Learning how to diversify and maximize your font library can drastically expand your web design horizons. More fonts means more options at your fingertips in terms of creating text to compliment your website and graphics.
INTALLING NEW FONTS
Follow these easy steps to add new fonts to your computer library. In some cases, you might have to reboot or shut down running applications for the new fonts to appear in your imaging or text software.
FINDING FONTS
There are a gazillion sites on the Internet that offer both premium and free fonts for your web pages. Always read the licensing information and terms of use to ensure that you are allowed to use the fonts for commercial use. Stealing fonts is no different than stealing content or any other form of Copyright theft. Here are some great online sources for fonts.
 Fonts.com | Incredible selection of more than 8000 fonts of all types! |
| Fonts & Things | Collection of unusual freeware and shareware fonts. |
| Fonts Shop | The original independent source for fonts since 1989. |
| Wanted Fonts | A modern culmination for unique fonts on the web. |
| Divide by Zero | Unique collectiom of unique TrueType fonts created by Tom. |
| My Fonts | Find fonts, try fonts and buy fonts! |
| Font Freak | Thousands of free fonts from over 300 authors. |
| Cool Fonts | Large collection of freeware fonts. Huge database. |
| Font Haus | Very popular store for name brand fonts on the Internet. |
| Garage Fonts | Fonts created by type designers from around the globe. |
FONT TOOLS
Here are some great tools you can use to create, edit and manage fonts.
| The Font Thing | | This awesome freeware program is great for managing your fonts. Browse, print, search and view your fonts with ease. | |
| Font Lab | | Want to get those creative juices flowing? Create and edit your very own fonts with the world's most powerful font editor. | |
| Type Tool | | This editor is the light-weight version of Font Lab. All of the basic tasks made easy. Make, create and edit new fonts. | |
| The Font Creator Program | | Great tool for the average user. Create, edit, import and convert TrueType fonts with ease. Point and click toolbar. | |
| Acute Systems - CrossFont | | This Windows program can convert your TrueType and PostScript Type 1 fonts from PC to Macintosh and vise versa. | |
| Font Lister | | This font management software is great for finding, searching anf organizing your fonts. Nice and efficient application. | |
IMPORTANT NOTES
Always take the time to read licensing terms before downloading any fonts to your computer. You must have permission from the creator or distributor of each respective font to avoid any copyright violations.
It is recommended that you do not use more than one font management software at a time on your computer. Some font managers can at times conflict with each other.
Try not to exceed a total of about 175 TrueType fonts on your computer at any one given time. Too many fonts might cause some applications to malfunction.
Always backup your font library! In the event of a system crash or a new Windows installation, you will lose all your custom fonts. A safe copy would avoid the hassle of scouring the web for lost fonts.
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