Typecast web fonts-led design tool officially launched

Monotype has launched the commercial version of Typecast, a browser-based tool for designing Web pages with Web fonts.

The Typecast application launches commercially after a year and a half in private and public beta programs, bringing desingers a tool that aims to save time and create better quality Web typography. It can access web fonts from Typekit, Fontdeck, Webtype and Google Web Fonts, as well as Monotype's Fonts.com.

Web designers are able to combine, compare and style Web fonts quickly without performing screen captures in third-party applications or through hand coding. Users can visually style text directly within the browser, which Monotype says offers more scope for creative experimentation, better typographic control and a simplified workflow.

As designers work, Typecast software generates production-ready HTML and CSS code behind the scenes. When designers are ready to start building their sites, they can export that HTML and CSS, plus generate embedded code that will serve their project's typefaces to their site.

Designers can set styles such as font size, line spacing and colouring, and also apply OpenType features such as ligatures, small caps, fractions, lining and old style figures, and swash characters. Designers are able to try fonts on real, full-length project content, not just short snippets. Using side-by-side comparison and testing, designers can see at a glance what's working and what's not.

Prices start at $29 per month for an individual plan, and all plans include a free standard subscription to Fonts.com Web Fonts worth $10 per month.

Monotype's bought Typecast's developer Design by Front last October, and the service continues to be developed from Belfast, Northern Ireland.