Extensis Launches Free Web Fonts

Extensis Launches Free Web Fonts Photoshop Plugin

The new plugin makes it possible to choose from thousands of web-safe fonts when designing sites in Photoshop.

Extensis is a software developer known for its Universal Type Server for server-based font management, Suitcase for single-user font management and the Portfolio suite for digital asset management. Last year it launched the WebINK service, with the goal of providing designers with the ability to employ a wide variety of commercial-grade fonts on their sites without worrying about supported font formats or font licensing issues. It offers several ways for users to manage their webfont collections, from an online interface or through WebINK features integrated into Suitcase Fusion, Extensis' single-user font-management solution. Using a preview feature in Suitcase Fusion, any page can be previewed without changes to the website code, to show how it would look using WebINK fonts.

WebINK's W3C standards-compliant implementation of the @font-face tag is said to include support for a wide variety of web browsers, including Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari and Google Chrome. Font formats such as TTF, EOT, WOFF and SVG are served to the appropriate browsers, allowing designers to focus on the design, rather than the technical details of making things work. The WebINK site makes available thousands of fonts, with full localization and French and German support. Users select the number of glyphs to include on a website — from the full font character set that supports a wide variety of languages, or if preferred, a subset of the font glyphs that includes only Western European or English characters. 

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fonts (class, styles) for new academic journal

I am involved with starting a new academic economics and finance journal. Thus, the world is our oyster---we can choose whatever looks we want to choose. Since I have a role, LaTeX is going to be our typesetting system.

Now, I want my authors to be able to install the latest TexLive and be able to format the article themselves, although we will do this for many of them. This means that I do not want any fonts or other required inputs that are proprietary, and that require anything unusual. It should work out of the box.

For fonts, I need a full complement of math with the text. cmr is out. Even though it is now scalable, it just has acquired too much of a "texy working paper" look at this point. I am thinking mathptmx. I also like the idea of sticking to one font for headings and text, if only because this won't create a garish amateurish look, and I can see myself committing a faux pas if I had to mix fonts. TUG lucida is out, not because it requires a purchase, but because it requires an installation. Would the TeX Gyre fonts offer some good suitable alternative to mathptmx? Again, I need something fairly complete.

What is considered to be the most sane BiBTeX bst format? (we use harvard.sty in economics.)

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Facing off with Fonts

This request from an author whose book I was coordinating a few years ago opened my eyes to the psychology of fonts. She wanted to send questionnaires to a bunch of people and, since she was far off in Russia, wanted me to do the sending.

“I find that this is a most readable font and people always reply when I send it in this font,” she explained.

That set me thinking about fonts and the visual persuasion strategy. Just as we respond better to some handwriting, is it true that we respond better to some fonts? Father Google said yes. 

And, just as handwriting can tell us a lot about the writer, can the computer fonts tell us anything about the person using them? 

Oh yes, said Father Google again, throwing an old study The psychology of Fonts, by Dr Aric Sigman, commissioned by Lexmark Printers, at me.

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Windows Vista, 7 - Install New Fonts And Manage

Windows 7 has a wide range of fonts but they are still not enough for some users. Unfortunately, a command for installing more fonts is not available in the font folder at first glance.

In order to configure fonts, click 'Appearance and Personalization' in the Control Panel and then 'Fonts'. In this view, every entry already has a mini preview of the relevant font.

There are several options for installing new font types. It is usually enough to copy the new font file into the folder 'C:\Windows\Fonts'. The disadvantage of this method is that only the file name and not the font name is later displayed in applications. It is thus better to select one of the following procedures: Open the folder with the desired font file in Windows Explorer. Right click the file entry and select the context command 'Install'. Even the preview window of the font type which opens on double clicking has an 'Install' button. A click on it integrates the font into the system.

The other option is to open the Fonts folder and press [Alt]. Windows then displays the menu bar. Click 'New Font' in the 'File' menu, navigate to where the new font is saved and open the file. (Works in Windows Vista)

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New Font Monarcha

Monarcha is a serifed type family with a baroque style influence. Its roman versions are slightly skewed and its italics have unusual calligraphic features. The contrast between thick and thin strokes is relatively smaller than in conventional serif fonts. These characteristics, coupled with its rounded shapes, give Monarcha a special fluidity and texture.

The family consists of 8 styles, 4 weights in Book, Regular, SemiBold and Bold, plus related italic versions. These OpenType format fonts have extended character sets to support Western European CE, Baltic and Turkish languages.

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Google Gets All Designy With Updated Homepage, Search Results And Free Fonts

Oh, so you thought Google was done after it rolled out Google+, Circles, Sparks, Huddle, and Hangouts? No, no, no. Google will be done when that’s Google-brand oxygen you’re breathing. This afternoon, the search giant’s rollout announcements have continued, as the official Google blog quietly declared (relatively speaking) that the Google Search page (and products across the Google empire) will be getting “a bit of a makeover” over the next few months. And there are new web fonts, too. OMGoogle!

Basically, these updates will focus on adding enhanced usability, cleaner design, and an improved UX to Google products. While these changes will roll out across all Google products, it looks like the focus will be on cleaning up Google Search, Maps, and Gmail. According to its blog, the intention behind this iterating is to succeed in “bringing forward the stuff that matters to you and getting all the other clutter out of the way”. But what does that mean? More specifically, Google will be adding bolder colors for actionable buttons, hiding those that aren’t essential until they’re actually needed, etc.

And, as you can see below, the results page will also be getting a bit of a new look. Users will find a new gray bar and a blue search button to highlight the search box at the top of the page. Oh, and how about a black navbar?

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Computer Arts mag redesigned

Computer Arts has introduced a host of new regular features and comes packed with extras that should strike joy into the hearts of designers everywhere.

The Design Manual is a new section packed with tips, shortcuts, insights and practical advice from leading pros to help you solve everyday design challenges.

The team has packed in a Photoshop Pro section that’s supported by five new pro video lessons for Photoshop, Indesign, Illustrator, After Effects and Flash as well as an HD documentary that takes you behind the scenes with exclusive footage and interviews at leading UK agency, The Partners.

This month’s magazine (#191) also includes the much-sought after, and long-awaited, volume two of “The Incredibly Useful Book for Creative Professionals”.

Last but not least, Computer Arts has also teamed up with Monotype to offer readers free commercial fonts worth £220.

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