New Feature: Download SWF Files, Free sIFR Fonts!

I am proud to announce that each of the 1000+ sIFR fonts that power Font Burner are now available for download! You will now see a “Download SWF” link on every page that you can use to download all the free sIFR fonts available on Font Burner. To some of you that makes perfect sense, but for most of you, swf font files require a little more explanation. Allow me to fill in the blanks for you…

Font Burner is powered by over 1000 sIFR font swf files. Until now these sIFR font files have been silently working behind the scenes to bring rich typography to your website. This is perfect for the average person, but there has been a growing demand for the ability to download the actual sIFR swf files so that people can host their own fonts rather than just linking to the font on Font Burner. Before I get to far ahead of myself let me define a few of the terms I keep using.

What is a .swf font file?
An swf file is a shockwave filed, otherwise known as a Flash file. An swf can be anything from a video to a website, to animation. In the case of Font Burner, the swf is basically an empty Flash file that contains an embedded font. By using a technology called sIFR the swf font files are used to switch ordinary headlines into the font embedded in the swf.

What is sIFR?
SIFR is what powers Font Burner. SIFR takes a .swf font file and uses it to switch your headlines from default fonts to the font of your choosing.

Now that we have defined sIFR and swf font files you may be asking what you would do next. Well, this is admittedly an advanced feature that will appeal to people that are comfortable customizing javascript. One of the challenges of siFR is that it requires you to own Flash and be able to create a sIFR swf file. These obstacles are what inspired Font Burner to create an easy way to add sIFR to your site without any of the hassle that typically accompanies using sIFR technology.

Unfortunately, in Font Burner’s current state it can be somewhat limiting in that the color choices and customizations just aren’t possible yet. Some people just want the .swf font files and can handle the customization on their own. For these power users the ability to download free swf font files is all they are really looking for.

All the .swf files are free for download. However, if you use a Font Burner Font it would be appreciated if you gave credit to Font Burner as well as the font designer on your site. I hope you enjoy this new feature!

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 21st, 2009 at 6:33 pm and is filed under Blog Entries. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.