A Font Set tells the Web browser which font to display for a topic. If the end-user’s computer does not have a certain font, you can use the Font Set to show a different font.
For instance, let’s say that your topics use a font called “ReallyCoolFont.” You just love that font… I mean, it’s a really cool font! The only problem is, it’s unlikely that your customers will have the font. If you don’t specify a font set, your user’s computer will substitute a different font, essentially ruining your design. If you specify a font set, you can tell the computer which font to load if “ReallyCoolFont” is not available.
Because you can’t control the fonts on the end-user’s computer, simple fonts such as Verdana and Arial are recommended. While they may not be exotic, you know what you are getting with both of these fonts. And just about every Mac and PC has them.
Create a Font Set
- Open any topic in your RoboHelp project
- Choose Format > Font Sets
The Font Sets dialog box appears. - Click the New button and then name your Font Set (the name can contain spaces)
- Click the Modify button
- Double-click any of the fonts you want to add to the Font Set.
The order of the fonts in the list is important. In the image above, Verdana is above Arial. Based on the order, Verdana will be the first choice when the browser looks for a font to use. If Verdana is not installed on the computer, the browser will look for and load Arial. If you want to add a font to the list that is not installed on your computer (such as Helvetica), you can type the name of the font into the Available Typefaces field and click Add.
- Click OK
- Click OK again
The font set has been created, but it is not currently being used by any of the topics in your project. You will “attach” Font Set to a style next.
Attach a Font Set to a style
- On the Project Manager pod, double-click your project’s CSS to open the CSS file for editing (in the image below, the CSS file to be edited it MS_Help.css)
- Double-click the word Paragraph to display the project’s paragraph styles
- Select a style and click Format
- Choose Font and, from the Font list, scroll and select your new Font Set
- Click OK
- Click Close
Attaching a Font Set to styles won’t pay off obvious benefits while you continue to develop your Help System. But remember, thanks to the font set, you will not have to worry about missing fonts fouling up your topics when user’s browse your finished Help system.
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