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Re: Fonts for online documentation + Screen-font Trivia
Subject:Re: Fonts for online documentation + Screen-font Trivia From:"Rodney A. Hoiseth" <roth -at- GOL -dot- COM> Date:Sun, 23 Feb 1997 10:56:40 +0900
Following the thread attached to Susan Brown's question about fonts for
online documentation,
>>Hi, Hi!!
>>
>> Have there been any studies done about the preferred font(s) for
>>online documentation? (i.e. proportional, serifed, etc.) Do you have any
>>strong feelings/preferences??????
>
Susan Gallagher wrote:
>[snip]
>Microsoft says that MS Sans displays best because it was specifically
>designed for online use. I notice very little difference, tho, between
>MS Sans and Ariel. MS Sans is the norm for Windows. Apple uses a more
>thik-thin sans -- Geneva or New York??? -- sorry, I forget which.
>
For what it's worth, Geneva is the "default" sans screen font for most
programs for the Mac, New York the serifed one.
And Bob Bench wrote:
>[snip]
>... A few fonts have been designed for
>the ultra-low resolution of the typical monitor. Monotype has a set called
>enhanced screen quality fonts. Many (perhaps all) of these were
>commissioned by Microsoft. These include Arial, Gill Sans, Times New
>Roman, Baskerville and several others. I use Arial for body text in web
>pages because it looks good at small sizes and low resolutions, and it is
>available on every PC that runs windows. The details of serif fonts don't
>reproduce as well as sans serif fonts, so I don't use them for body text
>in online documents.
>
From the "Did you know...." file: Traditionally, Apple's "screen fonts"
(bitmapped/Quickdraw) have all had city names. Besides "Geneva" and "New
York", there are "London", "San Francisco", "Chicago" (the traditional
default for Finder elements), "Copenhagen", ..., etc. (You probably get the
picture ; >)
Some of them are pretty far out; e.g., have a look at "San Francisco" if
you get a chance.
Rodney
(in Hayama Japan)
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