pango_cairo_layout_path method does not respect kerning

Question

I'm using pango library to do some text layout and cairo backend for rendering. It seems to me that the pango_cairo_layout_path method does not respect kerning.

I'm using c# bindings for pango and cairo that are provided with the gtk# project. Also i'm using the pango-cairo runtimes that also provided with gtk# project.

Here is an image demonstrating the problem (Font: Arial)

First row is from Inkscape rendering and second row from pango-cairo

Is there any known bug in pango/cairo?... or i'm doing something wrong

Do you know any work around...

Thanks in advance

Answer 1

It seems that pango-cairo backend in Windows by default uses the Win32 font type. With this type I had problems with kerning.

When I changed font type to be freetype everything worked as should.

In order to change font type please use:

PangoCairoFontMap * pango_cairo_font_map_new_for_font_type(cairo_font_type_t fonttype);

And

pango_cairo_font_map_set_default (PangoCairoFontMap *fontmap);

More info here: https://developer.gnome.org/pango/stable/pango-Cairo-Rendering.html