diff --git a/ft.c b/ft.c
index e356c1a4e..38b16542e 100644
--- a/ft.c
+++ b/ft.c
@@ -141,6 +141,8 @@ static int renderGlyph(lua_State *L) {
 	lua_setfield(L, -2, "t");
 	lua_pushinteger(L, (*face)->glyph->advance.x >> 6);
 	lua_setfield(L, -2, "ax");
+	lua_pushinteger(L, (*face)->glyph->advance.y >> 6);
+	lua_setfield(L, -2, "ay");
 
 	return 1;
 }
@@ -168,6 +170,25 @@ static int getKerning(lua_State *L) {
 	return 1;
 }
 
+static int getHeightAndAscender(lua_State *L) {
+	FT_Face *face = (FT_Face*) luaL_checkudata(L, 1, "ft_face");
+
+	double pixels_height,pixels_ascender;
+	double em_size, y_scale;
+
+	/* compute floating point scale factors */
+	em_size = 1.0 * (*face)->units_per_EM;
+	y_scale = (*face)->size->metrics.y_ppem / em_size;
+
+	/* convert design distances to floating point pixels */
+	pixels_height = (*face)->height * y_scale;
+	pixels_ascender = (*face)->ascender * y_scale;
+
+	lua_pushnumber(L, pixels_height);
+	lua_pushnumber(L, pixels_ascender);
+	return 2;
+}
+
 static int doneFace(lua_State *L) {
 	FT_Face *face = (FT_Face*) luaL_checkudata(L, 1, "ft_face");
 	if(*face != NULL) {
@@ -184,6 +205,7 @@ static const struct luaL_Reg ft_face_meth[] = {
 	{"renderGlyph", renderGlyph},
 	{"hasKerning", hasKerning},
 	{"getKerning", getKerning},
+	{"getHeightAndAscender", getHeightAndAscender},
 	{"done", doneFace},
 	{"__gc", doneFace},
 	{NULL, NULL}
diff --git a/helppage.lua b/helppage.lua
index 33ba5e9a9..8e28034f4 100644
--- a/helppage.lua
+++ b/helppage.lua
@@ -7,11 +7,6 @@ require "selectmenu"
 require "commands"
 
 HelpPage = {
-	-- Other Class vars:
-
-	-- spacing between lines
-	spacing = 25,
-
 	-- state buffer
 	commands = nil,
 	items = 0,
@@ -21,16 +16,13 @@ HelpPage = {
 -- Other Class vars:
 
 -- font for displaying keys
-HelpPage.fsize = 20
-HelpPage.face, HelpPage.fhash = Font:getFaceAndHash(HelpPage.fsize, "mono")
+HelpPage.mFace, HelpPage.mHash = Font:getFaceAndHash(20, "mono")
 -- font for displaying help messages
-HelpPage.hfsize = 20
-HelpPage.hface, HelpPage.hfhash = Font:getFaceAndHash(HelpPage.hfsize, "sans")
+HelpPage.sFace, HelpPage.sHash = Font:getFaceAndHash(20, "sans")
 -- font for paging display
-HelpPage.ffsize = 15
-HelpPage.fface, HelpPage.ffhash = Font:getFaceAndHash(HelpPage.ffsize, "sans")
+HelpPage.fFace, HelpPage.fHash = Font:getFaceAndHash(15, "sans")
 
-function HelpPage:show(ypos, height,commands)
+function HelpPage:show(ypos,height,commands)
 	self.commands = {}
 	self.items = 0
 	local keys = {}
@@ -44,28 +36,39 @@ function HelpPage:show(ypos, height,commands)
 		end
 	end
 	table.sort(self.commands,function(w1,w2) return w1.order<w2.order end)
-	local perpage = math.floor( (height - 1 * (self.ffsize + 5)) / self.spacing )
+
+	local mFaceHeight, mFaceAscender = self.mFace:getHeightAndAscender();
+	local fFaceHeight, fFaceAscender = self.fFace:getHeightAndAscender();
+	print(mFaceHeight.."-"..mFaceAscender)
+	print(fFaceHeight.."-"..fFaceAscender)
+	mFaceHeight = math.ceil(mFaceHeight)
+	mFaceAscender = math.ceil(mFaceAscender)
+	fFaceHeight = math.ceil(fFaceHeight)
+	fFaceAscender = math.ceil(fFaceAscender)
+	local spacing = mFaceHeight + 5
+
+	local perpage = math.floor( (height - ypos - 1 * (fFaceHeight + 5)) / spacing )
 	local pagedirty = true
 
