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Q. Which fonts can I use?
A.
There are thousands of TrueType fonts available and most of these can be embedded within Web pages using Microsoft Web Embedding Fonts Tool. However, WEFT will not let you embed certain categories of font such as 'no embedding' fonts, those that contain serious errors, 'font may be broken' and fonts that don't comply with certain parts of the TrueType specification, 'font needs repair'.
Q. What are the different levels of font embedding?
A. TrueType fonts have embedding permissions encoded within them. There are four levels of embedding.
- A small proportion of available fonts have their embedding permissions set to no embedding. The creators of these fonts have decided not to allow embedding. Some foundries set their fonts to no embedding but offer upgrades to embeddable versions. If you come across a no embedding font that you would really like to use, contact the supplier, and ask about a possible upgrade.
If a font doesn't contain a correctly coded value for it's embedding permissions it will always be treated as a no-embedding font.
- Print and preview fonts may be embedded, but only within pages that remain static on the client side. If a page allows client-side interaction that results in content displayed using the font changing, then 'editable' or 'installable' fonts must be used. An example of such a page may be one that contains an inline JScript based word processor, or e-mail editor.
- Editable fonts may be embedded using WEFT without the restrictions imposed on 'Print and preview' fonts.
- Installable fonts are treated as editable fonts by Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0. Installable fonts will not be installed in your visitors fonts folder. The main reason for this is that during the course of a users Web travels they could easily find their fonts folder stuffed up with hundreds of full and subsetted fonts that they do not want or need.
Q. Why do foundries make 'no embedding' fonts?
A. Type foundries set the embedding level of their fonts to 'no embedding' for one of two reasons.
- They may decide that the ability to embed a font is extra functionality that should be charged for. In this case they will usually offer an upgrade path to an embeddable version.
- They may be concerned about the illegal extraction and reuse of font outlines from embedded font objects or portable documents. Those within the font industry accept that embedding mechanisms can never be 100% secure. Every previous embedding method that we're aware of has reportedly been cracked. However, most foundries believe that the advantages of offering embeddable fonts outweigh possible losses through hacking. Our approach is to improve font protection with each new release of WEFT, Internet Explorer and the Windows operating system. In this way we hope that the small number of foundries that oppose embedding will re-evaluate their policy.
Q. How can I check the embedding permissions of my fonts?
A. You can check the embedding permissions of any font using our free Microsoft Font Properties Extension. WEFT also has a font check feature that will report the permissions of fonts you have installed on your system.
Figure 1. the font properties extension.
You may come across very old TrueType fonts, or converted Macintosh TrueType fonts that do not have any embedding permissions encoded within them. WEFT treats these as a 'no embedding' fonts. In the unlikely event that you encounter such a font, your best option is to contact the foundry that created the font, and ask about an upgrade.
Q. Should I embed common core fonts like Arial or Times New Roman?
A. WEFT will identify common fonts that your readers are likely to have installed. These include Windows core fonts like Arial, Times New Roman and Courier New. You can still embed these fonts, however Internet Explorer 4.0 will download, decompress and temporarily install font objects even if the real font is present on the user's computer.
The current version of WEFT does not identify the fonts supplied with Internet Explorer 4.0 as common core fonts. Users who have installed Internet Explorer 4.0 will have added Verdana, Comic Sans MS, Arial Black, Impact and Webdings to their system. Although it is possible that a few users might remove these fonts from their system, we do not recommend that you embed them.
this page was last updated 9 December 1998
© 1998 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
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