Creating a font for a website is no mean thing. Known to be one of the most complex designing tasks, web font creation calls for paying minute attention towards details and most importantly, maintaining a consistent approach throughout. For those who are not acquainted with website designing and the skills required for making webfonts can find a real ordeal tackling with the task. In these circumstances, instead of falling prey to the confusion, it is wise to select few stylish and attractive free web fonts that capture the interest level and also does justice to the purpose of the website.
For fontographers building their own webfonts or even seeking refinement than what the automated converters offer, a meticulously detailed approach is a wise move. Check out these important considerations that must be weighed properly when selecting fonts:
Font formats
This is important for starters in order to achieve quality browser compatibility. The font must be converted to at least four formats. These include primarily, Open web Font Format, Embedded Open Type Format, True Type (or Open Type) format and a Scalable Vector Graphic Format. Though there are plenty of font creation tools that support the formats and even allow them to be exported, but in the inability to do so, there are online conversion tools. The best thing about them is that many are free and one can choose the most ideal of the lot depending on their convenience and preference. Of course problems persist but all of them allow for some additional control over the look of the final product.
Unicode character support
Since the web creates different use cases than print, there is a high likelihood that one might need to extend the font’s glyph library so as to support more Unicode characters. If the font designing is meant for general purpose use and widespread distribution, it certainly means that few hundreds to thousands of new glyphs must be added.
Loss of kerning data
If there is any data that the font selected contains and is relates to character kerning, there is a high chance of it getting lost, especially when the webfonts are converted to certain web formats. All those long hours spent carefully calculating many of the font metrics will prove absolutely futile. To compensate, existing glyphs must be modified for bringing in proper scaling and spacing.
Font Outlining
If the font created is with PostScript outlines that most of the fonts use, the need for converting the font outlines to TrueType is felt. This is because a precise and clean font rendering is essential and that too at small sizes. Fonts are mostly created in a vector format and conversion of them results in loss of control data. Now if there are poor outline conversions, the end result is jagged fonts and larger file size.
The best thing in this regard would be to keep the font’s file size down to a respectable value. You can always visit the sites that stand out for free web fonts and get an idea of what you must do to enhance your site.
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