RE: Can I ask a Simple question?

["Drew Adams" <drew.adams@oracle.com>]

    > When i start emacs, i always hold down the shift key and left click my
    > mouse to get font select. You see, i cannot read the small
    > default font and need to make it larger. This is the value i always
select:
    >
    > Courier 18
    >
    > *My Simple Question:* Please show me exactly what line i need to write
    > into a .emacs configuration file so that this font size is loaded
    > automatically each time i start up emacs?

    If you're ~/.emacs file is ok, instead of touching it, just try running
    Emacs like this: $ emacs -fn 10x20 foo.txt
    and see how you like it. If you really want that courier font, use:
    $ emacs -fn
    -adobe-courier-medium-r-normal--18-180-75-75-m-110-iso8859-1 foo.txt
    After you've picked a font you like, so you don't have to always type
    "-fn blah...", put it into your ~/.Xresources file (create the file if
    you don't already have one) like so:
    emacs.font:
    -adobe-courier-medium-r-normal--18-180-75-75-m-110-iso8859-1
    then log out and log back in to X.
    To pick out a font and get its full name (like that
    -adobe-courier-med...) I run NEdit and use its built in font selection
    tool. I tried xfontsel, but it wasn't helpful.

Others have mentioned how to specify a font using .emacs or .Xresources.

Here is some info on trying out different fonts interactively, to discover
what you are most comfortable with:
http://www.emacswiki.org/cgi-bin/wiki/SetFonts.


To dynamically change font size (only), try one of these libraries:

- http://www.emacswiki.org/cgi-bin/emacs/zoom-frm.el (commands `zoom-frm-in’
, `zoom-frm-out’)

- http://www.emacswiki.org/cgi-bin/emacs/doremi-frm.el (command
`doremi-font-size')


To dynamically try different fonts (without changing the size):

- http://www.emacswiki.org/cgi-bin/wiki/Icicles (command `icicle-font')

- http://www.emacswiki.org/cgi-bin/emacs/doremi-frm.el (command
`doremi-font')

For command `icicle-font', you can use `S-TAB' to complete any font-name
substrings (e.g. family, style, weight), and you can use `C-next' (Control
Page Down) to cycle among the matching font names, seeing the effect
immediately. Hit `C-g' to cancel and return to the font you had, or hit
`RET' to keep the current choice in the minibuffer. For example:

M-x icicle-font
Type "Courier", hit S-TAB
Cycle among all Courier fonts with `C-next'.

Or, type "Courier" and then hit `M-*' to type another pattern to match, for
example "bold". Use `C-next' to cycle among Courier fonts with that style.
You get the idea. You can match any number of substrings, in any order, by
repeated use of `M-*'. Alternatively, you can match against a regular
expression (e.g. "Courier.*bold").

After you find a font you like, you can set it as the default font in your
.emacs or .Xresources file, as others have explained.

HTH.