Do You Like Type

Or do you love it?

Fonts have traits, character, even spirit. Wichita University ran a psychological study on how people "feel" about typefaces.

" This study sought to determine if certain personalities and uses are associated with various fonts. Using an online survey, participants rated the personality of 20 fonts using 15 adjective pairs. In addition, participants viewed the same 20 fonts and selected which uses were most appropriate.

Results suggested that personality traits are indeed attributed to fonts based on their design family (Serif, Sans-Serif, Modern, Monospace, Script/Funny) and are associated with appropriate uses.

Implications of these results to the design of online materials and websites are discussed."

Personality of Fonts




For instance when it came to business documents, 78.2% chose Times New Roman, 75.6 thought Cambria was appropriate, while only 5.3% wanted their attorney to use Gigi.


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Curly Quotes be gone

Stop them up front

Word, by default, uses curly (“ ”) rather than straight quotes(" ").

Here's an article that shows how to go into Word options and turn this Auto feature off.

Next we need to turn off Moe and Larry




Curly quotes


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Font Lister

A look see

I haven't seen, lately, how many fonts you can have on a machine, but I know it's a lot more than earlier versions.

Here is a free download that will create an HTML file that will show all the fonts installed on your computer.

"Using FontList, you can change the predefined sample text, exclude seldom used fonts from the list and change the path for the HTML file.

In your browser, you can change the style of a font and zoom in on a font. You can also view the character map of a font. And, for some, maybe the most important feature, you can create a print out of all your fonts.

FontList


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Bad Typography

Ugly when you look close

"From the company that popularized Arial, here are three examples of bad typography in Microsoft Word.
Bad typesetting in Word finds its way into résumés, business plans, research papers, government documents, even published books.
These small inconsistencies and imperfections may be un-noticeable in small doses, but paragraph-after-paragraph they stack up-resulting in ugly, visually in-cohesive documents.
Word isn’t for professional typography work, but that's no excuse for these typography sins.

Arial:



Garamond



Here's one that shows it can be done right:

BatangChe





Examples of Bad Typography


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Slashed Zero

Oh!

ø

There is a discussion of the slashed zero at:
How to Insert a Slashed Zero (0 Overlaid with a /)

You can also download the Monaco font that has a slashed ø
(Monaco is an embeddable font)

Andale.ttf (Mono) has a dotted 0

Seagullscientific.com has a font called Crystal

Windows has a free font editor. Type eudcedit on the Start>Run line.
Vic Laurie has a description of the Private Character Editor- Eudcedit

You could also use the EQ field to create a strike through and assign it to an AutoCorrect entry.

{EQ \o (0,/)}

The easiest is, probably Alt+0216 or Alt+0248 It's a Latin "oh" with stroke, but it looks close.

The HTML character code is ø ø


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Font Properties Plus

Everything you need to know

To embed a font in a document or slide show so it can be displayed on any other machine, the font must support that action. The standard Windows properties statement does not show all the needed information.

The bottom of this illustration shows the standard information shown when you right-click a font file, and choose properties. The two views at the top are what appear when the Microsoft Font properties extension is installed.




If you right click on a font file in Windows its basic properties are displayed. The Font properties extension adds several new property tabs to this properties dialog box. These include information relating to font origination and copyright, the type sizes to which hinting and smoothing are applied, and the code pages supported by extended character sets.

It also will tell you if the font can be embedded and/or edited in a document.

---

Protected

The font may not be embedded, copied, or modified. If you use a protected font in a document and if the document is opened on a computer that does not have the font installed on it, a font substitution occurs. Word substitutes the closest font available on the computer for the missing protected font.

Print/Preview

The font is embedded and temporarily loaded on the target computer. Documents that contain print/preview fonts must be opened read-only, and no edits are stored in the document. Embedding a font of this nature has the least impact on file size increase.

Editable

The font behaves just like the print/preview fonts, except that you may also apply the font to other text in the same document.

Installable

The font is installed on the target computer permanently when you open the document. This allows you to use the new fonts as if you installed the fonts directly into Windows yourself. This type of embedded font has the greatest impact on file size because the entire font or fonts are included with the document.

