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Google Fonts now lets you experiment with typefaces in a free app
Google has a lot of free fonts on offer, but it's hard to know how they'll look on a website without putting them into HTML code or buying a preview tool. It's now much easier to experiment with typefaces, however, as Google Fonts has just integrated a typography app. Designers can click a link to test a given font in a free, lightweight version of Monotype's Typecast; from there, they can try out new color combos, effects, sizes and weights. Those happy with their work can export code and save images, and they can subscribe to Typecast's $29 per month premium service if they need to create style guides or offer live web previews. Page creators only need to visit Google Fonts to start tinkering with their text.
Widget Watch: Type Cast font preview and info
This is one of those widgets that makes me wonder why Apple hasn't already made one. Type Cast is pretty simple and straight-forward: it's a font preview widget from Code Line Communications, makers of Art Director's Toolkit (amongst other things). This widget isn't short on capabilities either; you can navigate font families, styles and sizes with merely your keyboard, and you can even be taken directly to the font file in the Finder.The Type Cast widget is free and available from Code Line Communications here.
