When there are thousands of different font styles for free; there must be a catch somewhere.
That’s not the case here, however.
FFonts.net is a free font directory that places thousands of fonts in a wide range of categories at your fingertips to browse, preview, and download. All you need to do is search for specific fonts, or font styles of potential interest, preview and download them.
There’s more to it than that however. For example, when you’re previewing a font, you can write out a string of text in the space provided on the preview page to see what the font you’re considering looks like in actual use.
Font Categories
Finding a font among a selection that numbers in the 40,000 to 50,000 range could be a challenge; unless you know the name of the font, a helpful keyword, or the category in which the font might be located. FFonts has made it easier for you by categorizing roughly half of the fonts in their directory.
Currently, there are 87 different categories, ranging from a handful of different fonts in some categories, to several thousand in others. These categories range from those containing fairly standard fonts (Commercial fonts, Script fonts, or Regular fonts), to those featuring wild, weird, and wonderful fonts (Dingbat, Crazy, Decorative, Valentine, and Gothic). The FFonts mix of categories also includes Classic fonts, Computer fonts, Formal fonts, Retro fonts, and naturally; Serif and Sans Serif fonts.
An 88th category, “Uncategorized”, contains more than 25,000 fonts; enough to keep someone very busy should they every find the need to be better categorize them. The other 87 categories should serve you well however, but with an additional 25,000 fonts at your disposal, the probability of finding exactly the font you want is likely very close to 100%.
Searching For, Previewing, and Selecting a Font
To select a font, you can browse by category, by number or alphabetical listing, or by using the FFont.net search box. Browsing can be addictive however. Since there are many cool and unusual fonts you might like to add to your collection; which you can do of course; or add them to your wish list.
Impulse shopping can easily become habit forming; especially when everything is free. But anytime you come across a font you believe you can put to use sometime in the future, it only makes sense to download and save it.
When you come across a font you like, click on it for a preview. The preview shows uppercase, lowercase, the number (and a list) of characters, and options to download the font, add it to your wish list, or share it with a friend. As mentioned earlier, you can enter a string of text to see what the font will look like when put to actual use.
Downloading Fonts
You don’t have to register to download a free font. The only limitation is downloading a maximum of 50 font files per day. When you download one or more fonts, you’ll receive them as exec files. You may also receive ads and other information, since when you run the exec file, a zip file will be placed on your computer. When you open it, uncheck all the boxes and select “Custom Installation”; so you won’t have extra features you don’t need being loaded on to your computer.
These ads and extras are relatively common website practices whenever free downloads are involved; and at times you need to be careful what you click on.
The FFonts.net website provides detailed instructions for installing a font in Windows, in the Mac OS, and in Linux. Installing large numbers of fonts (1,000 or more) could slow down your computer; something to bear in mind.
If you’ve previewed and selected a number of fonts, by placing them in the wish list for example, you can download them by holding down the CTRL key and clicking on each font you want to store on your computer.
FFonts Premium Version
When you register for the Premium Version, you can download up to 200 font files per day, and up to 200 web font files per day. You can also download a collection of over 14,000 fonts; which you’ll receive in 3 zip files.
The Premium Version is ideally suited for heavy users. Since it does not have advertising, occasional users may consider its price, $29 per year, to be money well spent.
Is FFonts.net Safe?
The short answer is Yes, Very Safe.
McAfee has tested FFonts.net and has not reported any security issues. The same is true of Norton Safe Web’s findings, based on the Symantec analysis system; and Scam Advisor has given FFont.net a very high trust rating.
Summing It All Up
While thousands of fonts may seem excessive, as a designer, it pays to have all the available options and resources possible, whether they are in house, or easily accessible. Another advantage this free font website provides is that browsing its offerings can be a source of inspiration. Although websites are rarely designed around a given font style, fonts play a greater role in achieving a superior user experience than many people realize.
If you’re in the midst of a design activity, browsing this website could easily inspire you to make a change or two in the fonts you’re using, and come up with something that will turn out to be much more engaging.
