After the color, the font is probably the most basic property of a page. On this page I won't show any "tricks," but I will show the range of font variations that CSS allows.
Since not all fonts are available on all computers (there are thousands of fonts, and most are not free), CSS provides a system of fallbacks. You list the font that you want first, then any fonts that might fill in for the first if it is unavailable, and you should end the list with a generic font, of which there are five: serif, sans-serif, monospace, cursive and fantasy.
The following table shows examples of various fonts (your browser may not know all of them) and you can see what your browser does with each of the five generic ones:
| 'sans-serif': normal fonts without serifs | |
|---|---|
Verdana, sans-serif
| The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog |
Arial, sans-serif
| The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog |
Helvetica, sans-serif
| The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog |
Gill Sans, sans-serif
| The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog |
Lucida Grande, sans-serif
| The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog |
Helvetica Neue, sans-serif
| The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog |
sans-serif
| The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog |
| 'serif': normal fonts with serifs | |
Times, serif
| The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog |
Times New Roman, serif
| The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog |
Georgia, serif
| The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog |
Palatino, serif
| The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog |
New Century Schoolbook, serif
| The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog |
serif
| The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog |
| 'monospace': fixed-width fonts | |
Andale Mono, monospace
| The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog |
Courier New, monospace
| The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog |
Courier, monospace
| The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog |
Lucidatypewriter, monospace
| The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog |
Fixed, monospace
| The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog |
monospace
| The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog |
| 'cursive': fonts that emulate handwriting | |
Comic Sans, cursive
| The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog |
Zapf Chancery, cursive
| The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog |
Coronetscript, cursive
| The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog |
Florence, cursive
| The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog |
Parkavenue, cursive
| The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog |
cursive
| The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog |
| 'fantasy': decorative fonts, for titles, etc. | |
Impact, fantasy
| The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog |
Papyrus, fantasy
| The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog |
Oldtown, fantasy
| The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog |
Blippo, fantasy
| The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog |
Brushstroke, fantasy
| The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog |
fantasy
| The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog |