PPT97: Font Smoothing in Slide Show Built Text Looks Bad

When you view a slide show in PowerPoint 97, the fonts used in built or animated text may appear to have rougher or more jagged edges than text that is not built or animated.

You may see this behavior if either of the following conditions is true:

• The Windows 95 PLUS! Pack is installed.
• The "Smooth edges of screen fonts" visual enhancement is enabled.

Static text (text that does not build) appears smooth, but text that moves or appears while a slide is displayed may have jagged edges.

NOTE: This problem affects different fonts differently. On many fonts the effect is not noticeable, but on others it is. In general, the more complex the font, the worse it looks.

When you display a slide that uses build effects or has animated text effects, PowerPoint builds the animated text objects in an off-screen buffer, then draws the buffer to the screen at the appropriate time.

The anti-aliasing (font smoothing) feature of the PLUS! Pack cannot work correctly in this situation; when the animated text is finally displayed, it may appear worse than if the anti-aliasing feature was turned off.

Turn off the PLUS! Pack's anti-aliasing feature.

1. On the Windows Start menu, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
2. Double-click the Display icon.
3. Click the PLUS! tab.
4. Clear the "Smooth edges of screen fonts" option.
5. Click Apply or OK.

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article.