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 But you could with the previous version! Why have you stopped it?

We didn't reimplement multiple fonts for Skitch 2.x launch for two reasons:

  • From our interviews with users, and looking over usage data, we found very users were actually changing fonts. So when we rewrote Skitch's code from scratch, we decided to de-prioritize this feature. 
  • The bigger reason though is cross platform support. Since Skitch is currently available on 5 platforms (Mac, iOS, Android, Windows Touch, & Windows Desktop) and in 19 languages (soon to be 20) , it's difficult to guarantee that the same font on platform A is going to look the same on platform B. And remember Skitch 1.x was Mac only. 

 

The cross platform and language support is the big thing that's slowing this feature down. From our investigation we only have three potential options:

  • Allow for a limited set of fonts that are best represented across all platforms and languages and hope for the best when it comes to rendering <- Not a very ideal user experience.
  • Embed the font in every note, so the font is the same across every platform and language <- This is possible, but it could result in some very big note files and this could be confusing to users. Also this doesn't work very well with future platform concepts we're exploring. 
  • Create our own fonts that are custom drawn in every client <- This is also possible, but not the easiest thing to pull off (you want the font to look good).

 

In short we'd like to solve this problem. It's on our list of things to do, especially as more users ask for it. Our challenge is how do we use a font that is easy to read on any platform and in any language against any kind of background. It needs to present well so users from anywhere in the world can use it visually communicate. 

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Hi there Joe, thanks for getting back so swiftly. What a concise answer. The thing is that by losing the font option I dont seem to be able to choose if my text has a white surround or not. As a professional user the white surround is a bit 'dinky' I don't think being able to change this would be a problem across platforms?

Many thanks

joe

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@Joe - Those are two good requests and all I can say is... soon.  :)

 

On a side-note the reason for the stroked border around the text is to increase the readability regardless of background. We've done a lot of R&D on how to make the text as readable as possible on as many backgrounds as possible. You'd be surprised how hard it is to make text stand out on any background. 

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@Joe - Those are two good requests and all I can say is... soon.  :)

 

On a side-note the reason for the stroked border around the text is to increase the readability regardless of background. We've done a lot of R&D on how to make the text as readable as possible on as many backgrounds as possible. You'd be surprised how hard it is to make text stand out on any background. 

Hello again Joe.

I have also noticed that when i draw a line that holding shift does'nt keep it straight anymore. Please fix this. many thanks. 

Joe

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  • 3 weeks later...

I am sure it has been a long road for Skitch devs. but this has to be a GREAT disappointment for many people who previously used Skitch as a serious work tool.

I feel crippled by the limited tool bar, the loss of manipulation, the cartoonish non rotating arrows, the lack of font choices (seriously?)

Skitch WAS a great addition to my work. Please guys... BRING IT BACK.

Just do it.

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  • 1 month later...
  • 3 months later...

Let me add my note of disappointment to the others expressed here. After years of helpful functionality, Skitch has now gone backwards. My choices of font are "coloured but outlined and ugly" or "not outlined but only black". 

 

How is taking away a major feature "upgrading" a product? I've used Skitch since the beta, back when I used to email the Skitch team every now and then to ask if I could pay for the product because I used it so much in my job as a Mac support tech. It's ironic that the original beta was far more useable than today's current release. 

 

Perhaps even more ironic is that I can choose to change the font of this message but I can't change the font in Skitch!

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  • 2 weeks later...

I don't usually participate in product forums, but I wanted to chime in too and say that I really hope you'll fix the downgraded font functionality; Skitch was really good for annotations in the past, but this is definitely a step backward.  I've long had a like/dislike relationship with the app, and recently upgraded to the current version because I thought it would solve a problem where I needed to annotate.  Unfortunately, it did not, but I look forward to seeing the functionality restored!  I do like the Evernote integration!

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  • 1 month later...

I appreciate that it's tough, but this is yet one more way in which Skitch 1.x was just way better than Skitch 2.x. Please bring back the basic functionality of one of my (previously) favorite apps! Now I'm just left feeling like Evernote ruined a very good thing...

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Another vote for a font fix - back to Skitch V1 functionality. Keith Lang's Jan 2013 letter promised this - with restoration of other lost V1 features.  I'm still waiting.

