First of all, don't write HTML, write XML instead. Just make sure all CSS and attribute-value pairs inside tags are in lower case, and don't begin class names with numbers. HTML only browsers, ie: generation 5 and below, can't read extensified tags (element which you define as you go along, hence extensible), so they ignore them and render just the HTML they understand. The advantage of XML is that custom font work a lot better.

Then, on your webpage simply download an Opentype or Truetype font file to the user's machine automatically by using javascript. The user logs onto the page; the custom font(s) download to their temporary internet files folder. Then CSS can work its magic, referencing a custom font here or there.

Platform compatability is NOT an issue; if you use the modern Opentype format font the Mac and the PC read them just fine. The same is generally true of Truetype, except for some older Macs and TTFs.

Also, since the rendering is done by the user agent (the browser), platform and more importantly OS issues are not as big a factor as many developers precieve them to be. A good developer, someone who really knows their stuff, goes to www.w3c.org the home of the World Wide Web Consortium, and downloads the official specifications for the languages HTML, CSS and XML. It amazes me how many web developers aren't even aware of this.

Making bitmaps to get custom fonts is lots of fun, and you can get very creative and commercial graphic artwork has its place in webpage design, but downloading fonts or specifying them as resouces on a server is extremely efficient and is nowdays pretty much a reality, ie: it's reliable, it works.

And don't forget to have fun building them webpages.


Regards, James