Notes
The example text is set as font-size:12px;. The <h2> heading is set as font-size:1.34em;
If you do not have a font installed on your machine the text will render in this font stack "Andale Mono", "Lucida Console", monospace.
See the entry A Word About Font Stacks for information about fonts, font stacks, and web typography.
These are the Core Web Fonts included on both Mac and PCs
Comic Sans has been left because it’s, how shall I put this... because it’s just too comical.
Impact is included but is really only usable for headings.
Helvetica font stack: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif
This Is An <h2> Heading
Quickly, a brown fox jumped over the lazing dogs. 483 + 579 = 1062
Times font stack: Times, "Times New Roman", serif
This Is An <h2> Heading
Quickly, a brown fox jumped over the lazing dogs. 483 + 579 = 1062
Courier font stack: Courier, "Courier New", monospace
This Is An <h2> Heading
Quickly, a brown fox jumped over the lazing dogs. 483 + 579 = 1062
Trebuchet font stack: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif
This Is An <h2> Heading
Quickly, a brown fox jumped over the lazing dogs. 483 + 579 = 1062
Verdana font stack: Verdana, sans-serif
This Is An <h2> Heading
Quickly, a brown fox jumped over the lazing dogs. 483 + 579 = 1062
Georgia font stack: Georgia, serif
This Is An <h2> Heading
Quickly, a brown fox jumped over the lazing dogs. 483 + 579 = 1062
Impact font stack: Impact, sans-serif
This Is An <h2> Heading (with a font weight of normal)
Quickly, a brown fox jumped over the lazing dogs. 483 + 579 = 1062
These are safe font stacks
Lucida Sans is not a core font, but Lucida Grande is installed on all Macs and Lucida Sans Unicode is installed on all Windows machines. Lucida Sans is installed by Micrsoft Office on both Macs and PCs and the reason it is listed first is because some versions contain true italics. If you see the word lazing with a single bowl italic “a” instead of a slanted double bowl “a” then you have Lucida Sans installed.
The Gill Sans stack should work on most all computers. Gill Sans comes on all Macs and Gill Sans MT is installed with Microsoft Office, and Calibri (which is a good stand-in for Gill Sans) is one the core Vista fonts and is installed with both Office Windows and Office Mac. And lastly, if all else fails, use Trebuchet.
Lucida Sans font stack: "Lucida Sans", "Lucida Grande", "Lucida Sans Unicode", sans-serif
This Is An <h2> Heading
Quickly, a brown fox jumped over the lazing dogs. 483 + 579 = 1062
Gill Sans font stack: "Gill Sans", "Gill Sans MT", GillSans, Calibri, "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif
This Is An <h2> Heading (with a font weight of normal)
Quickly, a brown fox jumped over the lazing dogs. 483 + 579 = 1062
Somewhat safe font stacks
Actually the Minion stack is very safe because Minion’s metrics are similar to Times. Besides it being more elegant then Times, it is much more readable then Times, if you use Times, then you’re better off using Minion. Minion Pro™ is installed by all Adobe products.
Century Gothic is installed by Microsoft Office on PCs and with some Mac versions, and AppleGothic is installed on all Macs. Lastly, for PCs without Century Gothic use Arial.
Apple Chancery is installed on all Macs and Monotype Corsiva is installed by all Microsoft software products.
To be safe include Georgia as the last font and set the font style to italic font-style:italic;
The chancery fonts do not have an italic so they won’t be affected by the italic styling.
Minion font stack: "Minion Pro", Times, "Times New Roman", serif
This Is An <h2> Heading
Quickly, a brown fox jumped over the lazing dogs. 483 + 579 = 1062
Century Gothic font stack: "Century Gothic", AppleGothic, Arial, sans-serif
This Is An <h2> Heading
Quickly, a brown fox jumped over the lazing dogs. 483 + 579 = 1062
Cursive font stack: "Apple Chancery", "Zapf Chancery", "Monotype Corsiva", Georgia, cursive
This Is An <h2> Heading (with a font weight of normal and a font style of italic)
Quickly, a brown fox jumped over the lazing dogs. 483 + 579 = 1062 (with a font style of italic)
Mac font stacks
Optima is installed on all Macs, and Candara, which is a decent stand-in for Optima, is one of the core Vista fonts and is installed with both Office Windows and Office Mac. And lastly, if all else fails, use Trebuchet.
For elegent headings Helvetica Neue Light is a great choice. Helvetica Neue is installed on all Macs, and some Windows machines may have it, but this stack will fall back to Helvetica/Arial.
Optima font stack: Optima, Candara, "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif
This Is An <h2> Heading
Quickly, a brown fox jumped over the lazing dogs. 483 + 579 = 1062
Helvetica Light font stack: "Helvetica Neue Light", HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif
This Is An <h2> Heading (with a font weight of normal)
Quickly, a brown fox jumped over the lazing dogs. 483 + 579 = 1062