Font For Ebooks: What Do You Use?

I use 14 pt Times New Roman for body copy. I do headers and subheaders in larger sizes in Helvetica Bold.

Onscreen, font size doesn't matter as much, because the reader has some flexibility in adjusting the size on their screen, plus screen sizes vary anyway, so what might be huge on one screen may be small on another.

But, for those that like to print out their eBooks and read them, 14 pt is a comfortable size for a lot of people, even those whose vision is not so sharp. It doesn't meet guidelines for large type (18 pt, sans serif) but it makes for more comfortable reading for those that may not necessarily need large type but still need something a little larger than normal.

And, since typically older users will tend to be the ones wanting to print out eBooks, why not favor them a bit more?

I don't see it as being about padding page count but rather creating a good experience for the reader. While some people may be impressed by page counts, most people buy based on content rather than the number of pages. And, when learning something new, I'd rather people focus on the content rather than struggle to read it.

Where's Georgia?

Georgia would be my first choice, since that's not there Tahoma...

I also use the Myriad font and line space is single space 1.2 so it adds just a little extra space between each line for easier reading in PDF format.

I am primarily interested in the fonts people use for ebooks, not web copy, but with CSS or HTML, that's a good tip regarding fallback declaration.

Thanks

Any sans serif font is best for online reading, and even offline. That's the one without any fancy curls, like Times Roman is a serif font.

I prefer the look of 10 point Arial, but recently I've learned that my web pages can look very small in other browsers, making 10 point look more like 8 pt. So I'm moving more towards 12 point now.

If you're creating ebooks, remember that Adobe Reader allows you to resize the image, so the font size is irrelevant. You can resize the image to 200% and more, which would be more than adequate for people with visual difficulties.

If it's a pdf file, it is irrelevant whether the person has the font on their machines because the font is embedded right into the pdf file. However, you mention difficulties in Word - so if you are providing people with a Word version of yoru ebook or report, you are better off using a font that is more common and universal - that comes with people's standard computer programs, like Word.

I like the look of Verdana as long as the point size is small for paragraphs. It works fine for large headings, though. The same goes for Tahoma.

That is one of the beauties of PDF books - you can use any fancy font to jazz it up a bit - such as in headings or Drop Caps, without concern for what the person has on their computer. I wouldn't use them for the actual text unless it was to emphasize a small quote or sub-heading or for your signature.

As far as spacing, I like to make wide margins so that the text doesn't look so overwhelming. White space is good and is easier on the eyes than crammed blocks of text. Line spacing depends - but usually 1-1/2 or 2 line spacing.

Sylvia

The font I use in most of my eBooks is Arial, usually 14 pt or 18 pt.

The font I use personally, when I'm writing and I'm the only one going to read it is Lucida Console. I have a ton of documents saved as Times New Roman and Arial, but they're all originally written in Lucida Console. Not sure why I like it...

That's clever! Most of internet users are browsing FaceBook, and something familiar to it is giving a better feeling.