I have moved on and use (very powerful) Viola. Reverting to earlier Skitch to have access to my vast library of captures. I am on a powerful desktop Mac and have no interest in dialing down to a mobile user feature set, sparse interface, and every-platform compatibility.

.. and, yes, Viola will share to Evernote accounts, as well as others.

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  • 1 month later...
  • 1 month later...

Solution to changing the font the way it was in prior versions (or getting rid of the "outline" font):

 

Download the last version 1 of Skitch at http://www.oldapps.com/mac/skitch_for_mac.php

 

Until devs finish updating this feature to be cross platform, the only option is to sit tight on your laptop version you need for work. Works like a dream for me. Hope that helps.

 

-Tyler M.

post-163915-0-95815500-1391727970_thumb.

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  • 1 month later...

Solution to changing the font the way it was in prior versions (or getting rid of the "outline" font):

 

Download the last version 1 of Skitch at http://www.oldapps.com/mac/skitch_for_mac.php

Thank you, thank you, thank you Tyler M for posting the link to 1.0.12. That version is SO MUCH BETTER than the current version!

 

Maybe it is a challenge to support Mac AND iOS, Android, Windows Touch, & Windows Desktop, but I use Skitch on my Mac and the resulting image file opens just fine on all those other platforms. The only other application I know that was worse than Sktich 2.x when it upgraded from the great previous version was the horrible Skype 3.

 

Pieter

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  • 2 months later...
  • 7 months later...
  • 4 months later...

Just had to make the forced change from the MAC only version of Skitch.... because Colour popup had gone crazy and would pop up somewhere on or half off or fully off the screen and not be clickable.  The last item I did in Mac Skitch used a cursive writing font and when I installed the latest version of Skitch which saves to ever note... What a shambles - NO CHOICE OF FONT.. now I read this forum and find MAC which started out with SKITCH has been totally dudded to make it work on ANDROID and WINDOWS.  I am literally heartbroken.. this was the BEST application on my Mac - used all the time and now I have a dumbed down version.. Why cannot it not call on FONTBOOK - why do organisations buy up a good product and ruin it.  EVEN on this website I get to choose font and style  Can't you at least let the app choose the WEB FONTS which surely Android and Windows are capable of.....

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So the remarkable workaround... You open the OLD version Mac Version of Skitch which hasn't been overwritten by the new Evernote version because that is still working from the Downloads Folder.  Do a Skitch in the Old Mac Skitch and choose its font and size and style.. Save and then open that Skitch in the new Evernote Skitch and the font you changed to is retained.. So there must be a common preference file?? Works anyway but why will EVERNOTE not do this native in the App.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I have NO PROBLEM with the limited font selection. 

 

There's two options: "ghosted" and "normal". 

 

image.png

 

You're not really supposed to use Skitch as a graphics program, as much as you're to use it to snag an image, annotate it and share it. 

 

You're wanting more fonts, and I'm praising the Skitch Design Team for NOT adding them.

 

Skitch isn't PAINTBRUSH.

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  • 1 month later...

I have NO PROBLEM with the limited font selection. 

 

There's two options: "ghosted" and "normal". 

 

image.png

 

You're not really supposed to use Skitch as a graphics program, as much as you're to use it to snag an image, annotate it and share it. 

 

You're wanting more fonts, and I'm praising the Skitch Design Team for NOT adding them.

 

Skitch isn't PAINTBRUSH.

 

Thanks, Alan, that was helpful.  

 

But I still agree with most here, that the lack of formatting is a significant shortcoming.  Each person has a different use case: in mine, in this instance I'd merely wanted to change a couple of letters of text, but naturally with text similar to the original.  In Skitch I couldn't do that; in Pixelmatr, for exmple, I could. And in "Old Skitch" i could have, too.  That's among the features that earned it a place in my dock.  It's odd that a function that was acknowledged as important and a priority for adding in 2013 still isn't there.

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  • 3 months later...

@Joe - Those are two good requests and all I can say is... soon.  :)

 

On a side-note the reason for the stroked border around the text is to increase the readability regardless of background. We've done a lot of R&D on how to make the text as readable as possible on as many backgrounds as possible. You'd be surprised how hard it is to make text stand out on any background. 

 

It's actually trivially easy to make text stand out on any background -- let me, as the user, change the font/size/color in order to make it readable.

