Can I add a Open Type font to VSD? -...

Feb 5th, 2010 at 07:37 PM
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Lucie C
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56 posts

Hi!

I would like to add an Open Type font to VSD. I used the font to create the logo but I would use it also as text for the welcome header. The font is Pizzicato. I could even purchase it again as True Type if it helps.

Thanks for your help.
Lucie
Lucie
Feb 5th, 2010 at 07:44 PM
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Spinny
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The problem is it won't display in that font to anyone viewing your web page unless they have it installed on their computer, too. You're better off sticking with web-safe fonts, or exporting the text as an image (but then search bots can't read it unless you supply alt text).
"You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline - it helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer." -- Frank Zappa

Visit Spinland Studios: http://www.spinland.biz
Feb 5th, 2010 at 07:59 PM
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Bruzer
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Hi Lucie,
another option would be to use Website Font to convert it to flash, However I'm not sure it can convert open type fonts. You could then use the font as text but it would require you to use the html tool to add it to your page http://kellyinfo.com/MyFiles/tutorials/WSFP.html

http://kellyinfo.com/MyFiles/tutorials/WebsiteFontInVSD.html




Feb 5th, 2010 at 08:44 PM
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Lucie C
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56 posts

Well hello there Bruzer :)

Using Website Font would be a good option but lots of work compared to exporting as image, which I already did and it looks really good (although I will have the problem mentioned by Spinny). Would the flash font have the .swf extension?

Spinny, I understand what you mean and it makes a lot of sense.

However I don't understand this part of your reply:
(but then search bots can't read it unless you supply alt text).

Lucie

Lucie
Feb 5th, 2010 at 09:04 PM
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Spinny
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Lucie, search bots can only read text, so text-as-image will be invisible to them. One thing that can help (and every image in a web page should have this anyway) is to give the image an alt tag, which links text to the image. I make the alt tag's text the same as the text in the image, so both vision-impaired people and search bots can read it.

Here's an explanation of the alt tag:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alt_attribute

VSD has an entry box where you can enter the text.
"You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline - it helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer." -- Frank Zappa

Visit Spinland Studios: http://www.spinland.biz
Feb 6th, 2010 at 03:51 PM
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Lucie C
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56 posts

Spinny,

Thank you very much for your help. I'll have to read over this article again. I don't understand everything but I think I get it.
I'll use the text-as-image, it's the easier way to go. The text is repeated elsewhere in the page a couple times anyway so I guess search bots will catch it somehow.

Thanks again.
Lucie
Feb 6th, 2010 at 06:50 PM
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Spinny
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Lucie, this thread includes detailed instructions on how you add alt text to images in VSD:

https://www.coffeecup.com/forums/design … or-images/

It's really a good idea for every image on a page to have alt text. For the vision-impaired the alt text is what is read by their text-to-speech readers, and it is also what gets displayed by any web browser that can't (or doesn't) handle graphics for whatever reason--including the view search bots have on it. It's just good web design form always to include alt tags.
"You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline - it helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer." -- Frank Zappa

Visit Spinland Studios: http://www.spinland.biz
Feb 6th, 2010 at 07:23 PM
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Lucie C
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56 posts

Thanks Spinny, that was easy. I will include alt tags to all my images now for sure.
Lucie
Lucie
Feb 6th, 2010 at 07:33 PM
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Spinny
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Cool! Sorry if I got preachy, there. ;)
"You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline - it helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer." -- Frank Zappa

Visit Spinland Studios: http://www.spinland.biz
Feb 6th, 2010 at 07:49 PM
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Cary
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Lucie Crocker wrote:
Thanks Spinny, that was easy. I will include alt tags to all my images now for sure.
Lucie


But try to do so only when it makes sense. That is, all images should have at least an empty alt tag like the following:
<img src="corner.jpg" alt="" width="10" height="10">


Notice that that alt tag doesn't contain any text, which is why it's called an empty alt tag. You would use this for images that don't provide any important information. For example, you may have images used to give the look of rounded corners to some text boxes. Those corner images aren't important to visitors using screen-readers or text-browsers, so empty alt tags are fine.

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