OT: Outlined or shadowed font?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Terry Pinnell
  • Start date Start date
T

Terry Pinnell

This is not a PowerPoint query, but I'm hoping there may be used here
who know more about fonts than the little I know.

Can anyone recommend a good, clean outlined or shadowed font please?
Don't mind if I have to pay a modest price for it. I've visited many
sites and have installed scores of free fonts, but still haven't found
what I'm after.

This one, Imprint MT Shadow, is about the best so far. But as you see
from this example, it's very hard to see the third placement, 'On
fussy background'.
http://www.terrypin.dial.pipex.com/Images/FontRequired.jpg

Others I've tried are Caslon Openface BT, Colonna MT, Eras Contour,
Gunplay 3D, Hillock, Holiday, mumumu (sRB), SF Chromium 24 bold, etc.

Many others looked OK at first, but apart from visibility on a mixed
background I found a common flaw was that at sizes of 18 or smaller,
large gaps appeared between some characters.

There must be a font out there that's like say Arial, Verdana, Tahoma,
etc, but which has an easily visible black (or white) border or shadow
outside its white (or black) interior?
 
Terry,

I'm not sure what your question is?

Do you want a font that is visible on both dark and light backgrounds and
multicoloured backgrounds, but the font must be outlined or shadowed?

I don't think you will find such a thing.

If you watch the tricks they use on TV, either the background has been
shaded to a single colour, or the text is HUGE with very little wordage and
a big font size. I think you are trying to achieve the impossible.

Cheers
TAJ Simmons
microsoft powerpoint mvp

awesome - powerpoint backgrounds,
http://www.awesomebackgrounds.com
free powerpoint templates, tutorials, hints, tips and more...
 
Hi Terry

To make your outline font more readable choose a font with outline and solid
variations. You set the fill of the solid font (with something to contrast
against your background, or a semi transparent fill). Then you overlay the
outline font, over the top, with a different fill to give the effect you
want.

Also, if you choose a sans-serif font (like Arial, Helvetica, etc.) it will
be easier to read.

And, as TAJ Simmons says, bigger is better.

Good luck
-SuperPresentationMan

"Our PowerPoint Hero"
www.SuperPresentationMan.com

| Custom PowerPoint Template Design | PowerPoint Makeovers |
| PowerPoint Trouble Shooting | Custom PowerPoint Graphics & Clip Art |
| Into PowerPoint | Out of PowerPoint | SGI Showcase to PowerPoint |
 
Terry,
People always says "everything are possible and nothing is uncertain."

http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/5417/frontrequiredzj8.jpg

By using PowerPoint (robust program) if you cannot find Drawing bottom bar (right mouse click empty top menu bar and click Drawing
then choose Insert WordArt. And finally select your text and right click it and choose Format WordArt. Here you can change text to
your heart desires.The more you experiment the more you'll found what you want.

Good luck,
--Rino


This is not a PowerPoint query, but I'm hoping there may be used here
who know more about fonts than the little I know.

Can anyone recommend a good, clean outlined or shadowed font please?
Don't mind if I have to pay a modest price for it. I've visited many
sites and have installed scores of free fonts, but still haven't found
what I'm after.

This one, Imprint MT Shadow, is about the best so far. But as you see
from this example, it's very hard to see the third placement, 'On
fussy background'.
http://www.terrypin.dial.pipex.com/Images/FontRequired.jpg

Others I've tried are Caslon Openface BT, Colonna MT, Eras Contour,
Gunplay 3D, Hillock, Holiday, mumumu (sRB), SF Chromium 24 bold, etc.

Many others looked OK at first, but apart from visibility on a mixed
background I found a common flaw was that at sizes of 18 or smaller,
large gaps appeared between some characters.

There must be a font out there that's like say Arial, Verdana, Tahoma,
etc, but which has an easily visible black (or white) border or shadow
outside its white (or black) interior?
 
You can see more closely by moving your mouse inside the picture and click the square button at bottom right "Expand to regular
size."

Did you found what you want?
--Rino

Terry,
People always says "everything are possible and nothing is uncertain."

http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/5417/frontrequiredzj8.jpg

By using PowerPoint (robust program) if you cannot find Drawing bottom bar (right mouse click empty top menu bar and click Drawing
then choose Insert WordArt. And finally select your text and right click it and choose Format WordArt. Here you can change text to
your heart desires.The more you experiment the more you'll found what you want.

