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OTHER TOPICS

• Distribution

• Format

• Glyphs

• Kerning Pairs

• Font Size

• Download Size

• Font Preview

• Site Icons

• Character Set

• Font Issues

Installing and Removing True Type Fonts in Windows

There are two ways of installing fonts - temporary and long-term.

Before you start installing fonts, you need to unpack the font from the font package (in ZIP format) that you downloaded. Double click on the ZIP file, select the TTF file and extract the font to a folder in your hard disk. While you are it, please read the text files that the designer included in the font package.

If you do not have a program that can handle the ZIP format, an evaluation copy of WinZip can be downloaded at WinZip.com.

Temporary Use of Fonts

You do not actually install fonts this way, you only load or open fonts for temporary use. This is advisable for fonts you seldom use.

To use a font temporarily:

Double click on the TTF file. This opens a preview of the font.

Leave it open or minimize it to the Windows task bar.

Open the program where you want to use the font and select the font from that program's font list. If the program is open prior to the opening of the font, you might have to close that program and then launch it again.

Close the font preview once you are through using the font. This makes the font unavailable to all programs from then on.

Installing and Removing Fonts in the Windows Font Folder
Although you can install and remove fonts from the Windows font folder, it is advisable to only install fonts that you use on a regular basis, or those required by Windows and other programs you installed in your computer. Windows has a limit on the number of fonts that you can install, which varies with versions of Windows.
To install a font in your computer:

Go to the Windows Control Panel.

Double click on Fonts. In Windows XP, you will find Fonts under the Appearance and Themes category.

On the File menu, click Install New Font.

Select the drive and folder that contains the fonts you want to install.

Select the font you want installed from the List of fonts. If you are installing more than one font, press and hold down the CTRL key and click on each font you want installed. Click on the OK button.
To remove a font from your computer:

Go to the Windows Control Panel.

Double click on Fonts. In Windows XP, you will find Fonts under the Appearance and Themes category.

Select the font you want to delete. If you intend to remove more than one font, press and hold down the CTRL key and click on each font you want removed.

Select Delete on the File menu.

Click on the Yes button in the delete font confirmation dialog box if you really wanted to delete the font. Otherwise, click on the No button.

Installing and Removing Postscript Type 1 Fonts in Windows

The procedure to install and remove Postscript Type 1 fonts in Windows is similar to installing True Type fonts. However, only Windows 2000 and Windows XP support Type 1 fonts, and only single master Type 1 fonts are supported. The Adobe Type Manager (ATM) is required for multiple master (MM) Type 1 fonts and by other Windows versions. You can download the free ATM Lite at Adobe.

Installing and Removing Open Type Fonts in Windows

The procedure to install and remove Open Type fonts in Windows is similar to installing True Type fonts. However, only Windows 2000 and Windows XP natively support Open Type fonts. You need to use the Adobe Type Manager (ATM) in other Windows versions. You can download the free ATM Lite at Adobe.

Terms Used in Font Preview Tooltips

Distribution is the release status of a font, either public domain, freeware, personal use only or shareware.

Public Domain fonts are not copyrighted, can be used for any purpose, can be redistributed in any manner, and can be modified without restriction. Only fonts specifically indicated as public domain in the documentation that accompanies the font or the font itself are considered public domain in this site.

Freeware fonts are copyrighted fonts that are freely available to everybody. However, the free use of the font is limited by most freeware font designers to personal or non-profit use. A written permission is required by most for commercial use, and, at times, a fee is also required. Distribution in internet sites might also require permission. Freeware fonts cannot be modified without permission. Fonts that are not specifically indicated as public domain, personal use only or shareware are considered by OFFSite as freeware fonts.

Personal Use Only are freeware fonts that are specifically restricted to personal and non-commercial use. Use of the font beyond the restriction should have the permission of the font designer.

Shareware are fonts that you are allowed to use for a specific time and which you are required to pay a license fee if you continue to use the font beyond the evaluation period. Most evaluation copy of shareware fonts are released "crippled" or with missing characters.

The format of the font, which is True Type, Postscript Type 1 or Open Type. True Type and Type 1 are in Windows format. The latest version of the Macintosh OS can now use True Type fonts for Windows. Open Type fonts are cross platform and can be used in both Windows and Macintosh PCs. In older Windows versions, Adobe Type Manager is required for you to be able to use Type 1 and Open Type fonts.

A glyph is the shape in a font that is used to represent a character code on screen or paper. The most common example of a glyph is a letter, but the symbols and shapes in a dingbats font are also glyphs. The number of glyphs shown in the tooltip does not always correspond to the actual number of characters in the font.

Kerning pair is the combinations of two characters where the horizontal space between them (known as kerning) has been modified to improve readability. The absence of kerning pairs does not necessarily mean that the font is badly designed. The number of defined kerning pairs in the font is shown in the tooltips.

