Website font & formatting?

Question

I just noticed that the font I built my webpages with does not show up on other peoples' computers. It is a specialized font. It looks beautiful on the webpages and I have formatted these pages perfectly with this font style and size.

I want to find a way to display my font and formatting. I think I can save the HTML files as .gifs or .jpgs and load them as images in a new webpage. Actually, I know I can do that. It will just take extra time.

But is it worth it to do that? Or will the formatting be totally screwed up on other peoples' computers if I do that? Even if it looks perfect on mine, the picture might be the wrong size for other peoples' computers. Is that right?

So I should just forget it and live with the fact that nobody except me will be able to see how great the website looks on my own computer.

Answer 1

Here's my tip...always use web fonts for most headers and your content text or most people call it your copy. Web fonts are usually Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet MS, Verdana, Tahoma, Geneva, Georgia, Times New Roman, etc....

Well does the ones I use..and just use one or two...and if you have to use more than one...make sure its for different reasons...

for nicer fonts that are not web fonts like Helvetica Neue, Cicle, or other nice clean fonts...use graphic replacement...if you know CSS then it should be a breeze...

http://www.alistapart.com/articles/dynatext/

or search http://www.alistapart.com or http://www.sitepoint.com/ for more help

heres a fast way...
create the header in photoshop..save it out as a gif/png (transparency) or jpg (if background is matching)

then in your code (if not using CSS), use
----------------------------------------------------
if you are using CSS...
in the CSS

h1.headername {
background: url(header.jpg) no-repeat;
width: auto;
display: block;
}

h1.headername span {
display:none;
}

and then in the HTML

Answer 2

There is a javascript code or some other css hack that can have your viewer download your font without them noticing, so they can view your webpage in that font. You can keep the font by making .gifs for your banners, but making a .gif out of your whole webpage is a no-no. It loses the interactivity of your page and users would not bother to come back. (What would happen if I wanted to copy some text?) It would be better to optimize your page in another common font such as arial, but it's still up to you. Also, your images won't be stretched or shrunk in different resolutions, it would just be bigger or smaller depending on the viewer's monitor resolution.

Answer 3

Using specialized fonts and formatting seems like a neat idea on the surface. It does violate the first web design rule:

Use generally accepted web design standards to ensure a consistent experience for the most visitors.

"Web standards" are used by professional web developers for this very reason.

My best advice to you is: Links, navigation W3C compliance, Fonts, etc. are among the plethora of standards that you NEED to adhere to.

For more info, thoroughly check out:

Answer 4

If you want to use a font that your users don't have on their system, you'll have to find some way to imbedd that font. The linked tutorial may help...

Answer 5

What may look good to you may look awful for some visitors. People are used to reading Sans Serif fonts while browsing online. While you may think it looks good, are you building the website to please yourself, or for your visitors?