If the system font is too big, on some platforms the application is not rendering well out of the box - especially text is getting out of the editing fields.

If you encounter such a case and you are not using Gnome as a Desktop Environment you can edit the file ${certivity_home}/etc/config/certificates.conf and under the option default_options modify the parameter --fontsize <size>.

The default out of the box value for size is 11 points at a 72 DPI .

If you are using Linux and Gnome as a Desktop Environment, the default GTK Look and Feel is ignoring the font size specified via the Java command line arguments, as well as any possibility of specifying the font from Java. If this is your case, the options you have are either to set the Gnome system font size to a smaller value or to use the Metal Look and Feel.

To change the font settings in Gnome, use the appropriate menu item in the Gnome menus. The menus differ depending on the OS distribution and version. In recent Gnome releases, it is usually: System > Preferences > Appearance, tab Fonts, row Application font, for the  font  size continuing with the  Details section from the same Fonts  tab, then  Resolution  box for the DPI if needed.

You can switch to the Metal or Motif Look and Feels by editing the file ${certivity_home}/etc/config/certificates.conf and adding under the option default_options the parameter --laf javax.swing.plaf.metal.MetalLookAndFeel.