I don't know what to call it... in the parameter dials window as well as the document window, those lists of figures, body parts, props and all the scene stuff.

Well, the lists of body parts can get pretty long, and I see that there are spaces between each name, so the list could actually be half the length than it is.
For example, if I want to get at V4's left foot, I have to go all the way to the bottom of the list and then click on a down arrow to force it to scroll, and that's on a 24" monitor @1920x1200, so it's not like I'm trying to work at a low resolution.
Any way to eliminate those spaces so the list isn't so long? I see there are  preference xml files in AppData, but I'd have no idea what to edit or if it's even editable.
Thanks. :-)

I don't have such a large space in list of parts.  Maybe the font it is using has been corrupted somehow, or it has substituted some other font when not found.

Quote - I don't have such a large space in list of parts.  Maybe the font it is using has been corrupted somehow, or it has substituted some other font when not found.

It's a fresh install on Windows 7 x64, also a fairly recent install.
What font is it supposed to be using and how do I change it?

font depends on country. mine is helvetica.  maybe you can put screen shot of list, can see from appearance if font is correct

Quote - font depends on country. mine is helvetica.  maybe you can put screen shot of list, can see from appearance if font is correct

Screenshot above in previous post. ;-)

Font is correct. The spacing is as expected.  If it were closer, letters that have decenders would appear cramped

Quote - Font is correct. The spacing is as expected.  If it were closer, letters that have decenders would appear cramped

Well okay I appreciate the answer. :-)
But I don't really care if they appear cramped, it would be better than having to scroll down all the time.
Is there a way to use a different font for just Poser without changing the whole system font?
Or even if not, a way to remove the spaces or force them all closer together?

While the apparent size of spacing is governed by font size, actual size of (invisible) box around it is described in XML files in "Runtimeui" folder.  At least, I believe that is so,  the person who has done much work on the interface stops by this forum often.  He uses name of "BagginsBill" here.

Okay and thanks again. :-)
I hope he sees this, meanwhile I'll mess around with it some.

I didn't write that part and don't know how to change it.

It could actually be tighter - look at the descender in Right Shoulder - plenty of extra space there.

This is a classic case of UI "usability" giving conflicting data. On the one hand, cramping menu items is considered poor usability. On the other, a list that is always long and can be made shorter is annoying. I think the implementors simply used the wxWidget menu as it behaves by default.

Personally, I don't use that to pick parts - I use the hierarchy window.

Knowing the font and its size, I see no reason you couldn't hack Poser to use a different font/size. I actually did it on a Macintosh with Poser4. This was for my own use because the font used on the dials was in italic and very very hard for me to read. And my Poser4 had not been supported for many years. This will require a trial & error approach:

Start with making a COPY of Poser.
Then open your COPY in a text editor.
Search for "Helvetica".

When you find the first instance, make a note of exactly where it is.
Change the name of the font/size to what you need.
Launch your COPY and see where the change took place.

If its not the correct change where you want it, Quit Poser.
Change it back to what it was in the exact place where you made the change.

Search for the next instance of "Helvetica".
Make the change.

And so on, until the scroll list's font changes.

Also consider that by doing this, you may void any warranty and get no tech support. But since its only a tiny cosmetic change for your own benefit, I can't imagine anyone getting excited and jumping up and down.

Good luck!  :)

Quote - I didn't write that part and don't know how to change it.

It could actually be tighter - look at the descender in Right Shoulder - plenty of extra space there.

This is a classic case of UI "usability" giving conflicting data. On the one hand, cramping menu items is considered poor usability. On the other, a list that is always long and can be made shorter is annoying. I think the implementors simply used the wxWidget menu as it behaves by default.

Personally, I don't use that to pick parts - I use the hierarchy window.

Thanks for the reply, BB, and I was afraid of that.
Yeah, I could use the hierarchy window, sure, but that gets cluttered with several figures and dozens of props in a scene. The drop down menus are at least isolated to the currently selected figure only.

Thank you too, Elfwine. Do you mean edit the actual Poser.exe file? I'm not sure I want to try that because what I'm doing right now has an ominously looming deadline and with my luck I'll screw something up and cause crashes right at the wrong time. ;-)
I wouldn't even know how to go about it anyway.

Well, if you've got a prefered way to select body parts, you could try to find someone to create a script that allows to do it... That's what's so nice about Poser 8's new GUI ;-)
You could also take a look at my "Hampelmann" script in freestuff.

sounds like kerning is what you're after (tightening/loosening the spacing). Unfortunately, it's not an option in Poser

Leading, not kerning. Kerning is horizontal and involves pushing particular pairs of letters into each other's bounding box, altering the uniform character spacing. See:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerning

 "Thank you too, Elfwine. Do you mean edit the actual Poser.exe file?"

Yep!

Best to wait until after your project is done and you've got time to mess around with it. When you've got the time to play with it, make a copy of it first, and then edit only the copy.

Open your copy with a text editor and search for "Helvetica".

Then follow the rest of the instructions in my previous post.  ; )

Just a word of warning,most text editors don't handle binary files properly, so you need to use one that doesn't do things like messing around with line ending characters etc.
I know Emacs has a "hex edit" mode, other editors may have something similar, but don't bother trying with NotePad or WordPad.

Elwine and nruddock, I appreciate the info. :-)