Fonts

webdesignunlimited

Oct 6 2005, 04:54 PM

I have made a website, and at the top of the page I have a title. I've used a font only found on Microsoft Office, and when I view it with a different computer, it doesn't show it as the same font! How do I make it viewable to people who don't have office?

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moonwitch

Oct 6 2005, 05:01 PM

Good question!

As for the answer : there is no easy way to do it. You have 4 choices.
- Make a graphic with the text so they can see it.

- Use a different font, preferably one that is found on all computers (declare a font family for this - it allows mac and linux users to see your specific font type as well)

- Put the ttf file on the site to download for the users, so they can see it. Be sure to then also explain why they need that file (this is the worst option really)

- Get WEFT and do it that way, it's unlikely it'll work, but still it is worth a try. I've tried using it, but since I used an external sylesheet etc it seemed to conflict a lot, and I wasn't the only user with that issue, so I gave up and just use standard fonts OR graphics.

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sickgrrl723

Oct 6 2005, 06:45 PM

i would say that the easiest way to solve this problem is to make a graphic file with the text in it... then just stick it where it needs to go on your page... that way, it shows up and you dont have to make your site viewers download anything...

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Quatrux

Oct 6 2005, 07:15 PM

well, making a site from images is lame, there is a way, somehow that you could sent a header which most modern browsers support, true type font header and path to.. this will make the loading slower, but I would not recommend this, besides why don't you use Sans and Verdana, those are the best fonts I found. And maybe people won't like your font, every user has set their custom fonts which they like best, the size and etc. so I think better not think about problems like that, just use nowrap if needed.

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measureless

Oct 7 2005, 06:47 AM

i'd say that sickgrrl723 upstairs has just gave you a good advice. please see the picture in the description area below the words

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hazeshow

Oct 7 2005, 10:25 AM

I do agree ... BUT ... if you put your content in an image, it can't br ead by search engines anymore. And it can't be 'watched' by blind people anymore! Ah yes, and it uses much more space (and so much more loading time).

So in my eyes the best solution would be a nice alternative font for the non Office users. One that kinda fits your needs and maybe looks a bit similar.

"<font face="rareofficefont, verdana, arial">"

Then at least the office users would be able to watch your website the way you want it to be watched. And the second font face you put there then would be a compromise for the non-office users.

GreetingZ

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twitch

Oct 7 2005, 03:34 PM

By web standards, you should only use the fonts that are universal. Any other fonts should be declared in the CSS, like so:
.exampletext {font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode', Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, sans-serif;
}

Then, those with Lucida Sans Unicode on their computers would see that text, if they didn't then they would see arial. If they didn't have that, then Helvetica and so on. Sans-serif is latin for without-follow (or something to that effect). Please note that if I have the sans-serif confused with serif, then shoot me. Becuase I deserve it.

WEFT is highly unstable and should be revoked and redone.

Supplying a font file for download, just to see the header correctly is the stupidest thing that anyone could do. It annoys the visitors having to download and install something that should appear properly in the first place.

Graphics are always the best bet, but remember, depending on the font and the font size, you might need to add anti-aliasing. Pixel fonts should never have anti-aliase, or it undermines their puprose.

The only final real alternative that would allow search engines to read it whilst still being an image would be GD. But as a PHP dunce and GD no-nothing, then I may be wrong.

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webdesignunlimited

Oct 7 2005, 07:48 PM

Thanks for your help guys!!