# Setting initial text font size larger **URL:** \ **Category:** Help\ **Created:** [October 26, 2020, 6:59am UTC](https://gramps.discourse.group/t/setting-initial-text-font-size-larger/873 "2020-10-26T06:59:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![philhoward](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f04885/32.png) [@philhoward](https://gramps.discourse.group/u/philhoward)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2020, 6:59am UTC](https://gramps.discourse.group/t/setting-initial-text-font-size-larger/873/1 "2020-10-26T06:59:45Z")
it’s time for me to get started, again, with a fresh reinstall of Gramps. here are the versions: python : 3.6.9 gramps : 5.1.3 gtk++ : 3.22.30 pygobject : 3.26.1 pango : 1.40.14 cairo : 1.15.10 pycairo : 1.16.2 osmgpsmap : 1.0 GExiv2 : 0.10 ICU : not found PyICU : not found o.s. : linux kernel : 5.4.0-52-generic i will try to get PyICU in there later. the first problem i originally had, a couple warnings, is gone. my next problem is i can’t read the text in the Gramps window. it’s my eyes which are degraded by old age. they would need very custom lenses to correct. i simply use a larger text. doing `gramps --help` doesn’t show any means to set the text size on startup. trying to change it manually with the mouse is having no effect. ---
**Author:** ![emyoulation](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/gramps.discourse.group/emyoulation/32/67_2.png) [@emyoulation](https://gramps.discourse.group/u/emyoulation)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2020, 7:21am UTC](https://gramps.discourse.group/t/setting-initial-text-font-size-larger/873/2 "2020-10-26T07:21:03Z")
Add the [Themes add-on](https://gramps-project.org/wiki/index.php/Addon:Themes). It allows you to set high contrast colors, the font & the fontsize in a new Preferences tab. ---
**Author:** ![philhoward](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f04885/32.png) [@philhoward](https://gramps.discourse.group/u/philhoward)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2020, 2:20pm UTC](https://gramps.discourse.group/t/setting-initial-text-font-size-larger/873/3 "2020-10-26T14:20:16Z")
how to do a themes add-on? ---
**Author:** ![emyoulation](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/gramps.discourse.group/emyoulation/32/67_2.png) [@emyoulation](https://gramps.discourse.group/u/emyoulation)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2020, 2:35pm UTC](https://gramps.discourse.group/t/setting-initial-text-font-size-larger/873/4 "2020-10-26T14:35:03Z")
If you’re not availing yourself of [add-ons](https://gramps-project.org/wiki/index.php/5.1_Addons) yet, you’re hurting yourself. It’s like moving into a new house with your luggage & nothing else. A world of improvement over sleeping rough. But you would be sleeping on the floor and drinking from the faucet. ---
**Author:** ![philhoward](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f04885/32.png) [@philhoward](https://gramps.discourse.group/u/philhoward)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2020, 7:50pm UTC](https://gramps.discourse.group/t/setting-initial-text-font-size-larger/873/5 "2020-10-26T19:50:22Z")
i’m still at the extreme starting point where i can’t see anything. i’m not doing anything at all, yet. i hope to import a gedcom from ancestry after i try a few things first. but for now i can’t see to do anything. after i can read the window i hope to expand it to full screen. it’s less than 1/4 now. ---
**Author:** ![emyoulation](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/gramps.discourse.group/emyoulation/32/67_2.png) [@emyoulation](https://gramps.discourse.group/u/emyoulation)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2020, 7:58pm UTC](https://gramps.discourse.group/t/setting-initial-text-font-size-larger/873/6 "2020-10-26T19:58:49Z")
Try importing the sample GEDCOM and (in another blank Tree) the [example.gramps](https://www.gramps-project.org/wiki/index.php/Example.gramps) file. Many features can’t be explored without sample data. Sometimes the menus & interface is even hidden where there’s not data that uses them. Once you’ve experimented with a GEDCOM that is known good for importing, you will have more confidence with what to expect. Every program has oddities in the way they write GEDCOMs. (That’s because the format is inadequate & people have to bend the rules to shoehorn their data into the format.) ---
**Author:** ![philhoward](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f04885/32.png) [@philhoward](https://gramps.discourse.group/u/philhoward)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2020, 7:59pm UTC](https://gramps.discourse.group/t/setting-initial-text-font-size-larger/873/7 "2020-10-26T19:59:06Z")
my first suggested change would be to support Ctrl + mouse roller that Firefox supports to adjust size that includes images, text, and layout. it remembers how it was last set. i don’t know if this is specific to Firefox but i was expecting it so it was the first thing i tried. ---
