Wallpaper, Fonts, and Icons, oh my!

Okay, couldn’t resist that heading….

Lifehacker has the top 10 free wallpaper, font and icon sources they like.

[updated 2008/6/17]

Desktoptopia has some very nice wallpaper art, free.

Fawnt for free fawnts — I mean fonts

MakeUseOf has a recommendation for Fawnts as a source of free fonts.

Feature Overview

• Search and browse free quality text fonts.
• Download fonts from their respective developer / owner pages.
• Note: While all of the listed fonts are free, some might have restrictions, i.e. free only for personal use. So make sure to get familiar with usage guidelines.

How to install fonts ?

1. Download desired font -> Go to ‘Start’ -> ‘Settings’ -> ‘ Control Panel’ -> ‘Fonts’ -> Click on ‘File’ > Install New Font -> Point explorer to the location of the font -> click OK.

2. Mac: See How to Install Fonts on a Macintosh (eHow.com)

3. Linux: Download and Copy the font files (.ttf or .otf) to ‘fonts:///’ in the ‘File manager’.

CoolText for a little logo or button style

MakeUseOf has a review of CoolText, which can produce text in various styles for use as logos or as buttons on your web site. This has been used by the Boreham Library staff and works well. [By the way - use the link here, as the one in the review is incorrect.]

CoolText Features

• Create custom text logos and website navigation buttons.
• Download and save ready logos to your PC. No registration required.
• Customize: logo text color, select font style, background Color, text size, add order outline, glow effect, etc.
• Free font archive: Over 1200 downloadable text fonts for use in Photoshop or Office programs (i.e. Microsoft Word).

Installing a new font

Fonts are fun, but you do have to go to the small effort of installing new ones.

Instructions on installing a new font are available from Internet Fixes.

To find new fonts, of course, check the resources linked from Computer Helpers.

Font sources

• 1001 Free Fonts ( http://www.1001freefonts.com/ )
• barcode fonts ( http://www.adams1.com/pub/russadam/fonts.html )
• Blambot ( http://www.blambot.com/ ) comic fonts and lettering
• DaFont.com ( http://www.dafont.com/ )
• Free Font Fiesta ( http://www.maryforrest.com/fonts/fonts.html )
• Identifont free fonts ( http://www.identifont.com/free-fonts.html ) also useful for identifying similar fonts, including pay fonts.
• Keyboard True Type Font ( http://www.byte-sized.com/software/keyboard/desc.htm ) shareware font to put a graphic “key” with the character on it, which is handy when creating step-by-step instructions.
• Simply the Best Fonts ( http://simplythebest.net/fonts/index.html )
• 3D Text Maker ( http://www.3dtextmaker.com/ ) free online service conversion for text
• TV/Movie related fonts ( http://www.typenow.net/themed.htm )
• 25 Best Free Quality Fonts ( http://www.alvit.de/blog/article/20-best-license-free-official-fonts )
• Typadelic ( http://www.typadelic.com/free.html )

Find a similar font

• What the Font?! http://www.myfonts.com/WhatTheFont/ “Ever wanted to find a font just like the one used by certain publications, corporations, or ad campaigns? Well now you can, using our WhatTheFont font recognition system. Upload a scanned image of the font and instantly find the closest matches in our database. If WhatTheFont can’t figure it out, you can submit your image to the WhatTheFont Forum where cloak-draped font enthusiasts around the world will help you out!” Recommended by Gizmo’s Tech Support Alert newsletter.
• So, you know the name of the font you want — but it’s too expensive or otherwise unavailable. Try the Table of Font Analogs http://www.shorewalker.com/blog/fonts_listed.html or the Bitstream Font Analogue http://www.fontinfo.net/Font_Analog.html to learn about similar fonts you might want to try instead.