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Choosing the Best Body Text Fonts

By: Dalvin Rumsey Perhaps you are wondering what body text fonts are! Well, there is no secret about it! Body type or body text fonts are the typefaces used for body copy. Body copy requires legible, easy to read body text fonts. Every magazine article, newspaper story, contract and web page we read every day are most certainly body copy!

In order to choose the best body text fonts, you must be aware of the fact that it is one of the easiest things to do. It will take very little time, about as long as it takes to find the right body text fonts for your document. The first thing to do is decide upon a typeface that is readable at body text font sizes of 14 points or less. When browsing a font book or specimen pages, be sure to look at how the font looks at smaller sizes, not just at the larger samples! You should avoid extremes for body text fonts, otherwise you will distract the reader with your strange letters!

It is always a good idea not to rely entirely on an on-screen display or a small sample of the fonts. You may print out the body text fonts you are considering to buy, and you can do that at body copy size in paragraphs of varying size.

Fonts that are best suited for printed documents do not always work well to the screen for web use. So, you might want to consider whether or not the same body text font is still appropriate, when deciding to use print documents on the web.

Should you wish for a formal or serious look of your document, then the best option is choosing serifs! This is because serif faces are the normal fonts used for most books and newspapers, thus making them familiar and comfortable as body text fonts. If you want a crisper, bolder, or more informal tone, the sans serifs are the bets for your needs! Avoid script or handwriting typefaces as body text fonts. Save your fancy or unusual typefaces for use in headlines, logos, and graphics. As a body text font they are almost impossible to read comfortably!

Last, but not least, you must know that the perfect body text fonts lose their effectiveness if paired with headline fonts and fonts used for captions. This is why you must by all means mix and match your body text fonts and headline fonts more attentively.