Font size is the size of the font file in kilobyte. In Type 1 fonts, this represents the combined size of the outline file (PFB) and metrics file (PFM), and, if a multiple master, the multiple master metrics file (MMM) as well.

Download size is the size of the ZIP archive for download in kilobyte, which includes other files included by the font designer and by OFFSite.

Portions of the definition of glyph and kerning were taken from the alt.binaries.fonts FAQ

Font Previews

The font previews were created in Adobe Photoshop. The font name, or part of it if the font name is too long, is rendered using the font A in the size in points B indicated in the lower right corner of the font preview image. A 30% opacity drop shadow is also applied on the font preview.

Site Icons

The site uses two sets of icons, the designer icons and font icons .

The designer email icon signifies the availability of the font designer's email address, which you can use to contact the font designer if you wish to ask permission for the use of a font. You will see this icon under the font designer's name at the top of the page. This icon only appears on javascript enabled browsers to prevent the email address from being harvested by viruses and spammers' robots. The email address can also be found in a text file, FONTINFO.TXT, included in the font zip file you downloaded from this site.

The designer homepage icon provides you with a link to the font designer's home page. You will see this icon under the font designer's name at the top of the page. This icon only appears on javascript enabled browsers since a text link to the font designer's home page is shown right before the font previews in these browsers.

The font information icon shows relevant information on the particular font when you move the mouse pointer over the icon, such as co-designer, the design from which the font was based, if the font for download is located on another server, and so on. This icon appears only on javascript enabled browsers.

The character set icon signifies the availability of all the characters in the font. This icon appears only on javascript enabled browsers. See Character Set of the Font for details.

The true type font icon signifies the availability of the font in True Type for Windows font format and a click on this icon commences the download of that font. Moving the mouse pointer over this icon will show you the font format and the size of the font and the zip for download. However, this information is only available on javascript enabled browsers.

The postscript type 1 font icon signifies the availability of the font in Postscript Type 1 for Windows font format and a click on this icon commences the download of that font. Moving the mouse pointer over this icon will show you the font format and the size of the font and the zip for download. However, this information is only available on javascript enabled browsers.

The open type font icon signifies the availability of the font in Open Type font format and a click on this icon commences the download of that font. Moving the mouse pointer over this icon will show you the font format and the size of the font and the zip for download. However, this information is only available on javascript enabled browsers.

You will also see the new font icons and on fonts recently added to the font designer's page. The newly added fonts are presented first before other fonts. NEW is used in the fonts lists to indicate newly added fonts.

Character Set of the Font

To show the detail of a font, a rendering of all the characters in the font is provided. This was initially limited to non-alphanumeric fonts but now includes all fonts added since March 22, 2005. The character set icon below the font preview signifies the availablity of the character set preview for that font. However, the character set previews of fonts added since March 22, 2005 are located in another free webspace provider and it might not be available at all times.

The characters in the preview are presented individually in a box and arranged based on their Unicode - lower to higher. If the font contains a full character set, all glyphs in the 32-255 range are shown, including the reserved, empty and unused glyphs. Only the glyphs containing outlines are included in the preview for fonts with partial character set. Some fonts contain glyphs that are not assigned a Unicode, these glyphs are not included in the character set preview.

The character A contained in the glyph is usually rendered in 36 points. In some cases the font is rendered in a bigger font size to show the details of a font design.

The ASCII name B assigned to the glyph is located on the upper left corner of the character preview box. These are the alphabets, numbers, punctuations and symbols found in the keys of the keyboard. If this is present in the keyboard, the character assigned to the glyph can be generated by pressing the key.

The Unicode number in decimal notation C assigned to the glyph is located on the upper right corner of the character preview box. If the ASCII character assigned to the glyph does not appear in the keyboard, this can be used to generate the character shown in the preview. This is done by holding down the Alt key while typing the Unicode in decimal notation in the numeric keypad and preceded by a zero. For example, the key presses required to generate the letter A, whose Unicode in decimal notation is 65, through this method are Alt and 0-6-5 (excluding "-").

Font Issues

Some fonts that work perfectly well in other versions of Windows might not work on Windows XP. Regenerating the font in a font creation program like Fontlab and Fontographer, usually fixes this problem.

Only remove fonts from your Windows font folder that you are sure you installed yourself. Most fonts that were installed by softwares you use are necessary for their normal functioning.

Do not run a font renamer on the Windows font folder - your installed fonts.

A third-party font management program like Typograf, will make it easier for you to manage fonts in your computer.

The Adobe Type Manager is required in older Windows versions for you to be able to use Open Type and Postscript Type 1 fonts. The free ATM Lite is available at Adobe.

All fonts on this site are free fonts - public domain, freeware or shareware. However, some designers limit the free use of their fonts to personal non-commercial use. Please get in touch with the designer if you want to use a font you download from this site other than for personal use. Redistribution of these fonts might also require permission from the font designer.