Type in a web ad: pixels or points?
April 28, 2018 1:53 PM Subscribe
Is it accepted design standard to refer to fonts in a web-only ad by their pixel size or point size?
I've been asked to create some ads for the web and my clients want me to indicate the size of the type I use. Since it'll appear only on the web, would I be wrong to list the size in pixels rather than in points or would points still be the standard? Are fonts ever defined by their pixel size– it's an option in Photoshop, so there must be some use, right? Ultimately, the font will appear the same regardless but coming from a print background I'm not sure what the standard is for web design.
Any thoughts?
I've been asked to create some ads for the web and my clients want me to indicate the size of the type I use. Since it'll appear only on the web, would I be wrong to list the size in pixels rather than in points or would points still be the standard? Are fonts ever defined by their pixel size– it's an option in Photoshop, so there must be some use, right? Ultimately, the font will appear the same regardless but coming from a print background I'm not sure what the standard is for web design.
Any thoughts?
Pixel size may be somewhat more precise in the Web context; most of the web-dev work I've done had UI specs specified with pixels for fonts (and just about everything else). That said, with high DPI displays, browser "pixels" may not be the same as the actual pixels on a device.
posted by Aleyn at 2:34 PM on April 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by Aleyn at 2:34 PM on April 28, 2018 [3 favorites]
Use points because they are display independent. An e.g. 20 px character will look very different on an old VGA CRT and a new iPhone and a 10 year old LCD monitor. An e.g. 15 pt font (should) be roughly the same size on all.
posted by SaltySalticid at 5:21 PM on April 28, 2018
posted by SaltySalticid at 5:21 PM on April 28, 2018
One question...Will the text in the ad actually be live text? Or will the ads be static images?
posted by Thorzdad at 6:09 AM on April 29, 2018
posted by Thorzdad at 6:09 AM on April 29, 2018
From my experience as a web developer, pixels are going to be a consistently measurable thing. However, point sizes will only work if you are using the same font for every piece of text since point sizes appear different at heights for varying fonts.
posted by mtphoto at 7:10 AM on April 29, 2018
posted by mtphoto at 7:10 AM on April 29, 2018
Response by poster: Thanks for the responses. Some clarification: the type is embedded in the images and will NOT be live type. It'll appear in the raster images only, so no CSS or coding issues to worry about. I'm not setting standards for HTML, just listing what's built into the images.
posted by Jamesonian at 5:14 PM on April 29, 2018
posted by Jamesonian at 5:14 PM on April 29, 2018
So the point is completely moot then. List whatever you've used, as you've used it.
posted by humboldt32 at 12:36 AM on April 30, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by humboldt32 at 12:36 AM on April 30, 2018 [1 favorite]
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posted by humboldt32 at 2:20 PM on April 28, 2018