Skip to main content
JimVag1947
JimVag1947
Participating Frequently
December 5, 2011
Question

fonts availability

  • December 5, 2011
  • 3 replies
  • 3398 views

Many beautiful fonts exist out there in the web.

Is it true though that some for them are made just for some languages while leaving out some other?

For example if i use a font that is not intended for Greek in a site with Greek words, then no effect will be nade apparent in the typography of the site.

The browser will default to some standard fonts.

Is there a workaround to the above?

It is unforunate having to constrain my typography in 3-4 fonts cause of the fact many good-looking fonts are not for Greek.

Someone could argue to use image-i am interestes for the typograpgy of the body text and not of some headline.

Thanks

    This topic has been closed for replies.

    3 replies

    JimVag1947
    JimVag1947Author
    Participating Frequently
    December 7, 2011

    Ok i got the picture, the next question comes natural.

    Where i can get a list of all the fonts that suppport the Greek language-i hope i am not searching sth impossible.

    Testing font-by-font if Greeks are supported is very tedious.

    T
    Thomas Phinney
    Inspiring
    December 7, 2011

    Answering that question will require some definitions of your terms.

    When you say "support Greek" do you mean modern (monotonic) Greek? Or polytonic Greek (used in ancient texts, and in modern Greece until 1982)?

    When you say "all the fonts," what do you mean? Do you want all the fonts in the world? All the free fonts? All the fonts that you have?

    It would be a Herculean task to try to list "all" typefaces in the world that support modern Greek. The list would be many hundreds at least. The biggest commercial font collection out there is probably that of MyFonts. It can be filtered to show fonts with Greek languages support like this: http://new.myfonts.com/search/charset%3Agrk/fonts/

    Here is a rather outdated listing (for example, it is missing all the new Windows system fonts that shipped in 2007) of free fonts and system fonts that support monotonic/modern Greek: http://www.wazu.jp/gallery/Fonts_Greek.html

    It's possible that a utility could quickly tell you which of the fonts you have on your computer support Greek.

    Tai_Lao
    Tai_Lao
    Inspiring
    December 8, 2011

    Thomas Phinney wrote:

    …a rather outdated listing (for example, it is missing all the new Windows system fonts that shipped in 2007) of free fonts and system fonts that support…

    Wow! Thank you so much for that link, TP!

    One level up on that site is a veritable treasure for users seeking support for other languages and/or scripts:

    http://www.wazu.jp/

    Much obliged!

    ____________

    Wo Tai Lao Le

    我太老了

    T
    Thomas Phinney
    Inspiring
    December 6, 2011

    Bob is right. I should add that there is no "workaround" other than using fonts that have the specific language support you need. There are no fonts that properly support all the world's languages; only a couple even come close, and they are single styles without bold or italic variants. (In fact, supporting all the world's languages in a single font is not technically possible at this time.)

    I'll point out that specifying a fallback stack allows you to combine multiple fonts and decide what order you want them to be used in, so that you can get one font to "fill in" for another when the first font lacks characters you need. Combine that with @font-face (web font tech) and you can specify any of a wide range of fonts instead of just the former "web safe" fonts.

    B
    Bob_the_Sign_Guy
    Participating Frequently
    December 6, 2011

    If you're developing a Greek language web site you have to use/specify typefaces that have Greek character sets. That could be specific Greek-only typefaces. Or it could be a Latin font with an extended character set that covers the Greek alphabet in the Unicode table.

    Some typefaces like Myriad Pro have Greek characters along with other alphabets. The OpenType version of Gotham has an extended character set, but lacks the Greek alphabet.

    You can use web font technology to overcome problems where viewers either see default, substitute fonts or don't see any characters at all. Viewers can load a web site using web fonts without having the font file installed on their computer's local hard disc. You must use fonts with licensing that allows web font use. Adobe's Typekit service is one source. Font Squirrel offers some free web fonts. Greek character availability will vary depending on the fonts you're examining.

    Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
    Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices