Page 1 of 1

Change System Font Size(s) On OSX Yosemite

Posted: Fri Oct 24, 2014 9:00 pm
by fsw
Using a Mac Mini to drive a 50" TV @ 1920x1080 resolution and sitting 10' away (HTPC with wireless trackball).
Can change the dock size to a very acceptable size, but the font on the MenuBar and App-Windows should be bigger in order to enjoy it even more.

Found code to get the information about the system font size in this forum, but I'm unable to find any information on Apple's developer pages on how to change the system font size(s).

Can only the font sizes (window and menubar) inside an app be changed?
If so, this seems odd.

BTW: Know about the zoom function (which is unusable for this scenario) and also want to keep the 1920x1080 resolution...

Thanks in advance.

Re: Change System Font Size(s) On OSX Yosemite

Posted: Sat Oct 25, 2014 5:37 am
by Danilo
Did you try TinkerTool? (Bresink: Software for OS X)
[u]Details[/u] wrote:* Set preferred font sizes for the selection of default fonts for nine specific use categories, typefaces for two categories
* Set default font typeface and size for Safari when web pages don't specify a font
Image

For changing fonts within some applications, see this page

Re: Change System Font Size(s) On OSX Yosemite

Posted: Sat Oct 25, 2014 8:47 am
by Danilo
You could also try HiDPI mode. It must be enabled using the following command:

Code: Select all

sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.windowserver.plist DisplayResolutionEnabled -bool true
After reboot, you have a new scaled display resolution available that is half the size of your native display resolution.
My 27" Display works at 2560x1440, and I have now a new scaled entry: "1280x720 (HiDPI)". When switching to this mode,
it still uses 2560x1440, and everything is doubled in size (menu bar, etc). It is the emulation of a retina display, and menu fonts are still looking crisp.
Default is 72 DPI, and with this mode enabled, Mac OS X acts like it is using a 144 DPI display.
Thing is, you loose half of the available screen space, because everything is doubled in size, and non-retina-aware applications are scaled and may look ugly -
for example PureBasic programs. The retina emulation may not work with all displays.

You can also enable this mode with (test mode (not demo mode) of) TinkerTool System 4 (System > Display).

TinkerTool System shows a warning:
Many applications expect a minimal screen resolution of 1024x768 (2048x1535 at 144 PPI). If the screen is smaller, it could
be dangerous because you could not access all GUI elements anymore, if they are outside of the screen!

Re: Change System Font Size(s) On OSX Yosemite

Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2014 7:51 pm
by fsw
:!: TOTAL AWESOMENESS :!:

Thank you Danilo for not providing one but two possible solutions 8)
Will definately look into the suggestions as soon as possible.

Thanks again.