matplotlib · jenshnielsen · Oct 7, 2015 · Nov 5, 2015 · Nov 5, 2015 · Nov 5, 2015
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ dist
 .eggs
 # tox testing tool
 .tox
+setup.cfg

 # OS generated files #
 ######################

diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ install:
  # version since is it basically just a .ttf file
  # The current Travis Ubuntu image is to old to search .local/share/fonts so we store fonts in .fonts

-  # We install ipython to use the console highlighting. From IPython 3 this depends on jsonschema and misture.
+  # We install ipython to use the console highlighting. From IPython 3 this depends on jsonschema and mistune.
  # Neihter is installed as a dependency of IPython since they are not used by the IPython console.
  - |
    if [[ $BUILD_DOCS == true ]]; then
@@ -96,7 +96,11 @@ install:
      cp tmp/usr/share/fonts/truetype/humor-sans/Humor-Sans.ttf ~/.fonts
      cp Felipa-Regular.ttf ~/.fonts
      fc-cache -f -v
+    else
+      # Use the special local version of freetype for testing
+      cp .travis/setup.cfg .
    fi;
+
  - python setup.py install

 script:

diff --git a/.travis/setup.cfg b/.travis/setup.cfg
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+[test]
+local_freetype=True
diff --git a/INSTALL b/INSTALL
@@ -208,7 +208,7 @@ libpng 1.2 (or later)
 `pytz`
    Used to manipulate time-zone aware datetimes.

-:term:`freetype` 2.3 or later
+:term:`FreeType` 2.3 or later
    library for reading true type font files.

 ``cycler`` 0.9 or later

diff --git a/doc/devel/testing.rst b/doc/devel/testing.rst
@@ -33,6 +33,22 @@ Optionally you can install:

  - `pep8 <http://pep8.readthedocs.org/en/latest>`_ to test coding standards

+Building matplotlib for image comparison tests
+----------------------------------------------
+
+matplotlib's test suite makes heavy use of image comparison tests,
+meaning the result of a plot is compared against a known good result.
+Unfortunately, different versions of FreeType produce differently
+formed characters, causing these image comparisons to fail.  To make
+them reproducible, matplotlib can be built with a special local copy
+of FreeType.  This is recommended for all matplotlib developers.
+
+Add the following content to a ``setup.cfg`` file at the root of the
+matplotlib source directory::
+
+  [test]
+  local_freetype = True
+
 Running the tests
 -----------------

@@ -185,17 +201,6 @@ decorator:
     If some variation is expected in the image between runs, this
     value may be adjusted.

-Freetype version
----------------
-
-Due to subtle differences in the font rendering under different
-version of freetype some care must be taken when generating the
-baseline images.  Currently (early 2015), almost all of the images
-were generated using ``freetype 2.5.3-21`` on Fedora 21 and only the
-fonts that ship with ``matplotlib`` (regenerated in PR #4031 / commit
-005cfde02751d274f2ab8016eddd61c3b3828446) and travis is using
-``freetype 2.4.8`` on ubuntu.
-
 Known failing tests
 -------------------


diff --git a/doc/glossary/index.rst b/doc/glossary/index.rst
@@ -22,8 +22,8 @@ Glossary
  EPS
      Encapsulated Postscript (`EPS <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encapsulated_PostScript>`_)

-  freetype
-      `freetype <http://www.freetype.org/>`_ is a font rasterization
+  FreeType
+      `FreeType <http://www.freetype.org/>`_ is a font rasterization
      library used by matplotlib which supports TrueType, Type 1, and
      OpenType fonts.


diff --git a/doc/users/screenshots.rst b/doc/users/screenshots.rst
@@ -252,7 +252,7 @@ Mathtext_examples

 Below is a sampling of the many TeX expressions now supported by matplotlib's
 internal mathtext engine.  The mathtext module provides TeX style mathematical
-expressions using `freetype2 <http://www.freetype.org/>`_
+expressions using `FreeType <http://www.freetype.org/>`_
 and the BaKoMa computer modern or `STIX <http://www.stixfonts.org>`_ fonts.
 See the :mod:`matplotlib.mathtext` module for additional details.


