For my site I want to invoke a fairly uncommon font for some brief (usually 1-2 word) title banners. One idea was to make image banners displaying the desired text.

Then I saw the application Website Font that lets you use flash to export a font so a machine that doesn't have that font installed can display the text as desired. It's a slightly involved process but not overwhelmingly complicated.

Then I ran across the Advanced Text Object feature. I put up some text in the desired font, jumped through the hoops to be able to check the appropriate box, and simply did not use any of the associated fancy features. I published the page last night and today I looked at it from two different machines that do not have the font installed, using IE and FF browsers, and it showed up perfectly. It was even in the HTML as text so it's searchable.

So, I have two questions:

1. Why is this not a preferable method to using Website Font and Flash for displaying special fonts--or is it?

2. Where is the actual font data being stored so the web page can display it?

Thanks!

1. Text replaced with a flash font is more flexible, easier to modify.

2. I'm not sure what you mean. VSD converts the font to an image.

Hmm. I was able to select the text as though it were still text, and it appeared in the page source as text within brackets. It really didn't seem like it were an image?

Check this out, if you would (the phrase at the top of the page should appear in the Papyrus font even when you don't have it installed):

http://www.spinland.biz/test

And the code snippet looks like this:



Isn't that just text with some formatting applied?

I looked in the directory on the server and just noticed there's a new file that wasn't there before I used the advanced text feature. It's called:

db.vsd_Spinland_Website.php

Spinland_Website being the name of the .vnu file in question. I'm wondering whether there is a connection, perhaps the info for displaying the font (and effects, if I had used any) properly might be contained therein?

You are correct. I thought you were using the feature where VSD converts the text to an image.



Actually, it only shows up for those who have Papyrus installed. For others, they will default to some other font.



Yep, notice this part here:

<span class="textstyle0">...</span>

All text within this span will be styled according to the .textstyle0 rule.

So, starting at about line 14 you have the following styling in the head of your html which styles the text it's applied to. I broke it into multiple lines so it's easier to read.

See, that's just it: that phrase showed today in Papyrus on two different computers that do not have that font installed! Somehow selecting advanced text allows the font to export to any computer without being a graphic. I think that's a great thing but don't understand how it's doing it.

Those computers are using an installed font. Your page provides nothing more than the font styling.

I'll have to double check them at work tomorrow but I never installed any fonts on either of them. They're military lab computers. I'd be amazed if Papyrus came stock with their XP installations. I had to pay for it to be on my home graphics machine.

Double post. I've been posting from my Blackberry and this forum has some issues with mobile browsers. :p

If you check the page with browsershots.org with a Linux browser you'll see the font doesn't show up.