Good luck,
--Rino


This is not a PowerPoint query, but I'm hoping there may be used here
who know more about fonts than the little I know.

Can anyone recommend a good, clean outlined or shadowed font please?
Don't mind if I have to pay a modest price for it. I've visited many
sites and have installed scores of free fonts, but still haven't found
what I'm after.

This one, Imprint MT Shadow, is about the best so far. But as you see
from this example, it's very hard to see the third placement, 'On
fussy background'.
http://www.terrypin.dial.pipex.com/Images/FontRequired.jpg

Others I've tried are Caslon Openface BT, Colonna MT, Eras Contour,
Gunplay 3D, Hillock, Holiday, mumumu (sRB), SF Chromium 24 bold, etc.

Many others looked OK at first, but apart from visibility on a mixed
background I found a common flaw was that at sizes of 18 or smaller,
large gaps appeared between some characters.

There must be a font out there that's like say Arial, Verdana, Tahoma,
etc, but which has an easily visible black (or white) border or shadow
outside its white (or black) interior?
 
TAJ Simmons said:
Terry,

I'm not sure what your question is?
Click to expand...

Really?

"...clean outlined or shadowed font"

"...visibility on a mixed background"

"...an easily visible black (or white) border or shadow outside its
white (or black) interior?"
Do you want a font that is visible on both dark and light backgrounds and
multicoloured backgrounds, but the font must be outlined or shadowed?
Click to expand...

Er, yes... See above. And see the illustration I provided. And the
specific font examples I gave.
I don't think you will find such a thing.
Click to expand...

Eh? So what do you think the 8 examples I gave are? Or the additional
20 or so outlined/shadowed fonts I've installed? Or Imprint MT Shadow
in the screenshot that I took the trouble to prepare?

I've personally been unable to find a fully *satisfactory* type, as
described, and had hoped someone with font expertise here might be
able to point me towards one...
If you watch the tricks they use on TV, either the background has been
shaded to a single colour, or the text is HUGE with very little wordage and
a big font size. I think you are trying to achieve the impossible.

Cheers
TAJ Simmons
microsoft powerpoint mvp
Click to expand...

Incredible! An MVP, and you know even less than I do about Windows
fonts?
 
SuperPresentationMan said:
Hi Terry

To make your outline font more readable choose a font with outline and solid
variations. You set the fill of the solid font (with something to contrast
against your background, or a semi transparent fill). Then you overlay the
outline font, over the top, with a different fill to give the effect you
want.

Also, if you choose a sans-serif font (like Arial, Helvetica, etc.) it will
be easier to read.

And, as TAJ Simmons says, bigger is better.

Good luck
-SuperPresentationMan

"Our PowerPoint Hero"
www.SuperPresentationMan.com

| Custom PowerPoint Template Design | PowerPoint Makeovers |
| PowerPoint Trouble Shooting | Custom PowerPoint Graphics & Clip Art |
| Into PowerPoint | Out of PowerPoint | SGI Showcase to PowerPoint |
Click to expand...
Thanks - but I'm looking for a font, not a technique.
 
Terry,
People always says "everything are possible and nothing is uncertain."

http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/5417/frontrequiredzj8.jpg

By using PowerPoint (robust program) if you cannot find Drawing bottom bar (right mouse click empty top menu bar and click Drawing
then choose Insert WordArt. And finally select your text and right click it and choose Format WordArt. Here you can change text to
your heart desires.The more you experiment the more you'll found what you want.

Good luck,
--Rino


This is not a PowerPoint query, but I'm hoping there may be used here
who know more about fonts than the little I know.

Can anyone recommend a good, clean outlined or shadowed font please?
Don't mind if I have to pay a modest price for it. I've visited many
sites and have installed scores of free fonts, but still haven't found
what I'm after.

This one, Imprint MT Shadow, is about the best so far. But as you see
from this example, it's very hard to see the third placement, 'On
fussy background'.
http://www.terrypin.dial.pipex.com/Images/FontRequired.jpg

Others I've tried are Caslon Openface BT, Colonna MT, Eras Contour,
Gunplay 3D, Hillock, Holiday, mumumu (sRB), SF Chromium 24 bold, etc.

Many others looked OK at first, but apart from visibility on a mixed
background I found a common flaw was that at sizes of 18 or smaller,
large gaps appeared between some characters.

