Using fallback fontsįallback fonts are a good way to ensure that your email message displays as you intend.įor example, you specify Helvetica as your preferred font, and use font stacking to specify fallback fonts and a font family: td style='font-family: Helvetica, Helvetica Neue, Arial, Sans-serif' Let's look at the difference between using and not using fallback fonts. Even if your preferred font is a web-safe font, it will be replaced if the font is not available on the user's device. You might notice that when you test an email message, your choice of font has been replaced by a different one. Sans-serif fonts are considered easier to read on screens.

TIP: As you create a message, try a few different fonts to see how they suit your message. td style='font-family: Helvetica, Helvetica Neue, Arial, Sans-serif' The family type is commonly specified at the end of a list of fallback fonts, as shown. The 'family' concept lies in the fact that each font in the family has something in common with all of the others. There are several available font families, such as Sans-serif, Serif, and Monospace. td style='font-family: Helvetica, Helvetica Neue, Arial' Font families NOTE: Specifying fallback fonts is known as font stacking.īelow is an example of how to specify a preferred and fallback fonts. If none of the specified fonts are found, the default font is used. Fallback fontsįallback fonts are those that will be used - in the specified order - if your preferred font is not available on the user's device. Using fallback fonts and font families is a good way to ensure that your messages render how you intend, irrespective of the receiving device. One of the drawbacks to using a font that is not web-safe is that it is more likely to be substituted by browsers and email clients if that font is not present on the receiving operating system. However, some font families are considered 'web-safe fonts,' (e.g., Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, Georgia, Garamond,, and Courier New ) while others are not - and many web-safe fonts are pre-installed on a wide range of computer systems and devices.

There are thousands of fonts available for public use.

Arial font stack