Using a specific font that the user may not have

[Stephen Tiller]

Hi Everybody

I am in the process of redesigning one of my websites However the new design has come from a graphic designer therefore this design has not taken in web considerations.

One of my problems is that the new design uses the font Myriad Pro. Am I correct in thinking that if the user does not have this specific font installed on their PC it will use the default font instead on their PC?

I am not sure, but I may have seen some research somewhere where you can "force" fonts through so that it will appear on the users PC as the font originally used independant of the user having the specific fonts on their PC or not.

I look forward to your answers.

Steve

[Robin_reala]

Fallback fonts in CSS are your answer. For example (assuming your main heading is in Myriad Pro):

h1 { font-family: "Myriad Pro", Verdana, sans-serif; }

This says "if Myriad Pro isn't available then use Verdana, and if that isn't available use the system's generic sans serif". Alternatively, you could look at something like SIFR. This Javascript library uses Flash to automatically build text in the typeface of your choice, although it really should be restricted to headers for performance reasons. Also, if you've only got a few headings you could choose to use images, although that incurs all the usual problems (inability to resize well, forced colour choices, etc etc).

[Matt Probert]

Am I correct in thinking that if the user does not have this specific font installed on their PC it will use the default font instead on their PC?

Yes.

You can never force any formating onto a client's browser. Keep that in mind!

Matt

[Robin_reala]

Yeah you can - you can do the whole page as an image :)

Of course, demons grow under your toenails if you do, so it might not be the best course of action.

[Lynque]

You could also do it in flash and...

Wait, same can of worms no?

Fall back fonts.
Robin - totally the way to go.