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J,

There are literally tens of thousands of fonts to choose from. But some are better at certain tasks than others. So, if you can tell us what kinds of fonts you are looking for what specific purposes -- book text, editorial or newspaper, email, faxing, etc., in what point sizes and reproduction methods, that would help.

I would not print them at any coarser than 600 dpi on a laser -- 1200 dpi would be sharper, look better and be more readable. For offset reproduction from electronic files, this is not an issue.

Generally choose conservative fonts from major, established foundries, such as Adobe, Monotype, Linotype, etc. for most purposes.

Decorative, typewriter, swash, script and oddball fonts, plus italic, boldface, condensed, script, and typewriter fonts are poor choices for general text. Use them lightly and wisely.

OK, that's a start -- but please get back to us with more detail on how these fonts are too be used.

Neil

      at 600 dpi (sometimes 300)




Few fonts hold up as well as ITC Galliard at those resolutions, in my opinion.

But, as Neil says, there's a lot more to choosing a font.

The point size is only one of several considerations you need to make. Any ITC font has a large x-height, so it looks larger. Script fonts in 10 point can look smaller than 4 point ITC Galliard, because they have long ascenders and descenders, and a small body (x-height).

As important for readablity is the length of the line (measure). It should be between 60 and 90 characters to a line. If you get much higher than this, and it will be hard to read the line without dragging your finger along it (like you did in grade four). Increased leading (space between lines) can help, but it is better to use a larger font.

I disagree with about half of that article, probably because it was talking about brochures, and you are doing documentation. That is like studying up on the digestive system when you have to do some brain surgery.

As Ramon says, there is a lot to choosing a font. We will help if you want. Others have posted links to pdfs of their plans, and we have critiqued them and offered suggestions.

> if you can tell us what kinds of fonts you are looking for what specific purposes ... in what point sizes and reproduction methods, that would help.

JTill did say he/she was a field technician writing documentation for fellow technicians in 10pt and that the documents are printed on an office printer at 600dpi and may subsequently be photocopied, so I think that's enough to make a few recommendations.

Basically, JTill, I'd say you want a font that has a reasonable x-height and if you go for a serif font, you want one that isn't delicate (for want of a better word), because these suffer at 300dpi or when photocopying. As Ramon said, Galliard is an option. So are Palatino, Stone Serif, Warnock, and Slimbach.

If you want a sans serif face, perhaps look at Myriad, Stone Sans, Gill Sans, and Futura.

My recommendations would be PMN Caecelia (Adobe), FF Scala (Fontshop International) or ITC Charter, chunky slab serifs which hold up well under adverse printing conditions.

Thanks to all for your comments and suggestions. I'll be taking a look at the fonts suggested in the next several days.
J. Till