havent heard of any control for
eyesight acuity in them.

In any case, what I would really like, is some way to turn this blurry crap
OFF.
I want it off in onenote, I want it off in outlook, I have it off in the
system, I turned it off in Word 2007, but still its there in outlook

Help!. Make it go away microsoft. Show me where I can turn it off, before I
go blind and an unable to see the setting.

(again, I did turn off "Always use ClearType" in Word 2007, then shut down
all office apps, then opend outlook - still there)

 

[Bob Buckland ?:-\)]

Hi Rhubarb,

See (no pun intended) if this information is helpful to you:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/926705/en-us?FR=1
It includes the 'where to turn it off' information for Office 2007 apps as well as a link to your choice of the online and offline
Cleartype tuning utilities in case you'd like to see if that does make a difference.

Without running the Cleartype 'tuning tool' it can definitely be blurry, even with 20/10 or 20/13 eyesight, but it's definitely a
personal preference involving color perception, visual acuity, monitor type, color scheme, contrast, shadow effects, font choices,
monitor types, frequency settings and 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder' valuation .
===========
I have a theory: I'd like to get all of the cleartype-lovers lined up against
the haters, including the subjects of those oft-quote tests (plural?), and
test their eyesight. I suspect that the haters have better eyesight, and are
used to a high degree of detail in fonts.

Maybe my theory is bogus. But I would like to see more tests - the ones
quoted have too few test subjects, and I havent heard of any control for
eyesight acuity in them.

In any case, what I would really like, is some way to turn this blurry crap
OFF.
I want it off in onenote, I want it off in outlook, I have it off in the
system, I turned it off in Word 2007, but still its there in outlook

Help!. Make it go away microsoft. Show me where I can turn it off, before I
go blind and an unable to see the setting.

(again, I did turn off "Always use ClearType" in Word 2007, then shut down
all office apps, then opend outlook - still there) >>
--

Bob Buckland ?
MS Office System Products MVP

*Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends*

 

[Arnoud]

Bob,

I, and I'm sure Rhubarb, appreciate the suggestion, but it doesn't solve
anything. After following the steps in the linked article, there will still
be "cleartyped" text left. Yes, you can tune cleartype, but it won't make it
much less blurry, because that's what cleartype does: it makes the text a bit
blurry so it appears to be smoother. While I find this great for bad quality
monitors (or when you use DVI -> VGA converters), on a good quality monitor
text is much much sharper and thus easier on the eye when cleartype is off. I
can't understand why this is forced upon the users and Microsoft decided to
not have an option to turn it off completely..

 

[Bob Buckland ?:-\)]

Hi Arnoud,

If you use each of the settings in the article for turning off Cleartype in Windows and Office 2007, where are you still seeing it
being used in Office 2007?
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/926705/en-us?FR=1

Some of the fonts were designed to be 'clearer' <g>) when used with cleartype as I understand it.

I have it turned on on in my desktop monitors and for me, it's clearer on than off. (May depend on age, etc too I suppose [i.e.
many things may have been actually clearer, younger).

=====================
Bob,

I, and I'm sure Rhubarb, appreciate the suggestion, but it doesn't solve
anything. After following the steps in the linked article, there will still
be "cleartyped" text left. Yes, you can tune cleartype, but it won't make it
much less blurry, because that's what cleartype does: it makes the text a bit
blurry so it appears to be smoother. While I find this great for bad quality
monitors (or when you use DVI -> VGA converters), on a good quality monitor
text is much much sharper and thus easier on the eye when cleartype is off. I
can't understand why this is forced upon the users and Microsoft decided to
not have an option to turn it off completely.. >>
--

Bob Buckland ?
MS Office System Products MVP

*Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends*

 

[Arnoud]

Hi Bob,

I am still seeing cleartype in plain text emails after taking those steps.
You're right that the font used in Outlook looks better with cleartype turned
on by the way. If only there was a way to change that font.. :-(

Thanks,
Arnoud.

 

[martin.wallin]

In my office 2007 installation there is no checkbox "Always use
ClearType" It is missing! So for me it is blurry in outlook.

 

[Patrick Schmid [MVP]]

Are you using Vista? If yes, then you have to activate ClearType in
Vista. It should be on by default though if you have an LCD (ClearType
is ONLY for LCDs)

Patrick Schmid [OneNote MVP]
--------------
http://pschmid.net
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[Wierdo__2008]

1. Cleartype is designed to improve the appearance of fonts on LCDs
2. When you turn it on, it WILL be very blurry as it happened to me. You
need a tool called "cleartype tuner" - an XP powertoy if you use windows xp.
After adjustments, the fonts on my LCD looked so much better that I now hate
the programs that don't use cleartype.
3. I suggest Microsoft to set up a cleartype tuning option immediately after
setting up Windows or Office so that people don't get frustrated and want to
turn it off straight away without knowing the benefits of cleartype

 

[Arnoud]

You should read the whole thread before responding. What you suggested has
already been discussed. Thankfully a tool called NoSegoe solved my problem.

