456 Chapter 26 – Embedded Font TechnologyOpenType (for Internet Explorer)
Web Design in a Nutshell, eMatter EditionFile Format
Embedded OpenType (.eot)
Technology
Microsoft has chosen to have the operating system handle font rasterization,
font scaling, anti-aliasing, and hinting. OpenType “font objects” are down-
loaded to the client machine and referenced by the browser.
Font Embedding Tool
Microsoft’s WEFT (Web Embedding Font Tool) is a Windows NT application
that can be downloaded for free athttp://www.microsoft.com/typography/free.
htm
HTML Code
.eotfiles are embedded via a special style sheet entry using the@font-face
function. The following code gives the proper syntax for embedding fonts
with a style sheet.
<STYLE TYPE="text/css">
<!--
@font-face {
font-family: font name;
src: url(url of the font);
}
-->
</STYLE>
In this example, the font object for Interstate Bold (calledinterbd.eot)is
embedded in the document via a style sheet.
<STYLE TYPE="text/css">
<!--
@font-face {
font-family: Interstate Bold;
src: url(font/interbd.eot);
}
-->
</STYLE>
MIME type
Internet Explorer uses thesrc:(url)attribute in CSS2 to access font informa-
tion, therefore, no new MIME type needs to be established on the server.
Security (Protecting Font Copyrights)- OpenType honors TrueType Embedding permissions (don’t embed,
print/preview only,editable embedding,orinstallable) set by
the foundry that created the font. (Note, there is no embedding permis-
sions system for Type1 fonts.) - Embedded OpenType files contain domain identifiers (same as TrueDoc),
which prevent web pages from downloading or linking.eotfiles on other
Servers
Possible security flaw: Because the font information is downloaded to the
client’s operating system, it was discovered quickly after OpenType’s
release that any user can access the font and install it for uses other than
reading the web page (in other words, font piracy). In late 1997,