Silly question ?
Josiah Jenkins
A font used on a page won't render as intended unless the user
has that font installed on his/her computer.
That I can fully appreciate.
But why can't a specific font, say a Script, Gothic or Headline one
be served (right word ?) in the same way as an image is ?
ie It's uploaded along with the page which contains an
<a href="font/script">Handwritten Effect</a> in the HTML ?
I realise there could be copyright problems with certain fonts
but is there a technical reason ?
Just curious.
--
C A Upsdell
Some browsers support downloadable fonts, wherein a font file is
downloaded from the server to the browser. Browser support is uneven,
and different browsers support different font formats.
Here's a Wikipedia link you may find helpful:
David Stone
Josiah Jenkins <josiah-jenkins@somewhere_else.invalid> wrote:
> As far as I understand.
>
> A font used on a page won't render as intended unless the user
> has that font installed on his/her computer.
> That I can fully appreciate.
>
> But why can't a specific font, say a Script, Gothic or Headline one
> be served (right word ?) in the same way as an image is ?
>
> ie It's uploaded along with the page which contains an
> <a href="font/script">Handwritten Effect</a> in the HTML ?
You mean like CSS 3 @font-face?
http://www.w3.org/TR/css3-fonts/
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/cssatten
https://developer.mozilla.org/index.php?title=En/CSS/%40font-face
> I realise there could be copyright problems with certain fonts
> but is there a technical reason ?
The following gives some things to think about:
http://paulirish.com/2009/bulletproof-font-face-implementation-syntax/
Josiah Jenkins
<no.e...@domain.invalid> wrote:
> Josiah Jenkins <josiah-jenkins@somewhere_else.invalid> wrote:
>
>>
>> But why can't a specific font, say a Script, Gothic or Headline one
>> be served (right word ?) in the same way as an image is ?
>>
>> ie It's uploaded along with the page which contains an
>> <a href="font/script">Handwritten Effect</a> in the HTML ?
>
>You mean like CSS 3 @font-face?
>
>http://www.w3.org/TR/css3-fonts/
>http://www.alistapart.com/articles/cssatten
>https://developer.mozilla.org/index.php?title=En/CSS/%40font-face
>
>
>http://paulirish.com/2009/bulletproof-font-face-implementation-syntax/
Interesting stuff, I'll have a proper read at those later.
Thanks for the URLs.
--
Josiah Jenkins
wrote:
>Josiah Jenkins wrote:
>>
>> But why can't a specific font, say a Script, Gothic or Headline one
>> be served (right word ?) in the same way as an image is ?
>
>downloaded from the server to the browser. Browser support is uneven,
>and different browsers support different font formats.
>
>Here's a Wikipedia link you may find helpful:
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Font-face
Thanks for that.
Might be something to play with on a cold Winter night.
--
Lars Eighner
lovely and talented Josiah Jenkins broadcast on
comp.infosystems.www.authoring.stylesheets:
> As far as I understand.
> A font used on a page won't render as intended unless the user
> has that font installed on his/her computer.
> That I can fully appreciate.
> But why can't a specific font, say a Script, Gothic or Headline one
> be served (right word ?) in the same way as an image is ?
Well, of course, it *could*, but why hasn't it been done, and why might it
not be done.
First, let me point out that many people do not use the word "font"
correctly. A font is one complete set of characters of one style and size.
The "complete" there needs an asterisk because it only means all the
characters supplied in the font, not every possible character known to
humankind. With scalable fonts, the requirement of size goes by the
wayside, but not all fonts are scalable. The style thing is a sticking
point. Generally, bold is a different font from "normal," and italic is
also a different font. Some faking is possible. Instead of italic, a
computer can oblique the normal font --- which only occasionally looks good,
and so forth with fakes for bold. Since some elements, such as CITE,
default to italic, what should the browser do when it has downloaded one
font but runs into CITE?
Second, I don't recall a browser having access to a font that was not
installed on the platform. Is that possible? I have had fonts on the
platform that the browser did not grok, but not vice versa. It seems to me
that giving browsers the right to install fonts on the platform willy-nilly
would be a big can of worms, espcially as some fonts require various
servers. With many/most people these days it is not so much that
downloading the fonts is burdensome (for most people) but mucking up the
platform with a bunch of possibly one-time fonts is not a great idea.
Moreover, fonts are not drop-in compatible with all GUI platforms and there
is always some proprietary a-hole (Hi, Bill!) who will try to muck up any
such scheme.
> ie It's uploaded along with the page which contains an
><a href="font/script">Handwritten Effect</a> in the HTML ?
> I realise there could be copyright problems with certain fonts
> but is there a technical reason ?
> Just curious.
> --
Your sig separator is broken. It must be hyphen-hyphen-space-newline,
not hyphen-hyphen-newline.
> http://www.ian-stewart.eu
--
Lars Eighner <http://larseighner.com/> September 5925, 1993
303 days since Rick Warren prayed over Bush's third term.
Obama: No hope, no change, more of the same. Yes, he can, but no, he won't.
C A Upsdell
> Second, I don't recall a browser having access to a font that was not
> installed on the platform. Is that possible?
Did you not bother reading the other responses to the OP's question? If
you had, you would have learned that it *is* possible.
A font of knowledge you are not.
Josiah Jenkins
<use...@larseighner.com> wrote:
>Josiah Jenkins broadcast
>
<sniP>
>> . . . why can't a specific font, say a Script, Gothic or Headline one
>> be served (right word ?) in the same way as an image is ?
>
>correctly. A font is one complete set of characters of one style and size.
OK, if you prefer, a font set . . .
>
>Second, I don't recall a browser having access to a font that was not
>installed on the platform. Is that possible?
It would appear to be (within limits).
Almost certainly none of the graphics, photographs or .pdf files used
on my webpages already reside on your platform and they're only on my
ISP's server because I uploaded them. I almost certainly have font
sets on my HD (not necessarily installed) which you will not have.
Someone such as Dorayme (using a mac) will have fonts which I don't
have and they may not even work on my system ?
(using Windoze, mine are 'true type', 'open type' or 'raster')
>
> It seems to me that giving browsers the right to install fonts on the
>platform willy-nilly would be a big can of worms,
I'm not suggesting they are 'installed'. None of the graphics, photos,
etc on/in a webpage end up on your platform (unless, of course, you
choose to 'save as')
>
>With many/most people these days it is not so much that
>downloading the fonts is burdensome (for most people) but mucking up the
>platform with a bunch of possibly one-time fonts is not a great idea.
I think we're at cross-purposes. Apologies if my terminology is
incorrect but I'm talking about 'serving' (along with a web page) not
permanantly 'installing' on the user's HD.
>
>Moreover, fonts are not drop-in compatible with all GUI platforms
Because, from what I've read from the other links supplied, because
(as usual) no common standard could be agreed on.
>
>Your sig separator is broken. It must be hyphen-hyphen-space-newline,
>not hyphen-hyphen-newline.
Thanks, I think that's now sorted.
--
http://www.ian-stewart.eu