WEFT 2 overview

The Web Embedding Fonts Tool 'WEFT', lets Web authors create 'font objects' that are linked to their Web pages so that when an Internet Explorer user views the pages they'll see them displayed in the font style contained within the font object.

Figure 1. A screen capture of a Web page viewed in Internet Explorer. The page links to a number of font objects that are downloaded, cached, temporarily and privately installed and then used to render the text on the page.

Depending on which browser they are using and which fonts they have installed they will see the text displayed in either the second choice font specified by the page or their default font.

Figure 2. The same page viewed in a browser that doesn't support embedded fonts. Note that the text is displayed in the designer's second choice font, Microsoft's Comic Sans.

The tool takes all the hard work out of creating font objects and linking them to your Web pages.

Point WEFT at your site and it will analyze each page, building an accurate picture of their font usage. The tool will then create compressed font objects containing the required characters. Finally the tool adds code to your pages linking the font objects to them.

The font objects created by WEFT differ from traditional font files in a number of ways. The font objects are compressed and are usually subsetted so that they only contain the characters used by a particular site or page. This means that font object file sizes are much smaller than those of ordinary TrueType fonts.

The following pages describe these stages, additional functions and explain ways in which you can customize the tool's behavior.

In 1997 we released a public preview version of WEFT, to coincide with the launch of Microsoft Internet Explorer 4, This version of the tool has been downloaded by thousands of Web page designers, and their feedback formed the basis of the specification for WEFT 2.

We're now making a preview beta version of WEFT 2 available so that we can iron out the few remaining bugs before releasing a final version.

Our long-term plan is to get WEFT features built into popular Mac and Windows Web page authoring tools, and continue to provide WEFT as a free tool.



	Microsoft Typography \| ...on the Web \| ...embedding \| ...WEFT 2 \| WEFT 2 overview

		WEFT 2 overview What is font embedding for Web pages? The Web Embedding Fonts Tool 'WEFT', lets Web authors create 'font objects' that are linked to their Web pages so that when an Internet Explorer user views the pages they'll see them displayed in the font style contained within the font object. Figure 1. A screen capture of a Web page viewed in Internet Explorer. The page links to a number of font objects that are downloaded, cached, temporarily and privately installed and then used to render the text on the page. What happens if the person viewing the page doesn't have IE? Depending on which browser they are using and which fonts they have installed they will see the text displayed in either the second choice font specified by the page or their default font. Figure 2. The same page viewed in a browser that doesn't support embedded fonts. Note that the text is displayed in the designer's second choice font, Microsoft's Comic Sans. What does the WEFT tool do? The tool takes all the hard work out of creating font objects and linking them to your Web pages. Point WEFT at your site and it will analyze each page, building an accurate picture of their font usage. The tool will then create compressed font objects containing the required characters. Finally the tool adds code to your pages linking the font objects to them. The font objects created by WEFT differ from traditional font files in a number of ways. The font objects are compressed and are usually subsetted so that they only contain the characters used by a particular site or page. This means that font object file sizes are much smaller than those of ordinary TrueType fonts. The following pages describe these stages, additional functions and explain ways in which you can customize the tool's behavior. A brief history of WEFT In 1997 we released a public preview version of WEFT, to coincide with the launch of Microsoft Internet Explorer 4, This version of the tool has been downloaded by thousands of Web page designers, and their feedback formed the basis of the specification for WEFT 2. We're now making a preview beta version of WEFT 2 available so that we can iron out the few remaining bugs before releasing a final version. Our long-term plan is to get WEFT features built into popular Mac and Windows Web page authoring tools, and continue to provide WEFT as a free tool. this page was last updated 13 January 1999 © 1999 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Legal Notices. please e-mail comments to us via the e-mail address listed here.


	Microsoft Typography \| ...on the Web \| ...embedding \| ...WEFT 2 \| WEFT 2 overview