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I'm looking for a good font to use on a small display (lower than 200x200px). The screen is black and white only, so I can't use anti-aliasing.

I use several font sizes (between 14px and 24px), lower case and upper case, and Gimp 2.8 to render the font. It's better if it is not a monospaced font.

What font is more suitable for my purpose?

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  • If that matters, I use Gimp to render the font and generate bitmap for each character, then each bitmap is encoded is a C source file.
    – user4780495
    Commented Jul 29, 2016 at 6:53
  • To illustrate the problem with my current font, see the bad rendering of the small characters : here.
    – user4780495
    Commented Jul 29, 2016 at 7:59
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    You can edit your question to add more information and images at any time. If you want to know more about the site check the help center.
    – Luciano
    Commented Jul 29, 2016 at 8:57
  • Since you're making bitmaps anyway, what about manually modifying problematic characters by hand?
    – Scribblemacher
    Commented Jul 29, 2016 at 13:20
  • I could do that, but 26 characters x 2 cases x 3 font sizes too check can be laborious. I would prefer a clean and automated process. I did manually edit some special characters, like ⚠.
    – user4780495
    Commented Jul 29, 2016 at 14:39

3 Answers 3

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My approach would be to look at pixel fonts

https://www.google.com.mx/search?q=pixel+fonts

The problem you will have is that on a pixel font, you can not control different sizes, you have for example a font of 10 px and that is it. You probably can not have it in another size.

But a cool workaround would be not to use Gimp, but to use a text editor. For example, Notepad++, and then configure your working font there. Settings > Style

enter image description here

I use a lot Verdana and it looks nice at 11px. Make some tests to see the size of the ascenders and descenders.

You can test any font on your system this way.

Another font that was designed for screen, before the sub-pixel era was Tahoma, and probably Calibri. Take a look at the Classical "Web safe" fonts.

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-2

To build on the other answers, a font should be chosen for the particular purpose it's needed for.

What I mean is, a lingerie ad would use a different font than a security company mailer.

The font should complement and support the objective of the message.

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    I'm open to criticism. Why was my answer voted down? Please teach me.
    – DocPixel
    Commented Aug 5, 2016 at 17:47
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    Your answer is quite generic and vague; the question is very specific. You're not answering what's being asked.
    – Luciano
    Commented Sep 24, 2018 at 8:32
-3

Liberation Mono works pretty well for this.

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    Can you edit to expand your answer to explain a bit more? Why do you think this is a good font for that?
    – Luciano
    Commented Sep 24, 2018 at 8:30

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