TIP_fonts_in_xterms

Getting font list

Use xlsfonts command and you will get server font list for X . See man xlsfonts.

You can also use the xfontsel utility to select the font you want. This tool provides a point & click interface to select a font.

Xterm font settings

You have to run xterm with certain attributes that will define xterm font settings :

when 9x15bold is name of font from server font list.

Setting the font using ~/.Xdefaults

If you are tired of always repeating the command, you can set a default font using the .Xdefaults file. The following example will set the font for Xterm, aterm and xfterm4, and will make sure that you will never see any bold text (Bold text is in most cases butt-ugly).

XTerm*font:-misc-fixed-medium-r-normal--14-130-75-75-c-70-iso8859-15
XTerm*boldFont:-misc-fixed-medium-r-normal--14-130-75-75-c-70-iso8859-15
aterm*font:-misc-fixed-medium-r-normal--14-130-75-75-c-70-iso8859-15
aterm*boldFont:-misc-fixed-medium-r-normal--14-130-75-75-c-70-iso8859-15
xfterm4*font:-misc-fixed-medium-r-normal--14-130-75-75-c-70-iso8859-15
xfterm4*boldfont:-misc-fixed-medium-r-normal--14-130-75-75-c-70-iso8859-15

When using xfce4

To make .Xdefaults being loaded:

Setting the font using X11 application defaults

You can set which font (among the options listed in the Fonts menu) will be the default.

*fontMenu.Label:  VT Fonts
*fontMenu*fontdefault*Label:    Default
*fontMenu*font1*Label:  Unreadable
*VT100.font:            9x15
*VT100.font1:           nil2
*IconFont:              nil2
*fontMenu*font2*Label:  Tiny
*VT100.font2:           5x7
*fontMenu*font3*Label:  Small
*VT100.font3:           6x10
*fontMenu*font4*Label:  Medium
*VT100.font4:           7x13
*fontMenu*font5*Label:  Large
*VT100.font5:           9x15
*fontMenu*font6*Label:  Huge
*VT100.font6:           10x20

In the example, the default font (VT100.font) is set to 9x15, which corresponds to Large option in Fonts menu