css font stacks. what are font stacks? font stacks are about creating a relevant and comprehensive...
DESCRIPTION
Font stacks are about creating a relevant and comprehensive list of fall-back fonts.TRANSCRIPT
CSSFONT STACKS
What are font stacks?
Font stacks are about creating a relevant and comprehensive
list of fall-back fonts.
Font stacks should take into account aspect ratio, platforms,
operating systems etc.
A bad example
body{
font-family: Verdana, Arial,sans-serif;
}
What’s wrong here?
Problem 1:There are a limited number of
fallback fonts.
Problem 2:The fonts used may not be
available for all operating systems (eg. Windows, Mac, Linux).
Problem 3:The fonts used have different
“aspect ratios”
What is aspect ratio?
Some fonts, especially those specifically designed for screen, may appear wider and/or taller
than other fonts.
ax axVerdana @200pt Helvetica @200pt
This means that these fonts have a larger aspect ratio.
If you use fonts with different aspect ratio, some people may see your pages with a much
smaller font size than others.
body{
font-family: Verdana, Arial,sans-serif;
}
Larger aspect ratio
Smaller aspect ratio
Ideally, your font stacks should include a range of fonts that have
a similar aspect ratio.
The basic font stacks based on
aspect ratio
Wide sans-serif stack
eg:
VerdanaGeneva
Narrow sans-serif stack
eg:
TahomaArial
Helvetica
Wide serif stack
eg:
GeorgiaUtopia
Narrow serif stack
eg:
TimesTimes New Roman
Monospace stack
eg:
CourierCourier New
Some steps to creating a good
font stack
1. Pick the font you likeeg. Helvetica Neue
2. Determine which basic font-stack it belongs in
eg. Narrow sans-serif
3. Choose a preferred Linux variation and a highly available
variation
eg. DejaVu Sans - 90.76% availability on Linux URW Gothic L - 97.14% availability on Linux
4. Choose a preferred Macintosh variation and highly available
variation
eg. Helvetica Neue - 95.11% availability on Mac, Helvetica - 100.00% availability on Mac
5. Choose a preferred Windows variation and a highly available
variation
eg. Arial - 99.32% availability on Win, Microsoft Sans-serif - 99.71% availability on
Win
6. Include the generic font family
eg. sans-serif
7. Make sure fonts with white-space in names are wrapped in single or double
quotes.
(eg. “Microsoft Sans-serif”)
body{
font-family:"DejaVu Sans", "URW Gothic L", "Helvetica Neue”, Helvetica, Arial, "Microsoft Sans Serif", sans-serif;
}
A better font stack?
ResultsFont name
DejaVu Sans
URW Gothic L
Helvetica Neue
Helvetica
Arial
Microsoft Sans Serif
sans-serif
Windows
0.00%
0.00%
1.51%
7.08%
90.79%
0.62%
0.00%
Mac
0.00%
0.00%
95.11%
4.89%
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
Linux
90.76%
8.98%
0.00%
0.07%
0.13%
0.00%
0.06%
A great font-stack builder
Font stackhttp://www.codestyle.org/servlets/FontStack
Russ WeakleyMax Design
Site: maxdesign.com.auTwitter: twitter.com/russmaxdesignSlideshare: slideshare.net/maxdesignLinkedin: linkedin.com/in/russweakley