Archive for August, 2009

Need that creative and perfect font, but don’t know where you find it?  I’ve done a bit of font searching from time to time and have found 9 wonderful places where fonts are available.  Some are font sites that provide a large selection of fonts, while many of the sources I’ve put together have specialty fonts or a central theme to them.  In either case, check them out and let your inspiration flow!

1.  dafont.com

Dafont.com is one of the largest free font collection websites I’ve found.  There’s always a wide selection of custom fonts available.  Of course, it’s wise to always make sure the fonts you download don’t have any restrictions on their use.

2. 36 Free, High-Quality, Sans Serif Fonts For Your Clean Designs

This blog post compiled a nice set of 36 beautiful sans serif fonts along with some awesome previews, all for free of course.  You’ll notice that the fonts come from dafont.com, but I still really enjoy this post because it’s great for designers that have their font idea narrowed down to using a more specific sans serif font.

3. 25 Excellent Handwritten Fonts

Sometimes the best fonts are the ones that look the most realistic.  Above is a link to 25 elegant handwritten fonts.  Awesome for adding a more personalized and intimate style to any project.

4. 28 Free High Quality Fonts to Boost Your Typography

A collection of 28 free fonts.  My eye, personally, is on the Sansation font.

5. 65 Popular And Professional Free Fonts For Creative Typography

An impressive collection of fonts yet again.  For some reason, the sans serif fonts in this collection really catch my eye, too.  Check out the Nordic or Apogee fonts.

6.  1001 Free Fonts

Name says it all.

7. 25 Free Blocky Fonts Ideal For Logo And Poster Design

Need something retro?  Maybe something out of the 70s or 80s?  Give this collection a try.

8. 26 Must-Have Free Fonts

Again, name implies all. Very wide and contemporary selection of fonts.  All of them worth a try for at least one project.

9. Fonts Used In Logos of Popular Websites

Last, but not least is a site with a collection of fonts most internet users see regularly.  The fonts used for Twitter, YouTube, and Last.fm can be found here.

Continuing the typography series here at Planet Label, it’s time to move on to the Paragraph Panel.  This panel is responsible for formatting bulk text in paragraph form.  Much of the tools in this panel are self explanatory with the use of images alone.  To view the Paragraph Panel, go under Window > Type > Paragraph.  To catch up on our series, please visit the following links:

• Adobe Illustrator Typography 101 – Part 1: Type Tools
• Adobe Illustrator Typography 101 – Part 2: The Character Panel

1.  Align Left

Aligns text to the left.

2. Align Center

Centers the selected text.

3.  Align Right

Aligns the text to the right.

4.  Justify with Last Line on Left

Justifies all of the text, save for the last line.  The last line is left justified.

5.  Justify with Last Line Centered

Justifies all of the text, save for the last line.  The last line is centered.

6.  Justify with Last Line on Right

Justifies all of the text, save for the last line.  The last line is right justified.

7. Justify

Justifies all of the text.

8. Left Indent

Sets the left indentation of all applicable text.  The above has a left indent of 20 pt.

9.  Right Indent

Sets the right indentation of all applicable text.  The above has a right indent of 20 pt.

10.  First Line Left Indent

Sets the left indentation of the first line of a paragraph. The above has a left indent of 20 pt.

11.  Space Before Paragraph

Sets the space between paragraphs before the paragraph starts.  The above is set at 20 pt.

12. Hyphenate

Adds automatic hyphenation to text.

13.  Space After Paragraph

Sets the space between paragraphs after the paragraph is finished.  The above is set at 20 pt.

This wraps up our series on Adobe Illustrator’s typography tools. You’ll notice that there are more tools than what were mentioned, but the ones focused on are the foundational tools to lead novice designers into the direction of using the Glyph Panel, Open Type, Paragraph Styles and Character Styles.  If you have any questions regarding the additional tools, leave a comment and we’ll be happy to answer for you.  Tomorrow we plan on investigating font resources.

New at Planet Label this August are clear laser and inkjet printable labels available in 11 unique sizes!  These labels are constructed from a contact clear material, perfect for that “no label” look.  These labels are a great choice for beverage labels, cosmetic labels, health & beauty labels and many more.  Unlike many other blank label providers, who have separate products & prices for laser and inkjet printers, Planet Label’s clear label product is compatible with either print technology and at one low price.   Available today, our clear labels are available in the following sizes:

• Clear Labels