There must be a font out there that's like say Arial, Verdana, Tahoma,
etc, but which has an easily visible black (or white) border or shadow
outside its white (or black) interior?
Click to expand...

Thanks, but I'm looking for what I described. A font - not a
PowerPoint technique.
 
Incredible! An MVP, and you know even less than I do about Windows fonts?

I was playing with metal type at the age of 4
Memorizing letraset books at the age of 9
Creating my own fonts on paper at the age of 12
Creating my own fonts on a home computer at 15 (out of pixels)
I've worked in the presentation industry for over 20 years
I used to read U&lc an industry only newspaper
I know my Larabies from my Goudies
I know fonts

TAJ





Terry Pinnell said:
TAJ Simmons said:
Terry,

I'm not sure what your question is?
Click to expand...

Really?

"...clean outlined or shadowed font"

"...visibility on a mixed background"

"...an easily visible black (or white) border or shadow outside its
white (or black) interior?"
Do you want a font that is visible on both dark and light backgrounds and
multicoloured backgrounds, but the font must be outlined or shadowed?
Click to expand...

Er, yes... See above. And see the illustration I provided. And the
specific font examples I gave.
I don't think you will find such a thing.
Click to expand...

Eh? So what do you think the 8 examples I gave are? Or the additional
20 or so outlined/shadowed fonts I've installed? Or Imprint MT Shadow
in the screenshot that I took the trouble to prepare?

I've personally been unable to find a fully *satisfactory* type, as
described, and had hoped someone with font expertise here might be
able to point me towards one...
If you watch the tricks they use on TV, either the background has been
shaded to a single colour, or the text is HUGE with very little wordage
and
a big font size. I think you are trying to achieve the impossible.

Cheers
TAJ Simmons
microsoft powerpoint mvp
Click to expand...

Incredible! An MVP, and you know even less than I do about Windows
fonts?
Click to expand...
 
Please tell us more and especially:
1. How many time you plan to use that font?
2. What is your final project be? Print, eMail, Tape, CD, DVD, or Web?
3. This project is for your own use only and not for friends nor public?
4. Do you have PowerPoint software? Are you making nice presentation?

The more we know your problem the faster and easy for all of us.


Terry,
People always says "everything are possible and nothing is uncertain."

http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/5417/frontrequiredzj8.jpg

By using PowerPoint (robust program) if you cannot find Drawing bottom bar (right mouse click empty top menu bar and click Drawing
then choose Insert WordArt. And finally select your text and right click it and choose Format WordArt. Here you can change text to
your heart desires.The more you experiment the more you'll found what you want.

Good luck,
--Rino


This is not a PowerPoint query, but I'm hoping there may be used here
who know more about fonts than the little I know.

Can anyone recommend a good, clean outlined or shadowed font please?
Don't mind if I have to pay a modest price for it. I've visited many
sites and have installed scores of free fonts, but still haven't found
what I'm after.

This one, Imprint MT Shadow, is about the best so far. But as you see
from this example, it's very hard to see the third placement, 'On
fussy background'.
http://www.terrypin.dial.pipex.com/Images/FontRequired.jpg

Others I've tried are Caslon Openface BT, Colonna MT, Eras Contour,
Gunplay 3D, Hillock, Holiday, mumumu (sRB), SF Chromium 24 bold, etc.

Many others looked OK at first, but apart from visibility on a mixed
background I found a common flaw was that at sizes of 18 or smaller,
large gaps appeared between some characters.

There must be a font out there that's like say Arial, Verdana, Tahoma,
etc, but which has an easily visible black (or white) border or shadow
outside its white (or black) interior?
Click to expand...

Thanks, but I'm looking for what I described. A font - not a
PowerPoint technique.
 
Please tell us more and especially:
1. How many time you plan to use that font?
2. What is your final project be? Print, eMail, Tape, CD, DVD, or Web?
3. This project is for your own use only and not for friends nor public?
4. Do you have PowerPoint software? Are you making nice presentation?

The more we know your problem the faster and easy for all of us.




Thanks, but I'm looking for what I described. A font - not a
PowerPoint technique.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the follow-ups. I've made some progress, and have a couple
of extra fonts now that in some cases are an improvement on Imprint MT
Shadow. But I'm beginning to realise that with *some* backgrounds,
like the one in the example I provided, maybe *no* font will cut the
mustard.

One self-imposed obstacle is that I don't like text to be intrusively
large on most slides or clips. For a 'major' caption I'll use size 18
(as when specifying a date on the *first* of a series of slides all
with that date) and for normal captions size 14.

BTW, I can sometimes break up a single line caption into 2 or 3
shorter lines if that helps me to place it on a suitably 'plain'
section of background. But occasionally even that doesn't cut the
mustard.

Although I'll continue looking for 'better' fonts, the conclusion I'm
coming to squares with the feedback here. I need to find an easy
technique for adding a solid contrasting rectangle behind my captions.
I hesitate though, because *most* of the text captions on my finished
DVDs so far are OK. It's just the odd few with really challenging
backgrounds that prompted this quest. And I want uniformity too - not
some captions of one type and others looking different.

Don't forget that this is OT!

As I said in my opening sentence of my original post, I'm not doing
this in PowerPoint. All installed fonts are accessible to all
'text-using' programs. The application I'm using is MemoriesOnTV, for
creating DVDs. None of this would be necessary if the program actually
did what it advertised. One of main reasons I upgraded to its latest
version 3 was that it claimed to allow outlining to be applied in any
colour to any text. And the screenshot example it provided on its
product page illustrated that. But it doesn't work. The developers,
Codejam, assure me they're still trying to fix that bug, but on past
experience I'm not optimistic. Hence this search for a font.

Incidentally, looking at some of those fonts I now have installed,
they *look* as if they'll be OK, when seen displayed neatly on a white
background. But at size 14 on a tough coloured background, NOT!
 
Now we know something and our common advices is: "Before you go there,
are you licensed to distribute the fonts? If not, handing them out like
jellybeans can get you into a world of trouble." One good MVP advised me.

I'm happy with most and if not all MVP are helping us find the techniques
and that is important. I learned from this NG how to distribute my project to
the world without them to installed all my Special Fonts and all are happy
and including myself.

I think you come to the wrong place to look for ready made fonts because
we all create our own fonts for our uses & satisfaction. As all fonts came
from the of hands of each creators by using a technique. They sell their
fonts and only you willing to buy them.

If you persisted on your wish and never come to compromise as Taj, SuperPresentationMan, myself and all are advising --- maybe you
should
Google again for your fonts.

We wishes you much luck,
--Rino



Please tell us more and especially:
1. How many time you plan to use that font?
2. What is your final project be? Print, eMail, Tape, CD, DVD, or Web?
3. This project is for your own use only and not for friends nor public?
4. Do you have PowerPoint software? Are you making nice presentation?

The more we know your problem the faster and easy for all of us.




Thanks, but I'm looking for what I described. A font - not a
PowerPoint technique.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the follow-ups. I've made some progress, and have a couple
of extra fonts now that in some cases are an improvement on Imprint MT
Shadow. But I'm beginning to realise that with *some* backgrounds,
like the one in the example I provided, maybe *no* font will cut the
mustard.

One self-imposed obstacle is that I don't like text to be intrusively
large on most slides or clips. For a 'major' caption I'll use size 18
(as when specifying a date on the *first* of a series of slides all
with that date) and for normal captions size 14.

BTW, I can sometimes break up a single line caption into 2 or 3
shorter lines if that helps me to place it on a suitably 'plain'
section of background. But occasionally even that doesn't cut the
mustard.

Although I'll continue looking for 'better' fonts, the conclusion I'm
coming to squares with the feedback here. I need to find an easy
technique for adding a solid contrasting rectangle behind my captions.
I hesitate though, because *most* of the text captions on my finished
DVDs so far are OK. It's just the odd few with really challenging
backgrounds that prompted this quest. And I want uniformity too - not
some captions of one type and others looking different.

Don't forget that this is OT!

As I said in my opening sentence of my original post, I'm not doing
this in PowerPoint. All installed fonts are accessible to all
'text-using' programs. The application I'm using is MemoriesOnTV, for
creating DVDs. None of this would be necessary if the program actually
did what it advertised. One of main reasons I upgraded to its latest
version 3 was that it claimed to allow outlining to be applied in any
colour to any text. And the screenshot example it provided on its
product page illustrated that. But it doesn't work. The developers,
Codejam, assure me they're still trying to fix that bug, but on past
experience I'm not optimistic. Hence this search for a font.

Incidentally, looking at some of those fonts I now have installed,
they *look* as if they'll be OK, when seen displayed neatly on a white
background. But at size 14 on a tough coloured background, NOT!
 
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