1) sIFR, Cufon, image-replacement, etc. each have their own problems. Hard to setup, can't select the text, tedious to maintain, requires opening Flash CS4, etc.
2) @font-face is the future, but most paid font foundries refuse to support it b/c it requires the font file to be linked to on the server. So designers can legally use free fonts with @font-face but not fonts they've purchsed.
So, Typekit is an attempt to keep the font foundries happy by hosting the font file and preventing unauthorized downloading, while keeping an eye on ease-of-use and the future of the web by doing most of the @font-face heavy-lifting.
It supports text selection, requires zero thought once it's set up, and works in every major browser. The only major downside is that you need to convert each font to typeface.js' JSON font format, which adds a bit of heft.
At the same time of course, I definitely support what Typekit is trying to do, since most font foundries won't be happy with (m)any other solutions. Too bad this discounted pricing won't last!
Forgive me if I'm missing something obvious, but how does it prevent unauthorized downloading? It looks like the font gets base64 encoded and put right into a CSS file?
1) sIFR, Cufon, image-replacement, etc. each have their own problems. Hard to setup, can't select the text, tedious to maintain, requires opening Flash CS4, etc.
2) @font-face is the future, but most paid font foundries refuse to support it b/c it requires the font file to be linked to on the server. So designers can legally use free fonts with @font-face but not fonts they've purchsed.
So, Typekit is an attempt to keep the font foundries happy by hosting the font file and preventing unauthorized downloading, while keeping an eye on ease-of-use and the future of the web by doing most of the @font-face heavy-lifting.