Author Topic: Mail + incoming message font size issue  (Read 1481 times)

Offline Paddy

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Mail + incoming message font size issue
« on: September 17, 2007, 10:29:50 AM »
After years of using Entourage since I started using OS X back in 2001, I finally had to concede defeat and switch to Mail. Entourage had become royally screwed up - my attempts to prune my ridiculously large collection of messages (19,000+ in the inbox and almost the same in the outbox) seemed to have produced corruption of some sort - I was completely unable to rebuild the database no matter what I did. It always stalled out - no matter how long I left it for or no matter which rebuild option I chose, and I had ongoing issues with the application which indicated corruption. At least one rebuild attempt managed to wipe out much of the database (which I always backed up before attempting anything!). And yes, I did all sorts of other system maintenance in an attempt to get things working again - no dice.

Finally I decided it wasn't worth the effort and it was time to import everything into Mail and get up and running with that.
So...I did it. No issues on the import and everything is working fine. BUT...much of my incoming HTML email was in teeny-tiny fonts - barely readable. Changing the font sizes in the preferences changed ALL the font sizes, and I certainly didn't want my outgoing mail in 16 pt.! What to do? Google, of course! And it would appear that I wasn't alone in this - even though the Apple Discussions are currently down and I couldn't look there.

http://forums.osxfaq.com/viewtopic.php?=&p=63131

The solution:

QUOTE
"There actually already is a way to achieve this - not officially documented but it works: you can use the following trick to force Mail to always use a larger minimum font size on received messages - some HTML messages might not look exactly as intended but at least you can now read them.

1. Quit Mail
2. Open the Terminal and type in the following:
defaults write com.apple.mail MinimumHTMLFontSize 13
3. Restart Mail.app and your HTML messages are readable.
Of course you can set the point size to whatever you like."


Elegant, simple and it works a treat! biggrin.gif

Now I AM happy!
"If computers get too powerful, we can organize them into committees. That'll do them in." ~Author unknown •iMac 5K, 27" 3.6Ghz i9 (2019) • 16" M1 MBP(2021) • 9.7" iPad Pro • iPhone 13

Offline sandbox

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Mail + incoming message font size issue
« Reply #1 on: September 17, 2007, 07:21:13 PM »
I'll keep this Tip Handy, having been a Outlook & Entourage user since 99. wink.gif
Lucida Grand 13 is what I prefer, I think the NYTimes online is using it now too.
Verdana was an older choice for Web pages.
« Last Edit: September 17, 2007, 07:22:29 PM by sandbox »

Offline Paddy

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Mail + incoming message font size issue
« Reply #2 on: September 17, 2007, 09:35:16 PM »
That's what I use too. smile.gif Verdana isn't actually an OLDER choice for web sites - it's very much a current one! Unfortunately there still aren't a LOT of common fonts between Macs and Windows and the choice of foolproof fonts to use online remains limited. If the boys in Redmond really wanted to get with the program, they'd start providing a few more of the fonts found on Macs as part of the Windows OS, since Macs generally have far more choice than a standard-issue PC.

Good relatively current list of common fonts here:

http://www.upsdell.com/BrowserNews/res_fontsamp.htm
"If computers get too powerful, we can organize them into committees. That'll do them in." ~Author unknown •iMac 5K, 27" 3.6Ghz i9 (2019) • 16" M1 MBP(2021) • 9.7" iPad Pro • iPhone 13

Offline sandbox

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Mail + incoming message font size issue
« Reply #3 on: September 17, 2007, 10:41:29 PM »
Thanks for the link!

QUOTE
Verdana isn't actually an OLDER choice for web sites

it's just MY older choice. Most of my early sites were built using verdana.