Touting Tiny Type
Anyone who does web design or web graphics on a regular basis is familiar with pixel fonts, those teensy typefaces that are sharp as a tack -- when used properly -- despite their small size.
Pixel fonts are most properly used for labeling web graphics, e.g. embedded photo captions, or labels on diagrams and flowcharts. They don't work well for large blocks of text, because of their small size, and they're not optimized for printing. Here's a good primer on pixel fonts, via PhotoshopSupport.com.
Pixel fonts don't require anti-aliasing to improve their appearance; in fact, anti-aliasing makes them look worse. This also means that web graphics using pixel fonts will be smaller, byte-wise, than their counterparts that use "regular" fonts. This is because the anti-aliasing process -- which is designed to smooth the edges of the text -- actually adds colors to the graphic, which results in larger files.
Here's an illustration of this effect. The following graphic is a simple green rectangle containing a line of text in Verdana, font-size of 10 pixels, anti-aliased in Photoshop using the "Sharp" setting.
# of colors: 14; File size: 674 bytes
The next two examples display the same text in pixel fonts. The top one uses Tenacity, which renders properly at 10 pixels; the bottom one is Silkscreen, which requires rendering at 8 pixels (or a multiple thereof).
# of colors: 2; File size: 382 bytes
# of colors: 2; File size: 347 bytes
Legibility and readability of the pixel fonts is better than for the anti-aliased Verdana, and the files are almost half the size. (Note that you won't see this kind of file size reduction in a photo, however; the incremental weight of the caption will be insignificant compared to the pixels comprising the photo itself.)
Dang. I did forget to mention that pixel fonts are the choice of pixies everywhere. Thanks for reminding me! ;-)
Posted by: Eric at January 16, 2007 04:47 PMYou're hitting the NyQuil pretty heavily, aren't you?
Posted by: Eric at January 16, 2007 04:48 PMRecall the movie "Arsenic and Old Lace" (1944) with Cary Grant. His character, Longfellow Deeds, is loaded with money and a bit eccentric. His relatives want to have him committed so they can get their hands on his money. When his day in court comes, his batty old aunts tell the court that Deeds is "pixelated," or in other words, not quite right.
Posted by: Deborah at January 16, 2007 05:07 PMDeborah, I don't recall that word usage; it's been a long time since I've seen the movie (and I don't recall hearing it in the stage version I saw a few years back). Although, actually, I think the word they were using is "pixilated" -- spelled slightly different than the computer-related term. Still, it's a good addition to a writer's vocabulary...a good substitute for "eccentric" as well as for "drunk."
I'll bet most people who use pixelated as a part of their working vocabulary wouldn't know the meaning of pixilated. I suspect it's a generational thing. ;-)
Posted by: Eric at January 16, 2007 05:31 PMEric, I got my movies mixed up. Longfellow Deeds was the lead in another movie. And now I can't remember whose movie had the crazy old aunts in it, but I think you are right with "pixilated" rather than pixelated. There ought to be a joke or short story in here. I was trying to tease you about being pixelated and turns out that I'm the one who is pixilated!
Posted by: Deborah at January 16, 2007 05:38 PMI'm the one who is pixilated!
Perhaps so, but you wear it so well. ;-)
I'll be checking Glovebox Stories for a tale of pixilation...
Posted by: Eric at January 16, 2007 06:04 PMi would just like to thank you for alerting me that that font is called "silkscreen". i have seen that font on many sites and have tried to find it for such a long time! i never could find it, but this is it! you're the best. no matter what my dad says.
Posted by: kyle at January 16, 2007 07:52 PMYou're welcome Kyle. Did you know you were adopted?
Posted by: Eric at January 16, 2007 08:05 PMAbout the publisher
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Oh. Pixels. I thought you were talking about Pixies. I have nothing to add. Pardon me. ;-)
Posted by: Gwynne at January 16, 2007 04:40 PM