Graphic arts/photoshop people.. where to get free fonts?

CrispyDelicious · #1 03-03-2009, 10:30 AM

Hey guys, I need a reliable source for fonts that isn't going to result in my work computer getting bogged with any virus crap. What's the best source for this? I have Photosop CS3, but its fonts are TERRIBLE.

EDIT:

My specific problem is that the fonts with CS3 gets pixelated and nasty-looking if you incrase their size past 12 pt.

CrispyDelicious · #2 03-03-2009, 11:19 AM

bUMP... Somebody here must know what I'm talking about.

bongomania · #3 03-03-2009, 11:25 AM

I've had the best luck with fonts from small "font foundries" and the sites that compile their work. That is, when I Google "free fonts" I avoid the larger profit/advertising-oriented sites and go to the more designer-run small places.

It's been a couple of years since I went font hunting, and most of my bookmarks for them are dead, but this one is still good:
http://moorstation.org/typoasis/desi...nf/lnfmain.htm

jimb213 · #4 03-03-2009, 11:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CrispyDelicious

Hey guys, I need a reliable source for fonts that isn't going to result in my work computer getting bogged with any virus crap. What's the best source for this? I have Photosop CS3, but its fonts are TERRIBLE.

EDIT:

My specific problem is that the fonts with CS3 gets pixelated and nasty-looking if you incrase their size past 12 pt.

You have something set wrong somewhere. I make fonts 96 pts or larger with no problem, and I don't have any fonts except for what comes on the computer or with photoshop.

What are you making the text for? If it's for video stuff, standard-resolution DV makes any kind of graphics look terrible. Does it look crummy in photoshop, or does it only look crummy once you stick it in a video?

I'm a video guy, not a graphics guy, so I'm not extremely familiar with the inner workings of PS, so I don't know what exactly you need to look at, but I know PS can do good-looking fonts bigger than 12 pts. check stuff like resolution, maybe pixel aspect ratio, your zoom level, anti-aliasing... there's no reason photoshop shouldn't put out perfectly crisp fonts.

edit:
oh yeah, here:

http://www.outlawdesignblog.com/2008...-grunge-fonts/

there's some neat fonts there.

crispygoat · #5 03-03-2009, 11:41 AM

www.dafont.com

but I think your problem is related to anti-aliasing. There's an option with that looks like Aa when you type in text in Photoshop. If it is set to None it will look like crap.

MakiSupaStar · #6 03-03-2009, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crispygoat

www.dafont.com

but I think your problem is related to anti-aliasing. There's an option with that looks like Aa when you type in text in Photoshop. If it is set to None it will look like crap.

+1. On both counts.

CrispyDelicious · #7 03-03-2009, 11:46 AM

Thanks for the info. But even when I use anti-aliasing (sharp, crip, or smooth) its still comes out somewhat pixelated - like the font is pixelated from the getgo, and even after AA, you can still see it's not smooth.

I must admit I'm only beginning to learn photoshop, so I assume I'm missing something pretty obvious here.

CrispyDelicious · #8 03-03-2009, 11:48 AM

How about pixel/square inch resolution? What should it be set at to get optimal clarity without getting a massive file size?

MatticusMania · #9 03-03-2009, 11:51 AM

1001fonts.com

jimb213 · #10 03-03-2009, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CrispyDelicious

How about pixel/square inch resolution? What should it be set at to get optimal clarity without getting a massive file size?

Depends what your final destination is. For web graphics or video, 72 dpi is pretty standard. for print, 300 dpi or more is not uncommon. I'm almost always working at 72 dpi.

One thing I try to do is make my graphics bigger than I need. Most of my graphical work ends up in a 1280x720 video timeline, so I make my graphics at least 1300x800, so I have a little wiggle room to zoom in or out if I need to.

L-A · #11 03-03-2009, 02:04 PM

Make sure your document is at least 72 DPI.

Fonts are not resolution-dependent. You can make them 3000 pts without needing a "bigger" one. If they display correctly at 12, then they should work, whatever size you set them to.

When do you notice the loss of definition? Is it after you pixelating the layer?

CrispyDelicious · #12 03-03-2009, 02:19 PM

For some reason, the canvas opened at 75 pixels/inch, so i upped it to 200 for clarity. What's this DPI you speak of?

DudeistMonk · #13 03-03-2009, 03:57 PM

Make sure you are using the "Horizontal Type Tool" not the mask version or anything like that.

Also make sure your Image>Mode = RGB color and your Image>Pixel Aspect Ratio = Square (if your on a public computer you never know what someone will change)

DPI = dots per inch, which is used in printing.

Fonts are vector based (meaning they are built of points and angles and can expand to any size), until you rasterize them which turns them into pixels (after this point scaling the font will result in some not so nice results). For most things you will never need to rasterize your fonts in photoshop anyway.

+1 to watching your anti-ailiasing (sp?) You may need to try different AA modes depending on the font.

If you are in college by any chance, work your way into a lab with MAC computers in it and dig around, you might be able to find the universities font library for the design students...From there its just a matter of connecting your external hard drive and waiting while 8 gigs worth (in my case) of fonts are transferred.

Also...I'm a web designer so fonts aren't exactly my bag, but I find that adobe has plenty of good fonts in there...only downside is most of them are a bit over-used and have fallen out of fashion, causing the font nazi's in the print department to make fun of you for using them.

Also the character/paragraph palette in photoshop allows you to tweak spacing and and letter height/width ext.

crispygoat · #14 03-03-2009, 04:17 PM

Maybe you are not zoomed in at 100%?

L-A · #15 03-03-2009, 04:27 PM

DPI stands for Dots per Inch. It's the density the color squares (or dots on printed media) on your document.

"upping" it at 200 DPI won't affect the on-screen preview; for a given document size, it will only make it appear bigger on the screen. Screens have a rather standard 72 DPI resolution. So if you view a 200 DPI document on a screen, it will appear roughly 2.3 times its real size. But it won't be finer.

Maybe you could take a screenshot of what the pixelated font looks like?

Also, describe how you scale it up.

Disco_Gee · #16 03-03-2009, 05:02 PM

Does it happen with all fonts? Make sure you aren't using a font that is intentionally pixelated.

gold_member_321 · #17 03-03-2009, 05:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crispygoat

www.dafont.com

Thats a good one. Another good one for free fonts is www.urbanfonts.com

playinpearls · #18 03-04-2009, 12:23 PM

i always work at 300ppi. that way if your going to get it printed, it wont look like crap. its an industry standard from what i've been able to find.

i went to a ehem....torrent site...cough cough....and found some free fonts there...there were....lots...of collections there...

excane · #19 03-04-2009, 12:48 PM

Are you rasterizing the type? Something is wrong, you should have no problem with pixelation as long as they remain editable type.

excane · #20 03-04-2009, 12:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CrispyDelicious

How about pixel/square inch resolution? What should it be set at to get optimal clarity without getting a massive file size?

This depends entirely on what the output device will be.

For screen, 72 ppi and whatever image size you need it to be.

For print, 300 ppi is what I use and it's not uncommon to have extremely large file sizes. I work with 300+ MB files on a daily basis for hi-res printing.