diff --git a/doc/users/text_intro.rst b/doc/users/text_intro.rst
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ expressions, truetype support for raster and vector outputs, newline
 separated text with arbitrary rotations, and unicode support.  Because
 we embed the fonts directly in the output documents, e.g., for postscript
 or PDF, what you see on the screen is what you get in the hardcopy.
-`freetype2 <http://www.freetype.org/>`_ support
+`FreeType <http://www.freetype.org/>`_ support
 produces very nice, antialiased fonts, that look good even at small
 raster sizes.  matplotlib includes its own
 :mod:`matplotlib.font_manager`, thanks to Paul Barrett, which

diff --git a/doc/users/whats_new/faster-text-rendering.rst b/doc/users/whats_new/faster-text-rendering.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+Faster text rendering
+---------------------
+
+Rendering text in the Agg backend is now less fuzzy and about 20%
+faster to draw.
diff --git a/examples/misc/ftface_props.py b/examples/misc/ftface_props.py
@@ -63,5 +63,4 @@

 print(dir(font))

-cmap = font.get_charmap()
 print(font.get_kerning)
diff --git a/examples/misc/multiprocess.py b/examples/misc/multiprocess.py
@@ -1,15 +1,10 @@
 # Demo of using multiprocessing for generating data in one process and plotting
 # in another.
 # Written by Robert Cimrman
-# Requires >= Python 2.6 for the multiprocessing module or having the
-# standalone processing module installed

 from __future__ import print_function
 import time
-try:
-    from multiprocessing import Process, Pipe
-except ImportError:
-    from processing import Process, Pipe
+from multiprocessing import Process, Pipe
 import numpy as np

 import matplotlib

diff --git a/examples/pylab_examples/font_table_ttf.py b/examples/pylab_examples/font_table_ttf.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # -*- noplot -*-
 """
-matplotlib has support for freetype fonts.  Here's a little example
+matplotlib has support for FreeType fonts.  Here's a little example
 using the 'table' command to build a font table that shows the glyphs
 by character code.


diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/__init__.py b/lib/matplotlib/__init__.py
@@ -197,10 +197,11 @@ def _forward_ilshift(self, other):


 major, minor1, minor2, s, tmp = sys.version_info
-_python26 = (major == 2 and minor1 >= 6) or major >= 3
+_python27 = (major == 2 and minor1 >= 7)
+_python34 = (major == 3 and minor1 >= 4)

-if not _python26:
-    raise ImportError('matplotlib requires Python 2.6 or later')
+if not (_python27 or _python34):
+    raise ImportError('matplotlib requires Python 2.7 or 3.4 or later')


 if not compare_versions(numpy.__version__, __version__numpy__):
@@ -1487,6 +1488,18 @@ def verify_test_dependencies():
    if not os.path.isdir(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), 'tests')):
        raise ImportError("matplotlib test data is not installed")

+    # The version of FreeType to install locally for running the
+    # tests.  This must match the value in `setupext.py`
+    LOCAL_FREETYPE_VERSION = '2.6.1'
+
+    from matplotlib import ft2font
+    if (ft2font.__freetype_version__ != LOCAL_FREETYPE_VERSION or
+        ft2font.__freetype_build_type__ != 'local'):
+        warnings.warn(
+            "matplotlib is not built with the correct FreeType version to run "
+            "tests.  Set local_freetype=True in setup.cfg and rebuild. "
+            "Expect many image comparison failures below.")
+
    try:
        import nose
        try:

diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/_mathtext_data.py b/lib/matplotlib/_mathtext_data.py
@@ -1,8 +1,6 @@
 """
 font data tables for truetype and afm computer modern fonts
 """
-# this dict maps symbol names to fontnames, glyphindex.  To get the
-# glyph index from the character code, you have to use get_charmap
 from __future__ import (absolute_import, division, print_function,
                        unicode_literals)