

Ask HN: Help me find the right font - kellishaver

I'm a web developer with a severe visual impairment. I'm legally blind. Until recently, I've been using a fairly standard (9pt) font size in my editor, because I liked having all of that space when writing code. However, it forced me to sit rather hunched over and close to the monitor in order to see it, which has started causing neck problems.<p>A simple solution is to bump up the font size (I already work on a 24in monitor). I can get used to not having as much real-estate to work with, but now I can't find a good monospaced font that looks decent at larger sizes (say, around 14pt). Everything I've tried either looks pixelated, which I find very distracting, or is still too thin to really be that much more legible to me.<p>I need a medium-weight, monospaced font that won't look terribly pixelated and jagged at larger sizes. Does such a font exist? Any suggestions?<p>Thanks!
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oneplusone
Inconsolata is amazing. It looks amazing at larger sizes. Also it is free.

<http://www.levien.com/type/myfonts/inconsolata.html>

~~~
nollidge
Alternatively, Consolas is really good (and free), especially on Windows with
ClearType turned on. Looks pretty good to me at large sizes.

[http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=22e...](http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=22e69ae4-7e40-4807-8a86-b3d36fab68d3&displaylang=en)

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DanielStraight
I use Bitstream Vera Sans Mono at 12pt. It looks great.

Here it is at 14pt: <http://i50.tinypic.com/2z7fmgn.png>

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kellishaver
Thanks, everyone, for the suggestions! You've helped me find some great fonts.
I really appreciate it.

For those asking, I use TextMate on the macbook and I've been using Sublime in
Windows.

~~~
ahlatimer
If you're using TextMate, make sure you turn on anti-aliasing. That's probably
why the fonts look pixelated at larger sizes. For what it's worth, I just use
Monaco at 14pt with anti-aliasing.

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idan
Anonymous Pro is a lovely, free, monospaced font. <http://www.ms-
studio.com/FontSales/anonymouspro.html>

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SlyShy
I don't personally use this at a large size, but I have found that it looks
pretty nice even when large. [http://damieng.com/blog/2008/05/26/envy-code-r-
preview-7-cod...](http://damieng.com/blog/2008/05/26/envy-code-r-
preview-7-coding-font-released)

I hope you find something that suits you. Best of luck.

~~~
kellishaver
OK, HN is fast and awesome. Both of you have suggested great looking fonts
that are far superior at the bigger size to the ones I've been using. Thanks a
bunch!

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TheThomas
I'm particularly fond of Monaco, the default font for Textmate (OS X). That
being said, Textmate also supports anti-aliasing which might help solve this
problem for you too.

What editor do you use?

Screen shot:
[http://img.skitch.com/20091125-riekchctmj7u1j812xdb6dqi28.pn...](http://img.skitch.com/20091125-riekchctmj7u1j812xdb6dqi28.png)

Download: [http://www.webdevkungfu.com/textmate-envy-aka-monaco-font-
fo...](http://www.webdevkungfu.com/textmate-envy-aka-monaco-font-for-windows/)

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iigs
I know it's not what you asked, and I'm sure, given your situation, that
you've already investigated your options, but you might take another pass at
elevating your monitor.

My eyesight happens to be OK, but I overwork my eyes in a similiar manner - I
crank the size down until I have a hard time reading it. I've found that
having my monitors up higher encourages me to sit with the best possible
posture. YMMV. Good luck.

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whalesalad
Aside from the font you chooce, make sure to have ClearType on with Windows or
Anti-aliasing on with OS X :)

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lg
I'm a big fan of dejavu sans mono. I often use it for demos in Terminal.app at
huge sizes and it looks great.

<http://dejavu-fonts.org/wiki/index.php?title=Download>

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pbhjpbhj
Emboldening tends to improve readability too. If you're trying to optimise
screen real-estate you might try a 2pt smaller font-size but use the
bold/black/heavy version of the font.

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wowus
Consalas.

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njn
Neep bold _might_ be what you're looking for, but it could be too pixellated.
<http://www.jmknoble.net/fonts/>

Here's an screenshot:
<http://grace.evergreen.edu/~nybnik10/files/neep_big.gif> (I'm not sure if
that's exactly 14pt, since it's not my pic).