 

[DedMoroz]

1. Cleartype is designed to improve the appearance of fonts on LCDs
2. When you turn it on, it WILL be very blurry as it happened to me.
You
need a tool called "cleartype tuner" - an XP powertoy if you use
windows xp.
After adjustments, the fonts on my LCD looked so much better that I now
hate
the programs that don't use cleartype.
3. I suggest Microsoft to set up a cleartype tuning option immediately
after
setting up Windows or Office so that people don't get frustrated and
want to
turn it off straight away without knowing the benefits of cleartype

Ok either our eyes are way too different (and you're color blind) or
you're a plain moron. Pick one!

DID YOU EVER take a screenshot of some text with applied clear type and
scale it to 800%? Really, try it.

Another question: did you ever see a GOOD LCD monitor, not the cheap
**** you can buy for $100? One connecting to the DVI output of the
videocard without any adapters (talking about the white thing, not the
blue connector). Did you?

And WHAT BENEFITS of the clear**** you are talking about? Except it
makes my eyes hurt after 30 minutes. Do you spend more than an hour
behind the computer? Or checking your email and writing something THAT
stupid isn't taking you more than 10 minutes?

 

[Clark]

ClearType is the sort of misfeature that will send me back to a Mac. I spend
a *lot* of time looking at a computer screen. Font rendering really matters
to me. I looked at a Mac screen the other day -- very nicely-rendered
PostScript! Drool. Eye-candy. Much better than TrueType, and hugely better
than ClearType.

It's clear that some MS customers *do* appreciate black-fuzzy outlines
around their glyphs. There's no accounting for taste! So... I really don't
expect ClearType to go away, but I sure hope that MS will pay a bit more
attention, soon, to those of us lusers who *don't* like fuzzy-fonts, and also
to those of us who have two LCD monitors running simultaneously. Unless the
monitors are identical, then one or the other will always mistuned for
ClearType. The mistuning can be *terrible* if the RGB pattern isn't the same
on the two monitors.

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

ClearType is the sort of misfeature that will send me back to a Mac.

[snip snip snip]

You can turn it off if you don't like it.

In XP
Rightclick desktop, choose Properties.
Click the Appearance tab.
Click Effects.
Remove the check next to "Use the following method ..."

Or in Vista
Rightclick desktop, choose Window Color and Appearance
Click Open classic appearance properties ...
Click Effects ... takes you to more or less the same dialog as above.

 

[Clark]

Hi Steve,thanks for the prompt reply.

I'm 99% certain that the fix you suggest would *not* have worked a couple of
years ago -- Outlook 2007 insisted on using Segoe in its GUI, and Segoe is a
ClearType font.

However... I installed SP2 for Office this morning; I used IE8 to visit the
Tune ClearType webarea and accepted its ActiveX control (but didn't fiddle
with the settings, for it reported that ClearType was already off); and I
unticked the Smoothing Method setting (it had been set to standard).

Lo and behold: Outlook's GUI finally has what I would call "clear"
rendering! The GUI font still looks something like Segoe, but without the
blurry edges. It's a big improvement!

--

ClearType is the sort of misfeature that will send me back to a Mac.

[snip snip snip]

You can turn it off if you don't like it.

In XP
Rightclick desktop, choose Properties.
Click the Appearance tab.
Click Effects.
Remove the check next to "Use the following method ..."

Or in Vista
Rightclick desktop, choose Window Color and Appearance
Click Open classic appearance properties ...
Click Effects ... takes you to more or less the same dialog as above.

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

Hi Steve,thanks for the prompt reply.

I'm 99% certain that the fix you suggest would *not* have worked a couple of
years ago -- Outlook 2007 insisted on using Segoe in its GUI, and Segoe is a
ClearType font.

As I understand it (possibly wrongly) ClearType is a font-rendering technology,
not a font type a la TrueType/Type1. But MS has released a "ClearType font
package" w/o explaining what that means. Branding confusion or meaningful? Who
knows ... it may mean that fonts can carry extra "hints" that let ClearType do
its work more efficiently. See if you can pry some sense out of this:

http://www.microsoft.com/typography/ClearTypeInfo.mspx

Google ClearType to get the Wikipedia article ... some interesting info there,
including that "... In Windows Vista, ClearType is turned on by default. In
Microsoft Office 2007 and Internet Explorer 7, ClearType is turned on by default,
even if it is not enabled throughout the operating system. "

To turn it off in Office 2007, start any of the apps, choose OfficeButton,
appname Options. Click Popular on the left then remove the check next to "Always
use ClearType". Making the change in any of the apps seems to make the change
for all of them.

I think Outlook now uses MSIE to render email, so your other report below makes
sense.

Thanks for kicking off an interesting thread, Clark.

However... I installed SP2 for Office this morning; I used IE8 to visit the
Tune ClearType webarea and accepted its ActiveX control (but didn't fiddle
with the settings, for it reported that ClearType was already off); and I
unticked the Smoothing Method setting (it had been set to standard).

Lo and behold: Outlook's GUI finally has what I would call "clear"
rendering! The GUI font still looks something like Segoe, but without the
blurry edges. It's a big improvement!

--

ClearType is the sort of misfeature that will send me back to a Mac.

[snip snip snip]

You can turn it off if you don't like it.

In XP
Rightclick desktop, choose Properties.
Click the Appearance tab.
Click Effects.
Remove the check next to "Use the following method ..."

Or in Vista
Rightclick desktop, choose Window Color and Appearance
Click Open classic appearance properties ...
Click Effects ... takes you to more or less the same dialog as above.