Versionand Features tabs

The Version tab includes version and date information. The Features tab describes the font in terms of number of glyphs, number of kerning pairs, the possible existence of a euro symbol and the presence of embedded bitmaps within the font.

Linkstab

If a font doesn't include a Web site URL, but does include a 'vendor ID code' a link will be provided to Microsoft's font vendor database.

Font properties extension, version 2.3
(32-bit only)


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Overbar

So far to go

Here's how to inset an overbar or macron, Ā, in Word.

Overbar


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Long Bar

So far to go

Here's how to inset an overbar or macron, Ā, in Word.

Overbar


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Typography and Word

Shape and display

Here are some suggestions about how to make your text easier to read.

"Ever wonder why some text seems easier to read than others? A few basic formatting changes can make reading text much easier. Factors like line spacing, font choice, font size and margins are key to legibility. "

Office.Microsoft.com


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Unicode and Other Characters

Why's A 65?

Underlying the intriguing prose spread across the monitor screen are numbers and more numbers.

Joel Spolsky, a New York software developer has written a combination history/tutorial about this numeric-literary liason.

He calls it:

"The Absolute Minimum Every Software Developer Absolutely, Positively Must Know About Unicode and Character Sets (No Excuses!)"

Unicode and Character sets


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Who was that font I saw you with last night?

That was no font, that was my typeface

You can find the Fonts supplied with some Microsoft products
Select a product name from the list to get a list of fonts supplied with that product.

Microsoft's Typography is an interesting site to poke around in.

Here are some books I use for reference material:
Words into Type
by Marjorie E. Skillin, Robert Malcolm Gay ISBN 0139642625

Stop Stealing Sheep & Find Out How Type Works

by Erik Spiekermann, E.M Ginger ISBN 0201703394

The Elements of Typographic Style
by Robert Bringhurst ISBN 0881791326

"A font can be defined as a collection of characters with the same style and size. A typeface is the design of the characters regardless of size or style. The terms are used interchangeably today."

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Unicode

Index resource

"Have you ever tried to include a passage in a different alphabet in one of your documents, for example a quotation in Russian in an English document, only to find that you have no Cyrillic characters available? Or sent a Spanish document in electronic form to someone in Greece, only to be told that the accented Latin characters have been replaced by Greek characters? Or produced a Web page that includes technical symbols and found that it works with Windows but not with Mac OS or Unix?"

Alan Wood's Unicode Resources
—
Unicode fonts for Windows computers

From the Word Help file:

If you know the Unicode (hexadecimal) value of a character, you can use the ALT+X keyboard shortcut to enter the character directly in your document.

Type the Unicode (hexadecimal) value of the character. Press ALT+X.
Note: The value string can also begin with U+.

Microsoft Word replaces the string to the left of the insertion point with the character you specified.

You can also use ALT+X to display the Unicode character code for a particular character. Place the insertion point to the right of the character, and then press ALT+X. The character is replaced by its character code. Press ALT+X again to switch back to the character.

• Љ — Hex=0409
  
• א — Hex=05D0
  
• ئ — Hex=0626
  

Editorium.com:
How to use Unicode characters in Microsoft Word

Also see:
Unicode Fonts and Keyboard
—
Unicode Macros


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Special Characters

The other letters

• Ctrl+'
  Adds an acute accent to the character typed next

  Á

  
  
• Ctrl+'
  When followed by d or D, creates the old English character "eth"

  Ð

  
  
• Ctrl+`
  Adds a grave accent to the character typed next

  À

  
  
• Ctrl+^
  Adds a circumflex to the character typed next

  Â

  
  
• Ctrl+~
  Adds a tilde to the character typed next

  Ã

  
  
• Ctrl+:
  Adds a dieresis or umlaut to the character typed next

  Ä

  
  
• Ctrl+@
  Adds a degree symbol above the letters a and A; used primarily in Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish

  Å

  
  
• Ctrl+&
  Creates combination or Germanic characters based on the character typed next

  Æ

  or

  ß

  
  
• Ctrl+,
  Adds a cedilla to the character typed next

  Ç

  
  
• Ctrl+/
  Adds a slash through the letters o and O; used primarily in Danish and Norwegian

  Ø

  
  
• Alt+Ctrl+?
  Creates an inverted question mark

  ¿

  
  
• Alt+Ctrl+!
  Creates an inverted exclamation mark
  

  ¡

  
  

Also see: Word MVPS.org:
How can I insert special characters, such as dingbats and accented letters, in my document? Article contributed by Suzanne S. Barnhill


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Typography for the rest of us

Real world fonts

Choosing a type face can be fun, but also overwhelming.

