Clear+Type+tuning

Clear Type tuning

Do you ever find that the characters on your screen are difficult to read. They are either not dark enough or a little fuzzy. So, is there anything you can do?

Indeed there is. There is a very simple process you can undertake so that the fonts on your screen are readable. And the best part? The price is free!

Browse over to the Microsoft site here and click on the ClearType Tuner PowerToy download to the right (see picture below).



Once it has downloaded, click on Setup and let Windows install it automatically for you.

The final installation screen looks like the screenshot below. Just make sure you tick the “Launch the program” box before you finish.



Thereafter, you will see this picture:



(You will notice there are two tabs at the top: Introduction and Advanced. We will stick with Introduction here and return to Advanced at the end of the article).

The first thing to do is make sure the box Turn on Clear Type is selected.

Then click on Start Wizard to walk you through the rest of the process.

This screen will then present itself:



Have a look at the two samples displayed there and click on the one that looks the nicest to you and then click Next.

And you will now see that you can fine tune that a little more with this screen where you have six choices. Again, choose the one you like best and click Next.



On this screen, you will see the final result previewed for you. If you like it, click Finished. If you don’t, click Back and select another option from the previous screen.

Basically, that’s it! Easy and free! It doesn't get any better than that!

Now, I did mention the Advanced tab on the earlier screen. You might want to look at this if you are still not happy with your finished results. This enables you to accomplish some even finer fine tuning.

Have a look at the screen that is revealed:

And you will see you have four actions you may like to take and those are:

Enable Font Smoothing - Use this to get rid of the jagged edges on fonts.

Apply all the settings to the defaults for new users or a new system - In other words, do you want to keep these changes for everyone who uses the computer and for any messages that Windows gives you? Set Sample Font - Maybe the font that has been used to show you the options is not the one you regularly use. Well, you can change it here (click on the button to get the font selection) and select what you like.

Clear Type Contrast Settings - Anything you want between dark and light can be set here. Work your way to the "perfect" display for yourself.

So, as you can see, all you need is a couple of minutes to work and you will have your screen looking just as you want it to look with no problems anymore! 