Dingbats
aren't just dizzy dames like Edith Bunker--they are decorative symbols or
glyphs in stylized fonts used by printers and designers to beautify pages and
add interest. In a dingbat, or "ornamental" font, each letter and
character on a keyboard can be used to represent a design, so that that image
appears every time you type the corresponding letter.
There are thousands of
dingbat fonts available for download on the Internet. Some are already
included with the set of fonts that come installed in computers. Many of the
designer fonts available are "shareware" or "freeware" ,
meaning that anyone can use the images freely by permission of the designer at
little or no cost. Other fonts must be purchased in order to use them for
commercial purposes; many fonts will come in a .zip file that contains the
font (.ttf) file itself plus information about the artist and the conditions
of use. Its important to respect the copyrights of all
artists and authors, and to give credit where credit is due.
One of my favorite fonts
is an interlocking set called Kitchen Tile that was designed by Gabrielle
Gaither, who's condition for commercial use was $5 and name credit. (It
only costs $2.00 for non-commercial use!) As a courtesy, I sent her a copy of
the book in which the information about her font appeared.
Other favorites include
almost all of the fonts available through House
of Lime. The designs there are not freeware, but can be used for personal
use--just read her terms there. Many of the designs must be resized using
photoshop or another image editing program to make them suitable for using as
transfers, etc. Line Dings and Knot Maker, designed by Brian Kent of Aenigma
Fonts are some of my other new favorites. These are both examples of fonts
that interlock. Knot Maker can be used to create intricate Celtic knots, as
shown in the image above. (Its "code" is revealed later in this
page) All the dingbat fonts are useful both in creating interesting pages
destined for print media, for decorative elements on web pages...and for the
creation of tools for paper or polymer clay like transfer art or rubber
stamps. Here are a few of my favorite places to gather dingbat and other
kinds of fonts.
This is an example of
two glyphs from the interlocking dingbat font Kitchen Tile at the 72 pt. size.
It includes "aAaAaA" on one line, and a second line is fitted into
place underneath with "AaAaAa". Gabrielle's font Quilters Delight
also interconnects this way.
Installing Fonts
There are several of ways to install Fonts. When they come in a .Zip file, you
need a program like WinZip to un-compress the folder. This is available for download
at: http://www.winzip.com
(Many thanks to Brian
Kent for permission to use his instructions here)
The quick and easy way
to install the font is to just Unzip and place the font file [.ttf] into your
Windows\Fonts directory.
Another method for
Windows 95/98/NT) is as follows:
1] Unzip the Font(s) to
a folder (or somewhere, just remember where
you unzipped it) on your Computer.
2] Next, click on the
START button, then select SETTINGS then
CONTROL PANEL.
3] When the Control
Panel Window pops up, Double Click on FONTS.
4] When the FONTS window
pops up, select File then Install New Font.
5] An Add Fonts window
will pop up, just go to the folder that you
unzipped the Font(s) to, select the Font(s) and then click on OK.
Now the Font(s) are installed.
Using the Character
Map
In addition to the
normal upper and lower case letters, symbols, and numerals seen in most fonts,
some also have additional symbols and characters that you might want to use
but that don't have a dedicated key on your keyboard. To view all of these,
you can use the Character Map application that comes with Windows. If you have
Character Map installed in Windows it usually be found under:
Start
Menu/Programs/Accessories/System Tools
This application is
simple to use. The font name is listed at the top with a drop down menu of the
all fonts you have installed on your system. The individual characters are
shown very small, but when selected with a click, you see a larger version.
Highlight the character that you want and the program tells you the keystroke
in the lower left status bar. You can copy and paste it, or use the Type
command in Photoshop to select the characters you want to use. The Character
Map application can be dragged and dropped onto your desktop for frequent use.
You can also make
yourself a "cheat-sheet" which is very helpful for those who like a
larger and more permanent visual record. To make mine, I used Microsoft Word
from the Office Suite of programs. If you have Word, you can download and use
the file I created called FONT
TABLE.doc to make and print your own reference pages.
