Email Fonts and Size

Apreciar

Is there any consensus as to the best font to use for email and what size.
I have used Times New Roman and Aerial both at 12 font size but am not sure thay are the easiest for people to read with ease.

Vuze

In my experience, the best font size and type is Verdana at 12px (at least that is true for web pages but should apply equally well to emails).

tronator

Apreciar wrote: »

Is there any consensus as to the best font to use for email and what size.
I have used Times New Roman and Aerial both at 12 font size but am not sure thay are the easiest for people to read with ease.

It's only important if you send emails in HTML format and the recipient reads it in HTML. If you send emails as plain text, which is recommended in most cases anyway, or the recipient reads them as plain text, then it will be displayed as setup in his email client.

BTW: It's Arial, not Aerial

Owain_Moneysaver

No point sending me emails in Arial, TNR, Verdana - I have none of those typefaces on my system.

I do however have a filter to killfile anything in :rotfl: Comic Sans :rotfl:

Francesanne

Owain_Moneysaver wrote: »

No point sending me emails in Arial, TNR, Verdana - I have none of those typefaces on my system.

I do however have a filter to killfile anything in :rotfl: Comic Sans :rotfl:

My favourite font.

iamcornholio

It does not matter as the other person will have set their screen (or window)resolution to a size which they are comfortable with - typically so that something like 10pt Arial is readable to them

Lil306

My favs

Calibri
Candara
Bookman Old Style
Cambria
Century

I've also got my firefox configured to another font but can't remember off hand, it purely depends on the host O/S and email client what they have their fonts configured as.

DVardysShadow

Apreciar wrote: »

Is there any consensus as to the best font to use for email and what size.
I have used Times New Roman and Aerial both at 12 font size but am not sure thay are the easiest for people to read with ease.

My consensus is not to do html email. You are striving to make it easy for others to read - but you are not the best person to decide. Your recipients are the best people to make the decision. So use plain text and let them view it how they want to see it.

Leopard

As one with impaired vision in one eye, typefaces are a matter of great importance to me.

I hate serif embellishment, both on-screen and on printed paper.

My personal favourite is Lucida Sans. After much experimentation with others, that's what I have set in the Preferences of my email client (Mac Mail), my web browsers (Safari, Firefox, Camino and Opera), my RSS reader (NetNewsWire), iWork, Office (for Mac) and everything else that I'm able to configure. Except for spreadsheets; in which I still prefer Geneva 10.

I usually write the text of printed letters and documents in Lucida Sans and then paste it into stored templates as "unformatted text"; tidy it up and print it out – typically in Times New Roman.

A good way to compare them is to print out the same piece of text, about three hundred words in length, set out in paragraphs and containing every letter (in both upper and lower case), every number and every symbol that you use. In normal, in italic, in bold and in Bold Italic and in different sizes.

First examine every individual letter, number and symbol. Some which have nice letters don't have nice, or nicely-sized, numbers: eliminate them. Avoid, also, those which have an open "a" ("a") – it's too easily mistaken for an "o" (something that Apple should have thought about when naming the iPad). That said, a closed "a" can be mistaken, at speed, for an "s" and they're right next to each other on an English keyboard.

Then leave all the sheets of paper lying on a table, spread out, and go off and make a cup of coffee. When you come back, vision refocussed, glance quickly at all of them together. Some will instantly look better than others. Then put the four that you like best next to each other and compare them carefully.

I did this again, a couple of months ago, and found I still prefer Lucida Sans, overall, and Times New Roman for a seriffed typeface. Times New Roman is an incredibly clever and elegant typeface.

Ultimately, it's all about how easily, quickly and untiringly you can read text written in them for extended periods.

I'd be most interested to hear the views of graphics and print specialists on this one. Maybe they can suggest some others?