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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.

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Monotype Partners with Google to Offer New Design Tool to Web Font Customers

Monotype Integrates Free Public Version of its Typecast Design Tool with Google Fonts' Website to Help Designers Create Beautiful, Readable Web Content

WOBURN, Mass., Oct. 31, 2013 – Monotype Imaging Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: TYPE), a leading provider of typefaces, technology and expertise for creative applications and consumer devices, has teamed up with Google to encourage creative experimentation in Web design. A new, free public version of Monotype's Typecast™ application can now be accessed through Google Fonts, helping users to create better quality Web typography.

"Great design starts with exceptional typography, and easy access to type is essential for creative expression," said Chris Roberts, vice president and general manager of Monotype's e-commerce group. "Our goal is to make designing with Web fonts more accessible to everyone. So we've partnered with Google to reach out to more designers. Those who currently rely on Google's library of free typefaces to bring more varied typography to the Web will now be able to work with those typefaces more easily and create stunning, readable compositions in a fraction of the time."

"Choosing a typeface in isolation, without the context of content or other text, is a difficult task," said Filip Zembowicz, product manager at Google. "The Typecast design tool makes it easy to try out and experiment with font pairings from the Google Fonts directory."

The award-winning, premium version of the Typecast application enables typographic experimentation without the need to hand code or use expensive design can software. In this new public version, users are able to select any font on the Google Fonts website and then follow the link to the Typecast application. From there, designers can work with that font (and the complete Google Fonts library) on text of any length and use a wide range of type controls to build clear, readable type systems through adjustments such as font size, weight and line spacing. Designers can also work with Web fonts side-by-side to quickly see at a glance what's working and what's not. Users are able to create more realistic compositions with floats, clears, margins, and padding controls, and a number of effects are available such as background colors, borders and text shadows. In this free version of the Typecast application, a user's work can be exported as production-ready HTML and CSS, or PNG files, to share with others or merge with comps.

"I'm delighted that fans of Google Fonts are now able to use this new, free version of the Typecast application," said Paul McKeever, director of Typecast. "Google's service is incredibly popular, and many designers' first experience with Web fonts is made possible through their free library. In our drive to encourage more use of Web fonts online and offer a new way to access the Typecast application, Google Fonts is the ideal partner. We hope that our free public version will foster more type lovers and over time cultivate more typography advocates. We think that's good for the Web, clients, readers and designers everywhere."

Monotype's premium version of its Typecast application starts at $29 per month. Google users can upgrade at any time to take full advantage of the thousands of other typefaces available in the app, including fonts from Fonts.com Web Fonts, Typekit, Webtype and Fontdeck. The premium version also allows users to save their work, publish designs to a URL for sharing and testing on devices, and create a style guide for projects with just one click.

Further information about the Typecast application and Google Fonts is available at http://typecast.com/google-fonts.