You want to convey the message without obscuring the thoughts in an avalanche of weird shapes.

Cameron Moll has a web site/Blog called Authentic Boredom; his "platitudinous web home."

Recently he explored:

The non-typographer's guide to practical typeface selection

"I honestly believe typeface selection is one of the most transparent ways of detecting good - and bad - design. You can tell plenty about a designer merely by the typefaces he/she chooses. So you'd be wise to start with trusted faces, and you'd be even wiser to know something about the history of each typeface."

Also see:
Who was that font I saw you with last night?


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Kearning

More typography

At larger point sizes, it is aesthetically pleasing to move some letters closer together than they would normally appear. For instance, the word "To". The letter "o" can be nudged under the arm of the "T":

Kerning

Adjusting (increasing or decreasing) the space between adjoining type characters.

Kearning pair

Two adjoining type characters to which a particular kearning value is applied.

Kearning value

The space between two adjoining type characters. This value is usually measured in em.

From the Word Help file:

1. Select the text you want to change.
   
2. On the Format menu, click Font, and then click the Character Spacing tab.
   
3. Do one of the following:
   
   • Expand or condense space evenly between all the selected characters
     
     Click Expanded or Condensed in the Spacing box, and then specify how much space you want in the By box.
     
     
   • Kern characters that are above a particular point size
     
     Select the Kerning for fonts check box, and then enter the point size in the Points and above box.

Note: Selecting Expanded or Condensed alters the spacing between all selected letters by the same amount. Kerning alters the spacing between particular pairs of letters.

Microsoft Typography: A Disagreeably Facetious Type Glossary
WebStyleGuide.com: Webstyle Guide - Typography
About.com: Typography Tutorials
Typographica a journal of typography featuring news, observations, and open commentary on fonts and typographic design. Here's the RSS connection: Typographica Feed


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All Fonts

List maker

Here is a macro that will produce a list of all of the installed fonts.

1. Open Word.
   
2. Use Alt+F11 to open the Visual Basic editor.
   
3. Choose Insert>Module from the Menu.
   
4. Copy and Paste this code in the module.
   
5. Return to Word and go to: Tools>Macro>Macros.
6. Select and run "InstalledFonts".

Sub InstalledFonts()

Dim F As Integer
Dim InstalledFonts As Table

 'Open a fresh document

Set FreshDoc = Documents.Add

'Create a table and define the header

Set InstalledFonts = FreshDoc.Tables.Add(Selection.Range, FontNames.Count + 1, 2)
With InstalledFonts
.Borders.Enable = False
.Cell(1, 1).Range.Font.Name = "Arial"
.Cell(1, 1).Range.Font.Bold = 1
.Cell(1, 1).Range.InsertAfter "Font Name"
.Cell(1, 2).Range.Font.Bold = 1
.Cell(1, 2).Range.InsertAfter "Example"
End With

'Loop through all the fonts and add them to the table

For F = 1 To FontNames.Count
With InstalledFonts
.Cell(F + 1, 1).Range.Font.Name = "Arial"
.Cell(F + 1, 1).Range.Font.Size = 10
.Cell(F + 1, 1).Range.InsertAfter FontNames(F)
.Cell(F + 1, 2).Range.Font.Name = FontNames(F)
.Cell(F + 1, 2).Range.Font.Size = 10
.Cell(F + 1, 2).Range.InsertAfter "ABCDEFG abcdefg 1234567890 &$@"
End With
Next F
'Sort the names of the fonts

InstalledFonts.Sort SortOrder:=wdSortOrderAscending

End Sub

Also see a more sophisticated macro using Excel from Erlandsen Data Consulting: Display all installed fonts (Excel)


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