We’re proud to announce Readable Web’s first software development effort: EOTFAST.
The site is up and EOTFAST, along with documentation, a supporting utility font and HTML EOT test page is ready for download.
With EOTFAST, font designers, web designers, and developers can create natively compressed EOT font files for use with any web domain. There are no “root string” restrictions, as with Microsoft WEFT. Convert once, use anywhere.
Savings in file size typically range from 45% to 70%.
Cut Font Files Down To Size With EOTFAST
For example, a first-rate screen font like Droid Serif starts out at 169kb as a TTF font file with the full character set but as an EOTFAST file it weighs in at only 80kb. With still the full character set. Compression is lossless.
Please stop by the EOTFAST site. Further announcements will appear in various forums in the coming days.
The documentation contains very useful information for font designers looking to prepare their fonts for use on the web.
EOTFAST is a must-have for anyone looking to use @font-face web fonts today or for years to come – for as long as Internet Explorer has a substantial user-base.
EOTFAST 2.0 Is Already In Work
Version 2.0 is already in work. I’m using a Beta of it right now. And as soon as certain technical issues are ironed out, conversion from TTF to EOTFAST will appear as an online service, as well. Tools for the WOFF format are in the pipeline, too.
Deliver @Font-Face Web Fonts Efficiently Today, Not Just In The Future
EOTFAST works to deliver web fonts to half a billion Internet Explorer users efficiently today – not in some distant the future as many in the font industry would prefer to see happen.
Here at Readable Web, we want better, and more accessible, screen typography and we want it as quickly as possible. Every day that a web designer chooses – for aesthetic reasons alone – techniques that will defeat a screen reader is a day that we are not willing to wait.
This time, Internet Explorer is NOT a problem. @Font-Face has existed in IE for twelve years. It works, it works well, and we’ve got the test pages to prove it.
We’ve been very supportive of initiatives like the new WOFF format which now has its first implementation in Firefox 3.6. But WOFF has a bit of catching up to do now, with EOTFAST.
My co-developer Philip Taylor and I thank you in advance for your support. EOTFAST is released as open-source under the Apache license.
Utilities like Microsoft WEFT, ttf2eot, the Font Squirrel EOT generator, and font-design firm Ascender Corp’s tool for EOT “Lite”, are now obsolete.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
This might be an irritating question, although I suspect you’ve been asked this before:
Any chance you’ll create a Mac-native version?
Perhaps a DMG instead of an EXE?
That way, those of us who use Macs could stick with one platform during development.
Thanks -
Eric
Eric,
Good question and yes, it’s been asked before.
Here’s why EOTFAST is Windows only and the eventual solution that I foresee:
Monotype Imaging partnered with Microsoft on the development of EOT and holds a patent on the method for creating EOT files. However, since it’s quite obvious that Microsoft has licensed the compression technology and that such licensing inheres to Windows users/developers (EOT has been a part of the Windows API’s for a very long time), as long as the Windows API’s are being used within a licensed copy of Windows, I can’t imagine what Monotype’s complaint might be.
However, stepping outside Windows and creating a tool for Mac is a different story. Welcome to the world of patent law! This is also one of the reasons I’ve held off putting the source code on GitHub. I want it clear to anybody who contributes what the boundaries might be – nobody needs the trouble of a takedown notice, or worse.
Things can go two ways:
1) I can talk to Monotype and see where they stand on the issue. You never know. And it doesn’t hurt to try.
2) Ethan Dunham of FontSquirrel and I have already discussed the possibility of bringing EOTFAST online as part of the FontSquirrel generator. As long as there is a licensed copy of Windows running server-side, there too, I can’t imagine what the complaint could be.
So, my question to you is: would that be useful? Or is using an executable preferred? The executable has some advantages in that it can be scripted and such.
I await. (And your name sounds familiar. Have we crossed paths online somewhere?)
Regards, Rich
Hello. Norton Antivirus has continually detected EOTFast.exe as a virus using its SONAR system. I have no idea why. Does anyone know?
No. But turn it off – there’s no virus. Are you logged in with Administrator privileges?
Lastly, my opinion of Norton is very, very low. As in, it sucks. Way too heavy-handed. Try Kaspersky or Microsoft Security Essentials (free).
(Just an old desktop-tech giving you his opinion.)
Richard,
I have attempted to download “EOTFAST” from the the “http://eotfast.com” site, and each time I click on the “FREE DOWNLOAD” button the following error message is displayed: “NOT FOUND … the requested URL/download-j8m2.html was not found on this server. Apache/2.2 Server at eotfast.com Port 80″. Actually, the first time that I attempted the download, I was presented with the survey and completed it, but I have not seen it since.
I’m new messing with fonts, but I do want to learn how to embed them in web pages.
Sorry for any problems. We just switched servers on that site. I’ll check it out and let you know.
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