gnome and GDK_USE_XFT

[Allin Cottrell <cottrell wfu edu>]

I've been experimenting with gnome 2.0 with and without GDK_USE_XFT
defined.  I'm wondering if there's any way to get the best of both
worlds.

I have a strong preference for bitmap fonts (well optimized ones, as
supplied with XFree for Helvetica, e.g.) in the everyday reading range
of, say, 8 to 11 point.  But it's nice to have anti-aliasing for
larger fonts, and perhaps tiny ones too.

If I leave GDK_USE_XFT undefined I can access the traditional bitmap
fonts OK, but of course get no anti-aliasing.

With GDK_USE_XFT defined, I know how to turn off anti-aliasing for a
specified range of font sizes (in XftConfig), but in that case
gnome/GTK offers me non-anti-aliased (aliased?) versions of the
outline fonts -- which do not look good at all -- and the traditional
optimized X bitmaps are not on the menu.

Is it impossible for GTK to use the optimized bitmaps when in XFT
mode?

-- 
Allin Cottrell
Department of Economics
Wake Forest University, NC