Print Fonts Vs. Web Fonts
There are hundreds of different font designs available that serve for printing and for the web. Font choice is often based on the type of document you are creating; the font can alter the feel by making it fun, serious or elegant.
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Print Fonts
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Print fonts are designed to be easily read in a printed format, so any font that you choose in a word processing or publishing program has been created specifically for readability when printed out in hard copy. Print fonts are created based on dots for ease of printing. Fonts with narrow or more curved lines work better for printing a hard copy.
Web Fonts
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Web fonts are created and designed to be easily read if you are reading at your computer screen. Web fonts are created using square pixels for computer displays, the idea being that reading from a screen and reading from hard copy are different experiences for the eye so the font designs have to reflect that. Research shows (Bernard, Liao & Mills, International Journal of Human-Computer Studies) that this is not actually true and there were little or no differences in readability. However, anti-aliased text --in which the pixels appear smooth, as opposed to aliased text with jagged edges -- should appear smoother when seen on screen.
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Examples of Fonts
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Example of print fonts that are commonly used are Times New Roman and Arial. Examples of web fonts that are in common usage are Georgia and Verdana. Some fonts may just "look" better in print than they do on the screen and aesthetic considerations are best applied to font choices.
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References
- Photo Credit alphabet image by piki from Fotolia.com
