Quality fonts goes down when viewed in browser

[John1]

In Dreamweaver MX I typed in some text.

I used one of the default fonts: Arial, Helvetia, sans-serif

The size is 2, bold, web safe color #FFCC66.

They quality of the text decreases when I view this font in my browser (IE 6)

My impression is that it has something to do with bold.

Why is that and what can I do about this?

Thank you

[(PSD) Sergiy]

Hey,
I`m not into Dreamwaver and i haven`t work with it. I know that its all "Macromedia" stuff and they all have similiar techniques and functions.
I had same trouble with my Flash MX. I couldn`t figure it out right away...
Anyway, when you typing in Dreamwaver there is suposed to be a "text tool" - set by Default (Static Text). You have change it to (Dynamic Text)... That is it.

Good Luck...

[John1]

Thanks Sergiy, but there is no text tool in Dreamweaver, it kinda works like MS Word. I also looked in the help and there is indeed something like 'dynamic text' in Dreamweaver, but that's related to something else (servers).

Thanks anyway

[theKeeper]

What platform you running John?

If it's anything other than WinXP or Mac... then the default ,ethod of rendering type in the browser is for to NOT be anti-aliased. Which will cause the edges to be very sharp and a tad gritty on certain letters.

When you're seeing the text in DW, your seeing it get anti-aliased. That is deceptive.

If you are using WinXP however, then you may need to go turn on the "Cleartype" option in the Display settings. This will dramatically clean up the fonts you see anywhere on your system. It's not turned on by default.

Hope that helps.

[John1]

Thanks Mark, cleartype does solve the problem, but then I'm fooling myself, because most people don't use cleartype, so the problem will still exist on their side.

Also the reason why cleartype is not default, is the fact that it's purely intended for LCD and other flat screens. One can use it on a desktop monitor, but then it will make the text in your applications less crisp. I've used it a short time a while back, but it always felt as if I had to clean my lenses.

Btw, I use XP.
I did notice something else. The problem only exists with dark backgrounds (not only black). White and greys didn't cause any problems and probably also some other lighter colors that I didn't test.

I guess I have to live with it or not? :\

[neolite]

You might want to try <STRONG></STRONG> instead of bold. See if that has any effect.

[John1]

Thanks Neolite, but isn't that exactly what Dreamweaver adds when you add bold to text? I checked the Dreamweaver source on my computer and it adds <strong> to the text. (Neolite, also read the end of this post.)

Now the strange part.

Look at my attachment. The first line is how it looked in Dreamweaver MX yesterday, the 2nd line how it looked in IE 6.

Without changing anything on my system and not doing a lot of other things than using Photoshop, Internet Explorer, Outlook Express and Dreamweaver MX and after rebooting this morning, the text looks different.

The 3rd line is how it looks in Dreamweaver MX, the 4th line is how it looks in IE 6 at the moment. Things look exactly the same now... and now none of them has anti-alias... \:]

I also noticed that IE shows the same looking text (as in line 4) on two other computers connected to the internet.

Seems that this problem is related to my computer, but now the problem is gone (for the moment). I can live with that.
Important is that I know that things look fine on the internet, at least better than what I saw yesterday (line 2).

Neolite, funny that you replied to my post, because it was your site where I noticed that the fonts looked much smoother.
And today I went back to your site and now everything isn?t that smooth anymore, no matter what computer I use to browse your site. Mark mentioned that XP and IE 6 defaults to anti-alias, but for some reason that doesn?t show on these computers.
Strange? maybe these computers have software in common that screw up this anti-alias.

Neolite, can you do me a favor and check your web site? (or anyone else; http://www.lindenstreet.com/links.aspx ) The attachment with the words ?Favorite Links? is how it looks on three computers (all XP).

Thanks you all for the help.

[neolite]

Just to add to your confusion [confused] , when I go to www.lindenstreet.com, all my fonts are smooth. I've checked it from home (the server itself) and from work.

I'm running XP with IIS 5 on my server. I use Dreamweaver MX to design the interface and Visual Studios to do the actual coding.

I was going to suggest it might be your video, but if you see the same thing from 3 different computers... \:]

I'll keep poking around and see if I find anything to help you out.

[neolite]

Just to add to your confusion [confused] , when I go to www.lindenstreet.com, all my fonts are smooth. I've checked it from home (the server itself) and from work.

I'm running XP with IIS 5 on my server. I use Dreamweaver MX to design the interface and Visual Studios to do the actual coding.

I was going to suggest it might be your video, but if you see the same thing from 3 different computers... \:]

I'll keep poking around and see if I find anything to help you out.

[John1]

Thanks neolite!

Yes, that's strange indeed. I double checked again, 3 computers and none of them show smooth fonts on your site.
The hardware of these computers is totally different, the software is the same though, XP and IE 6 with all the latest updates (that might be the problem, who knows), Firewall, virus scanner and things like that.

Also strange that I did see smooth fonts on your site yesterday and to add more confusion, I checked a 4th computer (win2k) and that one does show smooth fonts!

Put me in a straight jacket because I'm going nuts here! 8}