Re: FLASH: The real deal with fonts in flash??

[Cheri Harder]

And it would likely follow, then, that the Dingbat font Brody was using was,

in fact, a bitmap, huh!  But "most" fonts are not bitmaps?  I always felt

pretty safe with my fonts as is, but mayhaps I ought to be more careful.


So, I won't go experimenting after all, I'll go catch a few waning rays of

this wonderful sunshine.


Very well explained, Laura!


~~~~Cheri Harder~~~~~

charderawsolution [dot] com

Advantage Web Solution

www.awsolution.com

----- Original Message -----

From: "Laura Mollett" <

lmollettmindspring [dot] com

>

To: <

flasherchinwag [dot] com

>

Sent: Saturday, March 11, 2000 4:51 PM

Subject: Re: FLASH: The real deal with fonts in flash??



> > Cheri,

> > well the font didn't show up in the swf or fla..  The manual says this

...".

> > Type you create while authoring on one platform may not appear properly

on

> > other platforms; moreover, your audience must have the type's font

installed

> > for it to display properly, even on the same platform. "

> >

> > -brody

> > Now i'm confused...

>

> Ok, I see where you're getting this. That isn't a very well-written

section

> in the help files and it's confusing you. Trying again to explain:

>

> 1) In the authoring environment (the fla), you need to have the same fonts

> on both machines.

> 2) Flash provides either TrueType or PostScript fonts to the user by

> exporting what it calls font outlines. It does not export bitmap fonts.

> 3) You can check if Flash understands your font (and will export it

> properly) by checking View > Anti-alias fonts and seeing if the font gets

> "smooth". If the letters are still jagged, Flash doesn't understand your

> font (it's probably a bitmap). If you want to check *absolutely* if

someone

> can see your font, export the swf, remove the font from the system/font

> folder, reboot your computer if necessary, and open the swf. If it's still

> there, Flash got it fine.

> 4) You can make your Flash file smaller by *not* exporting fonts, but

using

> fonts available on the user's machine. If you use a lot of text, you might

> want to do this. You would put your text in a text field. Flash then

doesn't

> need to export the font outlines and it saves (relative amounts) of space.

> For normal text, Flash only exports the outlines of the specific

characters

> you are using.

> 5) A text *field* as opposed to a normal text box is a variable - used for

> text that needs to be changed, either by the user (as in filling out a

form)

> or by the creator (making text that writes itself as you go, like typing

on

> a page or a clock). If the "abc" button on the bottom of the toolbar is

> checked, you are creating a text field. If Flash doesn't know what text is

> specifically going in that field, it has to export the entire font in

order

> to use the font (every letter, and number etc.). This can be kind of a

heavy

> drain, so it offers the creator a choice. You can choose not to include

font

> outlines (this is how you make your swf smaller if you were using a lot of

> text), to include all font outlines, or to include specified font outlines

> (just the numbers for a clock, for example) including upper case, lower

> case, numbers, punctuation, or specific characters.

> 6) If you choose to *not* export Font outlines, you can choose from the

Font

> families (device fonts) _sans, _serif, or _typewriter, similar to the

choice

> you have in html.

> 7) Breaking apart text turns it into a graphic, so you don't save anything

> the same way you do when allowing the Font to be used from the viewer's

> computer. You need to break apart text to distort it for interesting

effects

> or whatever. Breaking apart text will ensure that it's seen the same on

all

> user's machines. However, you lose everything you gain from Flash's

ability

> to export fonts - especially if you use the same symbol more than one

time.

> It increases the load on the machine exponentially.

>

> hth,

> Laura

>




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