**Author:** ![philhoward](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f04885/32.png) [@philhoward](https://gramps.discourse.group/u/philhoward)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2020, 8:02pm UTC](https://gramps.discourse.group/t/setting-initial-text-font-size-larger/873/8 "2020-10-26T20:02:12Z")
where is the sample gedcom? ---
**Author:** ![emyoulation](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/gramps.discourse.group/emyoulation/32/67_2.png) [@emyoulation](https://gramps.discourse.group/u/emyoulation)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2020, 8:07pm UTC](https://gramps.discourse.group/t/setting-initial-text-font-size-larger/873/9 "2020-10-26T20:07:36Z")
Look at the bottom of the example.gramps webpage in the **[See Also](https://www.gramps-project.org/wiki/index.php/Example.gramps#See_also)** section. The Gramps sample files are in a subdirectory whose parent directory also holds the GEDCOM directory. ---
**Author:** ![emyoulation](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/gramps.discourse.group/emyoulation/32/67_2.png) [@emyoulation](https://gramps.discourse.group/u/emyoulation)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2020, 8:14pm UTC](https://gramps.discourse.group/t/setting-initial-text-font-size-larger/873/10 "2020-10-26T20:14:19Z")
Gramps isn’t a browser. So there’s no interactive GUI zoom. On the other hand, the time honored way to make other types of programs look bigger is to reduce the resolution in your Windows display settings. That is changing a display resolution from 1600x900 resolution to 1280x768 will make everything bigger. ---
**Author:** ![philhoward](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f04885/32.png) [@philhoward](https://gramps.discourse.group/u/philhoward)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2020, 8:29pm UTC](https://gramps.discourse.group/t/setting-initial-text-font-size-larger/873/11 "2020-10-26T20:29:02Z")
i’m running Xubuntu 18.04.5 soon to be 20.04. i have 1920x1080 and need to view many images and videos at the same resolution. i need for pixels to show 1:1. ---
**Author:** ![emyoulation](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/gramps.discourse.group/emyoulation/32/67_2.png) [@emyoulation](https://gramps.discourse.group/u/emyoulation)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2020, 8:30pm UTC](https://gramps.discourse.group/t/setting-initial-text-font-size-larger/873/12 "2020-10-26T20:30:41Z")
The screen res can be changed without rebooting. It is a workaround, not a perfect solution. ---
**Author:** ![StoltHD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/db5fbb/32.png) [@StoltHD](https://gramps.discourse.group/u/StoltHD)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2020, 8:43pm UTC](https://gramps.discourse.group/t/setting-initial-text-font-size-larger/873/13 "2020-10-26T20:43:42Z")
Ubuntu has the ability to enlarge icons and text for the desktop and most compatible desktop software, I don’t use Gramps on Linux, but I think it should support the system settings. That way you can get larger Icons, and Text without changing your screen… Someone with Linux need to confirm this for Gramps ---
**Author:** ![emyoulation](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/gramps.discourse.group/emyoulation/32/67_2.png) [@emyoulation](https://gramps.discourse.group/u/emyoulation)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2020, 8:49pm UTC](https://gramps.discourse.group/t/setting-initial-text-font-size-larger/873/14 "2020-10-26T20:49:16Z")
Microsoft also has the Magnifier accessory for the visually impaired. Is there a similar Xubuntu feature? ---
**Author:** ![philhoward](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f04885/32.png) [@philhoward](https://gramps.discourse.group/u/philhoward)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2020, 10:10pm UTC](https://gramps.discourse.group/t/setting-initial-text-font-size-larger/873/15 "2020-10-26T22:10:16Z")
yes, there is a screen res change. _alt + mouse roller_. once at the res you want, moving the mouse moves the screen buffer (contents) the opposite way so you can see any part of the buffer. but it takes a lot of getting used to. i don’t know if this is considered a magnifier. i don’t know how these new features work in Windows. the last Windows i used extensively was 95. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/free1/uploads/gramps/original/1X/2ac1e712b7adf612e31ca08a55419f4cf37c0158.png) [@system](https://gramps.discourse.group/u/system)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2020, 10:10pm UTC](https://gramps.discourse.group/t/setting-initial-text-font-size-larger/873/16 "2020-11-25T22:10:17Z")
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