Fonts set a mood and give a document a certain look. Choose an appropriate font for the occasion, whether it is businesslike, friendly, vintage or modern.

There are different types of font styles and terms used to define fonts.

1. A font family is a group of fonts with the same look that may have different weights.

2. The weight of a font refers to whether the font is bold, italic or regular. Large font families can have light and extra-light as well as demi-bold, bold and extra bold font weights.

3. Script fonts, also called cursive fonts, are fonts where each letter of a word connects; handwriting fonts may be cursive or printed, so they may not all be scripts.

4. Display or headline fonts set off an area of text--don't use them for body text. Some only come in capital letters.

5. Dingbats aren't letter fonts. They are fonts where each "character" is not a letter but a picture, so you can use them as mini-illustrations or icons.

6. Monospaced fonts work with the spacing of the font. Each character takes up the same width of space, whereas with most fonts, letters like I and L are narrow and M is usually the widest.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Install free downloadable fonts on your computer

You can download many free fonts online. Independent font designers create these fonts and have different rules for how you can use them. Read the instructions included in the compressed file with the font before using it.

I recommend: Download free fonts in over 30 categories from CoffeeCup. Find fonts in many categories and instructions on how to install them in different operating systems at dafont.com.

Learn how to use font codes when creating web pages

If you're bored with the default font on your blog, find out how to create a post in a different font. Web text offers a small number of fonts because some visitors might not have a more uncommon font on their computer. Stick to the most common fonts, create a graphic for an unusual font or provide the font on the page for download, if you want to design a web page with an unusual font.

I recommend: Find instructions on how to use fonts on a website or blog at quackit. Choose from a list of Internet or HTML font codes for many different fonts that people commonly use on the web at EcoChoices. Check a list of special characters that aren't on your keyboard at creativetechs to find out how to use these characters in your documents or on web pages.

Buy fonts online for your business documents

Many designers license free fonts only for personal use. Other fonts are never available free. Choose to pay for fonts when you are creating a document that needs a unique look or to portray a specific mood.

I recommend: Purchase fonts for Windows or Mac in Postscript, TrueType and Opentype formats at FontHaus. Browse through the beautiful collection of fonts available for purchase at Scriptorium Fonts & Art, which offers a PDF format catalog that you can download.

Use font software to create and manage fonts

Design a new font from scratch or edit the shape of an existing font. Scan in graphics or handwriting and convert it to a font. Make your company logo or your signature into a font.

I recommend: Install several font-editing applications for Windows or Mac, font converters and font utilities from FontLab. Use FontStructor right in your web browser to design and create your own font.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  More fonts are not always better. Plan to use only two or three fonts within the same document and consider using different weights of the same font family if you need more variation.
• •  Fonts can clash just like colors. A good rule of thumb is to use one serif font and one sans serif font in the same document, rather than two different serif fonts.

Fonts - the various styles of type in which text can be set - are a graphic artist's paintbrush; they convey the appropriate mood or attitude for your business to your document's reader. Script or cursive fonts convey an air of elegance or romance, while a font that looks handwritten has a casual, friendly look. Use an old-fashioned style to lend a historical feeling to your document.

Font software for printers comes with the standard variety of fonts. A wider variety of fonts first appeared with the advent of Adobe's PostScript printer language. True Type fonts provide smooth, scalable fonts on printers that don't use PostScript. Open Type, another format, allows extra characters in a single file.

Choose fonts based on these broad typographical categories:

1. Use easy-to-read serif fonts for printed text and headlines.

2. Choose sans serif fonts for text blocks displayed on a computer screen and for headlines and captions in printed materials.

3. Express the unique qualities of your business using script fonts and display fonts for logos, headlines and other short snippets of text.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Buy fonts for your business publications from professional font vendors

Use fonts from professional type foundries in books, newsletters and other business publications. If you are a graphic artist using a PostScript printer or Adobe Type Manager, choose PostScript fonts; otherwise choose True Type fonts. You will save money per font if you purchase fonts in packages rather than individually.

I recommend: Fonts.com offers more than 100,000 fonts for sale and provides samples of each font. Browse through 18 categories of fonts at MyFonts.com by Bitstream, Inc., where you can also purchase CDs containing font libraries. Use the comprehensive font search tool at International Typeface Corporation to narrow your search by classification, designer, foundry or alphabetically.

Save money with inexpensive downloadable fonts

Some font vendors sell inexpensive downloads for single fonts. Take advantage of these fonts instead of purchasing an entire font library or font software package.

I recommend: Download commercial font styles in 48 categories at UrbanFonts.com, where they also have a font blog, a font forum and a list of the top 100 fonts. Browse through 16 categories at Font Bros Corporation, offering font sets, design sets and fonts reminiscent of various historical eras.

Download free fonts

Download fonts from font designers who use free distribution to promote their products. Check individual terms of use, which vary with each font. Vendors may offer a category or tag describing the mood or intended audience of a specific project.

I recommend: Click on one of 33 categories at 1001fonts.com. Register for a free account and select from almost 9,000 fonts organized into more than 3,000 categories at FontSpace, LLC. Abstract Fonts offers more than 11,000 free fonts and organizes fonts by popularity or alphabetically.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Visitors to your webpage must have the same font on their local computer or the font defaults to the HTML font. To ensure your intended look, use a common font or provide a download of the font for visitors.
• •  Use bold and italic weights of the same family in the text and one or two different fonts for headlines, rather than 12 different fonts in the same document.