Device fonts

[BDUSTY]

Can anyone fill me in on the significance of Device fonts. What are they? How are they best used? What exactly are they?

[baby_annie]

Embedding font outlines via the Character Options dialog box ensures that the font you use in the authoring environment is the same one that your audience sees during playback. This operation is done by default for static text, but you must choose the option when you create input text or dynamic text. When you don't embed fonts in your movie, Flash uses the closest font available on your viewer's computer and displays it as aliased text.
Why wouldn't you choose to embed font outlines all the time? Embedding fonts dramatically increases the size of your exported SWF file, because the information needed to render that font is included. You can keep the file size down by embedding only the characters that your viewers will use in the text field. If you ask viewers to enter numeric information in an input text field, for example, you can embed just the numbers of the font outline. All the numbers would be available during movie playback; the other characters would be disabled and would not display at all.
Another way to maintain small file sizes and eliminate the problem caused by viewers' not having the matching font is to use device fonts. Device fonts appear at the beginning (Windows) or end (Mac) of your Font Style pull-down menu. The three device fonts are _sans, _serif, and _typewriter. This option finds the fonts on a viewer's system that most closely resemble the specified device font.
Following are the corresponding fonts for the device fonts:

On the Mac

*_sans maps to Helvetica.
* _serif maps to Times.
*_typewriter maps to Courier.

In Windows

* _sans maps to Arial.
* _serif maps to Times New Roman.
*_typewriter maps to Courier New.

When you use device fonts, you can be assured that your viewer sees text that is very similar to the text in the authoring environment. Be aware of two warnings about device fonts, however: They do not display antialiased, and they cannot be tweened or masked.
*The information above is from the book: Macromedia Flash MX Advanced For Windows and Macintosh: Visual QuickPro Guide*

[BDUSTY]

Wow, very comprehensive. I want to thank you for your excellent response. It is much appreciated!