Dear Forum people:

Our designer chose Futura for our website. I'm on a Mac; most customers use Windows. I need a Futura similar font that comes preloaded on both Mac and Windows machines because our email formatting looks great when it leaves my computer but awful when it's received.

Can someone please help?

Jeff "newbie" A

AFAIK, Futura does not come with Windows, at least not with Win 8 or 10. Not with any previous versions I've used, either.

Correct. i was imprecise. That's exactly the problem. Need something that is similar to Futura on WIN and MAC

Sorry, I misread.

Here's a list of fonts bundled with Windows https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_typefaces_included_with_Microsoft_Windows

I do not think it is advisable to use a font on your website that is supposed to be installed on a computer. There are just too many intangibles. As your experience showed, it is possible that it is not installed in the computer of your visitor. I suggest for you to use a webfont. If you are not willing to pay a subscription service then your best option is to use a font found in the Google Fonts archive (https://fonts.google.com/). Google will host/serve the webfont for free. Better ask your designer to choose a font that is somewhat similar to Futura from there so that your website will look almost the same in whatever platform your visitor is in. Who knows he might even find another font that suits your website better.

As for email, does your email client support font embedding? I do not know what is the EULA of fonts bundled with the Mac OS but if embedding is allowed, that is the best way to go so that your email recipient will see the email as it was formatted in your email client. Otherwise your option will be limited to the generic sans, serif or monospace, and common named fonts like Arial, Times New Roman, Verdana, Georgia, and a few more... The drawback is that your email will be bigger because of the embedded font. Some mail servers do not accept attachments and they might consider embedded fonts as attachments.

Dear Toto: thanks so much. I think you've hit the nail on the head in the second para: "The drawback is that your email will be bigger because of the embedded font. Some mail servers do not accept attachments and they might consider embedded fonts as attachments."

I'll search my files on embedded fonts and Outlook on Mac. I think that we ran into the problem you identified earlier with some computers assuming embedded fonts were attachments.

So, is there another work around - perhaps there's a simple link such as you provided - that shows fonts that are both resident to Mac and Windows AND look similar enough to Futura? (I've tried to google that)

Any other suggestions?

Thank you so much for your thoughtful advice!
jeff

See this link from https://www.google.com/search?q=embed+fonts+in+email - https://css-tricks.com/kinda-can-use-custom-fonts-html-emails/ See also other results from that Google search.

It appears that you can use webfonts in emails. I think that's a better option than actually embedding a font in the email. You can use a webfont from a paid subscription service, the free webfont service by Google Fonts or a webfont hosted on your own website.

I do not think you can upload Futura to your website. I do not know the EULA of fonts bundled with the Mac OS so better make sure that you are allowed to bring the font outside the confines of your computer before uploading a webfont of Futura to your website. Linotype/Monotype won't be happy if you do so.

As to fonts bundled with the Mac OS, see https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208968 or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_typefaces_included_with_macOS

On mac OS:
Futura ND © Copyright 1998, Neufville Digital. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This font is licensed, not sold, and may not be reproduced without the written consent of Neufville Digital. Parts © Visualogik Technology & Design, 1998.

Found this list of fonts common to both OS: https://coderwall.com/p/57imrw/common-fonts-for-windows-mac

of these fonts, which might be a decent look-alike for Futura?

Arial, Helvetica, Sans-Serif
Arial Black, Gadget, Sans-Serif
Comic Sans MS, Textile, Cursive
Courier New, Courier, Monospace
Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, Serif
Impact, Charcoal, Sans-Serif
Lucida Console, Monaco, Monospace
Lucida Sans Unicode, Lucida Grande, Sans-Serif
Palatino Linotype, Book Antiqua, Palatino, Serif
Tahoma, Geneva, Sans-Serif
Times New Roman, Times, Serif
Trebuchet MS, Helvetica, Sans-Serif
Verdana, Geneva, Sans-Serif
MS Sans Serif, Geneva, Sans-Serif
MS Serif, New York, Serif

jeff

Century Gothic. Doesn't look like it but feels like it.
(Gosh, had this problem for a long time)

Dear Somethingffs: That's great! glad i'm not the only one.