And I can’t wait to see your “ESPN big” project.

One thing I noticed with my 2am tinkering is that when linking anywhere in the text, the entire replacement becomes a link. So no multiple linking or single work linking or am I missing something? Or was this the intended effect?

Great Stuff and I too am wondering about “ESPN big”….

I began to think of ways browser manufacturers could quickly implement anti-aliased custom typography.

The real answer isn’t a technological one. It’s a business or licensing one. The problem has more to do with convincing makers of type to allow web developers to spread type around at no cost, or at a cost that makes sense and is practical. Obviously, no one has figured this out yet.

But I think the last thing we need is a Flash specific CSS property. We should be able to to add a call that says to get the font from the server, not the client, and render it. That breaks the current licensing model for type, so browsers makers won’t do it.

Outside of that, I’m enjoying using sIFR, but wish there were an easier way to do the code and mark-up.

Also, you ever figure out that problem with the Design Eye article? It’s the only article on DxF that the sIFR disappears. I’m beginning to suspect it’s a memory issues with Safari.

I haven’t even tested putting multiple anchors in there. Not sure what would happen in that case. Seems like it would work though. As for the text not being selectable, it’s kind of a tradeoff between having anchoring abilities or selectability. If you open the Flash file and comment the onRollOver and onRelease stuff out, and then add “selectable” as a property for the textfield, you can have selectable text. There may be a way to have both… not sure yet.

Andrei:

Interesting insights regarding licensing. I knew there was something there but thought it had been successfully sidestepped with the WEFT tool and Dynamic Fonts. You’re right in that this may be a licensing problem more than a technology problem, but wouldn’t it then make sense for Macromedia to work with foundries to create some sort of protected format which is licensable by web publishers? I’d pay a few bucks as an individual blogger or probably a lot more as a major content provider to have this functionality. Additionally, simple licensing really isn’t the only problem: it’s rendering. WEFT fonts just look like crap. They look alright with ClearType turned on, but Flash renders them much crisper.

As for the Design Eye article, try subbing in this sIFR code (the code you’re using right now is regular IFR) and see if you still notice the problem. It’s certainly a puzzling one. (IFR on one particular page of Design By Fire draws itself, but then disappears permanently when you scroll it off screen in Safari… weird!).

But I think the last thing we need is a Flash specific CSS property. We should be able to to add a call that says to get the font from the server, not the client, and render it.

I agree entirely. As stated early in the article, several companies attempted this and none got it quite right. We need a group working toward the betterment of web design as well as web standards – I hope that’s what the WHATWG will turn out to be in the long run.

Echoing Mike, I sure hope that the WHATWG has typography on that plate (or at least cooking on the back burner). sIFR and other technologies make it possible, but if we want to get away from the ‘Scourge of Arial’ we’ll need ease of use.

Excellent work, Mike! I hope to roll this out in some form on my own site soon.