Sublime Forum

Sublime can't make keywords bold anymore on Linux

#1

Hi,

For some reason, Sublime Text 2.0.1 build 2217 can’t make keywords bold anymore with some fonts. I’m using Ubuntu Linux 12.04. This was working a few weeks ago, and I’m not sure if the bug was triggered by an update in Ubuntu or an update in ST2. Here is a screenshot of ST with default configuration:

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/7008874/sublime-default.png
Note that the var and function keywords are not bold. This is not a theme or color scheme problem, I have checked.

If I change the font to Courier New, it works fine:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/7008874/sublime-courier.png

However, most fonts don’t work. Here is another example with Monospace:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/7008874/sublime-monospace.png

The only thing that changed between screenshots is the font_face setting. The rest of the configuration is the default. As I said before, this was not happening some weeks ago.

Please let me know if you can confirm the bug.

Thanks.

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ST2 font_face + font_style
#2

It’s not a bug. For bold (or, similarly, for italic) to work you need:

  • A color scheme that uses bold. (You got that.)
  • A monospace font. (The font in your first screenshot is variable width.)
  • A font that includes bold weight. (Monospace, the font in your third screenshot, does not support bold.)

Courier New satisfies both conditions, which is why it works.

On Ubuntu I use Liberation Mono. (I prefer Droid Mono, but it lacks bold & italic.) Various people like Meslo. There are many other fonts that provide real bold, including, for example, Consolas, but not, unfortunately, Inconsolata. Et cetera.

(FWIW: Ubuntu fakes the bold weight & italic style when the typeface does not provide these. That really confused me at some point.)

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#3

Thanks!. I’m using Deja vu sans mono now and it works pretty good. I was confused by how various ubuntu apps use Monospace with bold font.

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