Computer fonts are nothing more than electronic data coded on typeface which

assigns the shape of symbol, the way they are coded determines whether or not you
will be able to use it on a particular project, it also determines if you will be
able to expand or enlarge it in order to produce bigger images without distortion.
There are three main types of computer font formats used today, those are bitmap,
outline and stroke.

Bitmap fonts are printed and drawn in images which are made of pixels, the
computer deals with these fonts much faster than any other type but they are not
very flexible when it comes to resizing them to cover bigger models. Bitmap fonts
require a bigger image set for each font size.

Outline fonts are a bit heavier on the system because they rely on algorithms
which will allow it to render on the computer screen properly, because the
positioning and shape is determined by the code and algorithms these type of fonts
can be scaled to huge proportions without any problem.

Stroke fonts use the same mathematical formulas outline fonts do but these type
uses a series of lines in order to define a profile. Based on these three formats
several fonts and styles have been created in order to give text its own
personality. Writers can convey their emotions by the way fonts are used. Horror
story writers may use fonts which resemble those shown on "Buffy the Vampire
Slayer" in order to create expectation, Gothic fonts may be also used for this
type of projects since they were designed to convey fear and respect.

Those who write and design banners and billboard will need to use different font
styles, fonts which are readable and can deliver the message without it being
misread or misunderstood, that is why the Arial and Helvetica font types are
perfect for this kind of job. When documents are of a serious nature Arial and
Helvetica fonts are the way to go, however we not always want things to be
completely readable, that's why some fonts can be used in order to hide secret
messages, these change regular letters into symbols which can be changed back to
the original message by someone holding the same font patterns as the person who
wrote it.

Web designers may use a wide assortment of these fonts since every project is
different, sports, news, social sites, video sites, science sites are all
different and all require different font types which need to be rendered properly
on the end user's monitor, these styles are also part of what is known in web page
design as CSS or cascade style sheets.

The web is a great tool to acquire and test new ideas when it comes to fonts, but
remember to use the proper type according to each project as you simply shouldn't
use Gothic fonts to write a newspaper article, a good advice is to explore the
many variations made from Helvetica font types.

Or you can download 13,000 fonts for $19.95 at www.fontmountain.com