Problems with Label Placement and Symbols Anti-Aliasing (I think)

[Doyon, Jean-Francois]

Hello,

I upgraded to MapServer 4.8.1 with the latest GD and FreeType, and have
discovered some problems on our maps :(

First, diagonally placed labels seems to have moved from what they used to
be with say, 4.6.1 ... This however seems inconsistent.  Some layers have
fine looking POSITION ll labels, while some others show offsets that are
wayyy off.  For a while even th wrapping was acting strangely, adding lots
of vertical spacing between 2 lines of a label.  I've tried in vain to get
one layer's label's to appear like another's in vain.  The one that looks
"wrong" always does, no matter what we do.  We can have 2 layers with the
exact same font, font size, placement, and so on, and one will label as
expected, and one won't.  I have NO idea how/why this happens.  We've
noticed things like this before between versions of mapserver ... We use
lots of basolutely positionned labels, so this is problematic.

Also, the symbols now seem to be anti-aliased or something, in a different
way?  The symbols in the legend look blurry and deformed.  The symbols
within the map also seem to be bleeding colors ... It's all very weird.

I'm going to get some screen shots and put them up somewhere so everyone can
look at them, I'd be very interested in hearing about other's experiences
with this!

Thanks,

Jean-François Doyon
Internet Service Development and Systems Support / Spécialiste de
dèveloppements internet et soutien technique
Canada Centre for Remote Sensing/Centre Canadien de télédétection
Natural Resources Canada/Ressources Naturelles Canada
http://atlas.gc.ca
Tel./Tél.: (613) 992-4902
Fax: (613) 947-2410