 	while true do
 		if pagedirty then
-			fb.bb:paintRect(0, ypos, fb.bb:getWidth(), height, 0)
+			fb.bb:paintRect(0, 0, fb.bb:getWidth(), height, 0)
 			local c
 			local max_x = 0
 			for c = 1, perpage do
 				local i = (self.page - 1) * perpage + c
 				if i <= self.items then
-					local pen_x = renderUtf8Text(fb.bb, 5, ypos + self.spacing*c, self.face, self.fhash, self.commands[i].shortcut, true)
+					local pen_x = renderUtf8Text(fb.bb, 5, ypos + spacing*c, self.mFace, self.mHash, self.commands[i].shortcut, true)
 					max_x = math.max(max_x, pen_x)
 				end
 			end
 			for c = 1, perpage do
 				local i = (self.page - 1) * perpage + c
 				if i <= self.items then
-					renderUtf8Text(fb.bb, max_x + 20, ypos + self.spacing*c, self.hface, self.hfhash, self.commands[i].help, true)
+					renderUtf8Text(fb.bb, max_x + 20, ypos + spacing*c, self.sFace, self.sHash, self.commands[i].help, true)
 				end
 			end
-			renderUtf8Text(fb.bb, 5, height - math.floor(self.ffsize * 0.4), self.fface, self.ffhash,
+			renderUtf8Text(fb.bb, 5, height - fFaceHeight + fFaceAscender - 5, self.fFace, self.fHash,
 				"Page "..self.page.." of "..math.ceil(self.items / perpage).."  - click Back to close this page", true)
 			markerdirty = true
 		end
diff --git a/rendertext.lua b/rendertext.lua
index 1d95598e3..4d4f46a71 100644
--- a/rendertext.lua
+++ b/rendertext.lua
@@ -43,6 +43,35 @@ function clearGlyphCache()
 	glyphcache = {}
 end
 
+function sizeUtf8Text(face, facehash, text, kerning)
+	if text == nil then
+		print("# sizeUtf8Text called without text");
+		return
+	end
+	-- may still need more adaptive pen placement when kerning,
+	-- see: http://freetype.org/freetype2/docs/glyphs/glyphs-4.html
+	local pen_x = 0
+	local prevcharcode = 0
+	for uchar in string.gfind(text, "([%z\1-\127\194-\244][\128-\191]*)") do
+		if pen_x < buffer:getWidth() then
+			local charcode = util.utf8charcode(uchar)
+			local glyph = getglyph(face, facehash, charcode)
+			if kerning and prevcharcode then
+				local kern = face:getKerning(prevcharcode, charcode)
+				pen_x = pen_x + kern
+				print("prev:"..string.char(prevcharcode+10).." curr:"..string.char(charcode).." kern:"..kern)
+				buffer:addblitFrom(glyph.bb, x + pen_x + glyph.l, y - glyph.t, 0, 0, glyph.bb:getWidth(), glyph.bb:getHeight())
+			else
+				print("curr:"..string.char(charcode))
+				buffer:blitFrom(glyph.bb, x + pen_x + glyph.l, y - glyph.t, 0, 0, glyph.bb:getWidth(), glyph.bb:getHeight())
+			end
+			pen_x = pen_x + glyph.ax
+			prevcharcode = charcode
+		end
+	end
+	return pen_x
+end
+
 function renderUtf8Text(buffer, x, y, face, facehash, text, kerning)
 	if text == nil then
 		print("# renderUtf8Text called without text");
@@ -59,8 +88,10 @@ function renderUtf8Text(buffer, x, y, face, facehash, text, kerning)
 			if kerning and prevcharcode then
 				local kern = face:getKerning(prevcharcode, charcode)
 				pen_x = pen_x + kern
+				--print("prev:"..string.char(prevcharcode).." curr:"..string.char(charcode).." pen_x:"..pen_x.." kern:"..kern)
 				buffer:addblitFrom(glyph.bb, x + pen_x + glyph.l, y - glyph.t, 0, 0, glyph.bb:getWidth(), glyph.bb:getHeight())
 			else
+				--print(" curr:"..string.char(charcode))
 				buffer:blitFrom(glyph.bb, x + pen_x + glyph.l, y - glyph.t, 0, 0, glyph.bb:getWidth(), glyph.bb:getHeight())
 			end
 			pen_x = pen_x + glyph.ax
diff --git a/rendertext_example.lua b/rendertext_example.lua
index 12dbf524d..428dda716 100755
--- a/rendertext_example.lua
+++ b/rendertext_example.lua
@@ -6,19 +6,28 @@ fb = einkfb.open("/dev/fb0")
 width, height = fb:getSize()
 
 print("open")
-
-face = freetype.newBuiltinFace("sans", 64)
---face = freetype.newFace("test.ttf", 64)
+size = 50
+--face = freetype.newBuiltinFace("sans", 64)
+face = freetype.newFace("/usr/share/fonts/truetype/ttf-dejavu/DejaVuSans.ttf", size)
 print("got face")
 
 if face:hasKerning() then
 	print("has kerning")
 end
 
-fb.bb:paintRect(1,1,599,300,7);
+width, height = fb:getSize()
+fb.bb:paintRect(5,5,width-5,height-5,4);
 
-renderUtf8Text(fb.bb, 100, 100, face, "h", "AV T.T: gxyt!", true)
-renderUtf8Text(fb.bb, 100, 200, face, "h", "AV T.T: gxyt!", false)
+faceHeight, faceAscender = face:getHeightAndAscender();
+print("face height:"..tostring(faceHeight).." - ascender:"..faceAscender)
+faceHeight = math.ceil(faceHeight)
+faceAscender = math.ceil(faceAscender)
+print("face height:"..tostring(faceHeight).." - ascender:"..faceAscender)
+
+posY = 5 + faceAscender
+renderUtf8Text(fb.bb, 5, posY, face, "h", "AV T.T: gxyt!", true)
+posY = posY + faceHeight
+renderUtf8Text(fb.bb, 5, posY, face, "h2", "AV T.T: gxyt!", false)
 
 fb:refresh()