PDF safe fonts
Standard Type 1 Fonts (Standard 14 Fonts)
Fourteen typefaces, known as the standard 14 fonts, have a special significance in PDF documents:
Times (v3) (in regular, italic, bold, and bold italic)
Courier (in regular, oblique, bold and bold oblique)
Helvetica (v3) (in regular, oblique, bold and bold oblique)
Symbol
Zapf Dingbats
These fonts are sometimes called the base fourteen fonts.[19] These fonts, or suitable substitute fonts with the same
metrics, should be available in most PDF readers, but they are not guaranteed to be available in the reader, and may
only display correctly if the system has them installed.[20] Fonts may be substituted if they are not embedded in a PDF.
Standard 14 PDF Fonts
March 19, 2014
PDF Format
The standard 14 PDF fonts – that can be referenced by name in a PDF document.
Base 14 Fonts: This is a set of 14 fonts that is supported by all PDF readers. These are true type fonts. Please use base
14 fonts listed below for the title and abstract pages of your Thesis/ Dissertation.
1. Courier Bold
8. Helvetica Regular
14. Zapf Dingbats
2. Courier Bold Oblique
9. Times Bold
✺❁❐❆ ✤❉■❇
3. Courier Oblique
10. Times Bold Italic
4. Courier Regular
11. Times Italic
❂❁▼▲
5. Helvetica Bold
12. Times Regular
6. Helvetica Bold Oblique
13. Symbol Σψµβολ
7. Helvetica Oblique
Fonts
When embedding fonts, subsetting is recommended to reduce the font information. Type 3 fonts, whether you
intended these to be in your PDFs or not, will increase the size of your file size significantly.
Web-safe fonts[edit]
Web-safe fonts are fonts likely to be present on a wide range of computer systems, and used by Web content
authors to increase the likelihood that content displays in their chosen font. If a visitor to a Web site does not have
the specified font, their browser tries to select a similar alternative, based on the author-specified fallback
fontsand generic families or it uses font substitution defined in the visitor's operating system.
Microsoft's Core fonts for the Web
Since being released under Microsoft's Core fonts for the Web program, Arial, Georgia, and Verdana have become three de facto
fonts of the Web. To ensure that all Web users had a basic set of fonts, Microsoft started the Core fonts for the
Web initiative in 1996 (terminated in 2002). Released fonts include:
-
Arial
Courier New
Times New Roman
Comic Sans
Impact
Georgia
Trebuchet
Webdings
- Verdana
— under an EULA that made them freely distributable but also limited some usage rights. Their high penetration rate has made them
a staple for Web designers. However, most Linux distributions don't include these fonts by default.
CSS2 attempted to increase the tools available to Web developers by adding font synthesis, improved font matching
and the ability to download remote fonts.[3]
Some CSS2 font properties were removed from CSS2.1 and later included in CSS3.[4][5]
Fallback fonts
Main article: Fallback font
The CSS specification allows for multiple fonts to be listed as fallback fonts.[6] In CSS, the font-family property
accepts a list of comma-separated font faces to use, like so:
font-family: Helvetica, "Nimbus Sans L", "Liberation Sans", Arial, sans-serif;
The first font specified is the preferred font. If this font is not available, the Web browser attempts to use the next
font in the list. If none of the fonts specified are found, the browser displays its default font. This same process also
happens on a per-character basis if the browser tries to display a character not present in the specified font.
Generic font families
To give Web designers some control over the appearance of fonts on their Web pages, even when the specified
fonts are not available, the CSS specification allows the use of several generic font families. These families are
designed to split fonts into several categories based on their general appearance. They are commonly specified as
the last in a series of fallback fonts, as a last resort in the event that none of the fonts specified by the author are
available. There are five generic families:
Sans-serif
Serif
Fonts that do not have decorative markings, or serifs, on their letters. These fonts
are often considered easier to read on screens.
Fonts that have decorative markings, or serifs, present on their characters. These
fonts are traditionally used in printed books.
Monospace
Fonts in which all characters are equally wide.
Cursive
Fonts that resemble cursive writing. These fonts may have a decorative appearance,
but they can be difficult to read at small sizes, so they are generally used sparingly.
Fantasy
Fonts that may contain symbols or other decorative properties, but still represent
the specified character.
CSS Web Safe Font Combinations
Commonly Used Font Combinations
The font-family property should hold several font names as a "fallback" system, to ensure
maximum compatibility between browsers/operating systems. If the browser does not
support the first font, it tries the next font.
Start with the font you want, and end with a generic family, to let the browser pick a
similar font in the generic family, if no other fonts are available:
Example
p {
font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;
}
Below are some commonly used font combinations, organized by generic family.
Serif Fonts
font-family
Example text
Georgia, serif
This is a heading
This is a paragraph
"Palatino Linotype", "Book Antiqua", Palatino,
serif
This is a heading
This is a paragraph
"Times New Roman", Times, serif
This is a heading
This is a paragraph
Sans-Serif Fonts
font-family
Example text
Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif
This is a heading
This is a paragraph
"Arial Black", Gadget, sans-serif
This is a heading
This is a paragraph
This is a heading
"Comic Sans MS", cursive, sans-serif
This is a paragraph
This is a heading
Impact, Charcoal, sans-serif
This is a paragraph
"Lucida Sans Unicode", "Lucida Grande", sans-serif
This is a heading
This is a paragraph
Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif
This is a heading
This is a paragraph
"Trebuchet MS", Helvetica, sans-serif
This is a heading
This is a paragraph
Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif
This is a heading
This is a paragraph
Monospace Fonts
font-family
Example text
"Courier New", Courier, monospace
This is a heading
This is a paragraph
"Lucida Console", Monaco, monospace
This is a heading
This is a paragraph
Tip: Also check out all available Google Fonts and how to use them.
