Fonts - Where do they need to be

[bmdev]

Hello,

Our mgmt wants to use a font in some html pages that most users won't have on their machines. If we put that font on the web server and into the html, will the browsers display it correctly or would the browser machines need to have the font as well?

Thanks!!

 

[BillyRayPreachersSon]

The users machine would need the font as well. Consider one of these options:

1. Provide the font to the user for download (messy - who would bother?)

2. Use web fonts (not supported in all browsers, but would do the job)

3. Create images (either statically or dynamically with server-side code) using the font you want (sloppy - too much longer to download over regular text)

4. Specify your font using CSS, but then "backup" fonts in case the user doesn't have yours (yes!).. for example:

body {
   font-family: "Your Font Name", BackupFont1, "Backup Font 2", sans-serif;
}

Hope this helps,
Dan


[tt]D'ya think I got where I am today because I dress like Peter Pan here?[/tt]

 

[Vragabond]

As an addendum to Dan's complete post, you could embed the font and use that as the first option. IE supports embedding while other browsers I believe don't. However, by following Dan's suggestion, IE can show the embedded font, other browsers can look for that rare font, then go for another backup and at the end for the generic one. FAQs on how to embed fonts are here:

http://www.tek-tips.com/faqs.cfm?fid=1525

http://www.tek-tips.com/faqs.cfm?fid=4042

 

[ChrisHunt]

If you have Flash, you can use a technique called sIFR to replace plain HTML text with text in the font of your choice. See

http://www.mikeindustries.com/blog/archive/2005/02/sifr-2.0-release-candidate-4

-- Chris Hunt
Webmaster & Tragedian
Extra Connections Ltd

 

[johnwm]

If you're considering providing the font for download, be aware that most fonts are copyright and your license to use them does not extend to providing them for download.

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[bmdev]

Great answers! You guys saved me a bunch of work.

Thanks