 

In any case, though, this is clearly moot. 2.5 years later, Skitch 2.0 is still a joke. In fact, if there's still anyone at Evernote who reads the forums, please note that the job you did on ruining Skitch is one of the major reasons that I no longer use Evernote.

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  • 2 weeks later...
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  • 3 weeks later...

@HenrySF yeah that happened to me after copying from an IDE (code editor). 

skitch-monaco.thumb.jpg.f5236f1efb84d0d855d0e9d067409595.jpg

Fixed it this morning.

Looks like the font name is serialized in /Users/[username]/Library/Preferences/com.skitch.skitch.plist.  After copying from my IDE it must have subsequently persisted the "Monaco" font to the preference file:

preferences-monaco.thumb.jpg.1e94bd78fbf7a77299a9259ed154f07c.jpg

I changed it back to Helvetica

preferences-helvetica.thumb.jpg.802ac4c14607b695c88fa725fd447c9c.jpg

skitch-helvetica.thumb.jpg.042b93e4536dc293194fec4acf33e85a.jpg

 

  • Like 1
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  • 11 months later...
  • 4 months later...

Same here, my Skitch font changed after I pasted a unicode icon, and I can't find a preference file or any way to switch it back.

Edit: in desparation, I tried trashing Skitch from my apps folder and installing a fresh download. That did the trick, my font is back to normal.

Edited by mollygaut
update
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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 11 months later...
On 3/14/2013 at 10:43 AM, Joe Lopez said:

We didn't reimplement multiple fonts for Skitch 2.x launch for two reasons:

  • From our interviews with users, and looking over usage data, we found very users were actually changing fonts. So when we rewrote Skitch's code from scratch, we decided to de-prioritize this feature. 
  • The bigger reason though is cross platform support. Since Skitch is currently available on 5 platforms (Mac, iOS, Android, Windows Touch, & Windows Desktop) and in 19 languages (soon to be 20) , it's difficult to guarantee that the same font on platform A is going to look the same on platform B. And remember Skitch 1.x was Mac only. 

 

The cross platform and language support is the big thing that's slowing this feature down. From our investigation we only have three potential options:

  • Allow for a limited set of fonts that are best represented across all platforms and languages and hope for the best when it comes to rendering <- Not a very ideal user experience.
  • Embed the font in every note, so the font is the same across every platform and language <- This is possible, but it could result in some very big note files and this could be confusing to users. Also this doesn't work very well with future platform concepts we're exploring. 
  • Create our own fonts that are custom drawn in every client <- This is also possible, but not the easiest thing to pull off (you want the font to look good).

 

In short we'd like to solve this problem. It's on our list of things to do, especially as more users ask for it. Our challenge is how do we use a font that is easy to read on any platform and in any language against any kind of background. It needs to present well so users from anywhere in the world can use it visually communicate. 

The post above is from 2013... long term is a misnomer.  

Other applications handle this by using the installed fonts on the system.  I am not sure why Evernote has left this unresolved. I suspect the code is not written to accommodate local data.  If not a selection of fonts, how about allowing the changing of the size or other properties? 

I am a premium subscriber and have been so for years because you have the right stuff in Evernote 99% of the time. This lets me down, big time.  

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  • 1 year later...

I find it sad that we are now in 2021 and the fonts issue hasn't been resolved.  Even this discussion group lets me have choice of fonts and size and colour

I have kept an older version of Skitch App (circa 2013) on an iMac computer on system Sierra as control of fonts in labelling Skitch Screengrabs is so useful.  Over the years I have accumulated info in those screen grabs of house plans showing where all ethernet ports are, aerial maps with danger zones etc.  These pictures are so very useful and worth a thousand words with the fonts varying in size and arrowed labels.  Surely with every other app using varied fonts and emojis it is not too difficult over nearly a decade to improve and use the native font library - 64bit surely gives wider presentation choices.  

This influences me in subscribing to Evernote/Skitch as I really have to use Preview or Pages in a much more cumbersome way to emulate what was SO SIMPLE in SKITCH APP v1

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  • 8 months later...

I found the com.skitch.plist file. I quit Skitch, deleted that file, and started Skitch back up. Font now looks good!

If you don't find it here:
Finder: Home > Library > Preferences > com.skitch.skitch.plist

Look here:
Finder: Home > Users > [your username] > Library > Preferences > com.skitch.skitch.plist

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