To Use The Font Table
Save the file to your computer, then open it in Word. The file consists of a
table 12 columns wide and 16 rows long. The columns are divided into sets of
pairs, with the characters each shown in Arial 12 point type in the left and
the same character in 36 pt. type on the right. This gives you one small and
one big version of each. Click at the top of the column starting with a large
lower case "A" and select the entire column. Then use the drop down
font menu and choose your desired dingbat font--with that one click that
selects, the entire column will change to that font, while keeping the smaller
version to the left in Arial for comparison. You can then do this for every
large sized column. The quick and easy way is to use the Format
Painter---while your newly changed column is still highlighted, click the
cursor on the paintbrush icon on the tool bar and then immediately click to
choose the next column of large sized type----viola; it changes to the new
dingbat font. ONLY change the large sized columns, and you will have your
cheat sheet. Print it out and collect them all a notebook for ease in visual
use. I notate the name of the font and the size of the displayed font on the
printout, as some require being done at a larger size like 72 pts. to really
be able to see them well. If you don't have MS Word you can probably do this
same thing with another word processing program.
My favorite way to use
dingbats is with Adobe Photoshop, where I get the absolutely best quality
image, and can work with it the most. When creating designs to use for making
ReadyStamp rubber stamp and matrix tray sets, I want a 300 pixels per inch for
the best resolution. Open Photoshop, choose FILE, NEW, and from the dropdown
menu PRESET choose LETTER. This should give you a 8 1/2 by 11 inch letter
sized file in which you have a white background and 300 pixels per inch. If
you work with a smaller resolution, your print outs may be distressingly tiny.
Choose Bitmap or Grayscale for your Color Mode, and the file will be between 1
and 8 M; if you leave it at RGB it will be many times larger for no good
reason--- rubber stamps are created using black and white art.
If
you want to use color for web or print images, you can reduce the size of your
working canvas to create smaller files.
Here's the lower case
"b" and "o" characters from Kitchen Tile.
I used the type tool to
create the line "bobobob" and then used a second Layer to type in
"obobobo" in order to stagger the design.
A
third layer was created just like the first (you can use the Duplicate Layer
command here) and all were carefully moved to create seamless joins in each
line.
The resulting black and
white design is ready to be used in making a clay transfer, PHOT-EZ silkscreen
stencils, or rubber stamps that can be purchased from a wonderful Cerebral
Palsy Association sheltered workshop company called Ready
Stamp.
At
left is a set of images I recently had made into stamps. These are using
characters from fonts called "Linedings" and "Deco
Borders".
I'll use them with
polymer clay to create miniature furnishings for
dolls, beads and designer jewelry, tiles for mosaics
and many other applications.
When having your own
stamp sets made, you can fit in as many images as possible into a 7" by
9" rectangle, and have them reproduced in uncut rubber stamps and matrix
tray form for only $32 plus S/H!
For more information
about Ready Stamp read the web page built specially for these fabulous
tools...they are my ABSOLUTE FAVORITES, and I support the company
wholeheartedly and urge you to give them a try.
When using dingbat
fonts, remember that you can put different bits and pieces together from more
than one font, and you can create collaged images all your own. Try changing
the size of the font, or its orientation----when displayed vertical
orientation rather than horizontal the differences can be very useful! Another
great tip is to select the image, choose IMAGE, then ADJUSTMENTS, the choose
INVERT.
This gives you the
negative of the image, as is seen in the Celtic Knot at the beginning of this
page. 
If
you were to cut and paste the characters using the font Knot Maker as follows
you would get this image:
1¼YTTY½2
ÀËofepÊÁ
Wm4_`3mX
SkauualS
SibuubjS
Wn2_`1nX
ÂÉohgpÈÃ
3¾ZTTZ¿4
Putting each line of
type on a separate Layer allows you to manipulate how closely they are joined
and create a seamless image.
Do be
aware that collecting fonts, and particularly dingbat fonts, can be VERY
addictive. I have over 900 fonts,
with 100 dingbat fonts, and I am only beginning. Many people have far more,
and having them all active on your computer can seriously slow down
performance. You can keep many of them inactive until you need to use them,
especially once they begin to really add up.
