Although many PC users end up using the default font, Times New Roman, that comes with most Windows PCS, a few like to get wildly experimental and therein lies a problem —  understanding that all fonts are not created equal.

Today, there are more than 6,000 different typefaces available to graphic communicators. Even with that large number, all typefaces can still be broken down into a few basic categories. The two largest categories are serif designs and sans (“without”) serif fonts. Serifs are the small “feet” — or strokes — located at the tops and bottoms of certain letters, numbers, punctuation marks and symbols. Serifs serve an important function: they increase the ease with which words can be read.

The human eye tends to be a very lazy organ and very susceptible to the rules of gravity. A natural tendency, when looking at almost anything, is for the eye to drop to the ground — not the best trait when you consider that English is read on a horizontal axis. Serifs serve as a guideline for the eye, connecting letters to make words, and words to make lines of copy. In other words, serifs increase our ability to read faster and more efficiently — at least on the printed page. These rules change a bit when designing Web pages but that’s a subject for a different article.

Sans serif type styles are based upon geometric forms that grew out of the designs created in the 1920s. These are visually very simple typefaces and their weights appear to be monotone. Many have the single-storied “a” we were taught to draw in grammar school. Critics of sans serif fonts feel, beside having no serifs to guide the eye across the page, the apparent monotone weight in most sans serif typefaces tends to tire the eye in lengthy text. Even so, sans serif fonts are increasingly being used. Why? Despite what I wrote above, sans serif fonts tend to have simpler and more recognizable forms that lend themselves to print that must be legible under adverse conditions. Numbers in a sans serif font are usually exceptionally legible. These typefaces are usually a good choice for scientific or technical publications. Parts lists and directories are natural applications for sans serif type styles.

The next job for the desktop publisher is to get familiar with each of the fonts on their PC. Fonts of the same font size have a great difference in weight. In other words, by using a different font in the same font size but of a different weight, you can expand or contract your copy to fit a page, depending upon the needs of your project.

The best looking publications reflect consistency — and restraint. Only a few typefaces and sizes are used throughout the publication. Headlines, subheads and body copy should remain consistent from page to page although I bend the rules occasionally when I find a font for a headline in PC Alamode that fits the subject of an article perfectly.

Next, use various type sizes to establish a hierarchy of importance. For example, a headline should be visually more prominent than supporting ideas expressed in subheads. Look through your favorite magazine and this time, really look.  Look at the headlines. Are they serif or sans serif? What font style is used on photo captions? Do the font styles remain consistent throughout the publication?

For those of you who would like to change the default font in your word processor, here are the steps for WordPerfect, Word (thanks to Susan Ives) and Works (thanks to Rose Lynn Saenger).

Change WordPerfect default font
To change the default font in WordPerfect, move your cursor to the top of your WordPerfect screen, click on File, choose Document from the drop down menu, click on Default Font. A window opens showing all the fonts installed on your PC. Simply scroll down the list and pick the font of your choosing — but be sure it will be one that is easy on your eyes and that of your readers.

Change Word default font
To change the default in Word, go to the menu bar at the top of the Word screen, click on Format. On the resulting drop down menu, select Style. You will get a dialog box. Select the normal font in the left-hand panel and then click the Modify button. A new dialog box will appear . Click once on the Format button and a new drop-down menu will appear, allowing you to change the font, paragraph and tab attributes.

Change Works default font
Selecting the default font in Microsoft Works is a simple matter. Open the MS Works word processor and in the menu bar to Format | Font | Style. Click on Font and Style and a dialog box pops up. In the dialog box, choose your font by highlighting it, then highlight the font size that you prefer. Select a color if you choose or leave the color on auto. Move to the right side of the dialog box and click on the Set Default button. This font choice will appear every time that you open Works. If you are changing the font for a single document only then click on the OK button.