Dingbats aren't just dizzy dames like Edith Bunker--they are decorative
symbols or glyphs in stylized fonts used by printers and designers to beautify
pages and add interest. In a dingbat, or "ornamental" font, each
letter and character on a keyboard can be used to represent a design, so
that that image appears every time you type the corresponding letter.
There are thousands of dingbat fonts available for download on the Internet.
Some are already included with the set of fonts that come installed in
computers. Many of the designer fonts available are "shareware"
or "freeware" , meaning that anyone can use the images freely
by permission of the designer at little or no cost. Other fonts must be
purchased in order to use them for commercial purposes; many fonts will
come in a .zip file that contains the font (.ttf) file itself plus information
about the artist and the conditions of use. Its important to respect the
copyrights of all artists and authors, and to give
credit where credit is due.
One of my favorite fonts is an interlocking set called Kitchen Tile
that was designed by Gabrielle
Gaither, who's condition for commercial use was $5 and name credit.
(It's $2.00 for non-commercial use!) As a courtesy, I sent her a copy of
the book in which the information about her font appeared.
Other favorites include almost all of the fonts available through House of Lime. The designs there
are not freeware, but can be used for personal use--just read her terms
there. Many of the designs must be resized using photoshop or another image
editing program to make them suitable for using as transfers, etc. Line
Dings and Knot Maker, designed by Brian Kent of Aenigma Fonts are some
of my other new favorites. These are both examples of fonts that interlock.
Knot Maker can be used to create intricate Celtic knots, as shown in the
image above. (Its "code" is revealed later in this page) All
the dingbat fonts are useful both in creating interesting pages destined
for print media, for decorative elements on web pages...and for the creation
of tools for paper or polymer clay like transfer art or rubber
stamps. Here are a few of my favorite places to gather dingbat and
other kinds of fonts.
This is an example of two glyphs from the interlocking dingbat font
Kitchen Tile at the 72 pt. size. It includes "aAaAaA" on one
line, and a second line is fitted into place underneath with "AaAaAa".
Gabrielle's font Quilters Delight also interconnects this way.
Installing Fonts
There are several of ways to install Fonts. When they come in a .Zip file,
you need a program like WinZip to un-compress the folder. This is available
for download at: http://www.winzip.com
(Many thanks to Brian Kent
for permission to use his instructions here)
The quick and easy way to install the font is to just Unzip and place
the font file [.ttf] into your Windows\Fonts directory.
Another method for Windows 95/98/NT) is as follows:
1] Unzip the Font(s) to a folder (or somewhere, just remember where
you unzipped it) on your Computer.
2] Next, click on the START button, then select SETTINGS then
CONTROL PANEL.
3] When the Control Panel Window pops up, Double Click on FONTS.
4] When the FONTS window pops up, select File then Install New Font.
5] An Add Fonts window will pop up, just go to the folder that you
unzipped the Font(s) to, select the Font(s) and then click on OK.
Now the Font(s) are installed.
Using
The Dingbat Fonts
Using the Character Map
In addition to the normal upper and lower case letters, symbols, and
numerals seen in most fonts, some also have additional symbols and characters
that you might want to use but that don't have a dedicated key on your
keyboard. To view all of these, you can use the Character Map application
that comes with Windows. If you have Character Map installed in Windows
it usually be found under:
Start Menu/Programs/Accessories/System Tools
This application is simple to use. The font name is listed at the top
with a drop down menu of the all fonts you have installed on your system.
The individual characters are shown very small, but when selected with
a click, you see a larger version. Highlight the character that you want
and the program tells you the keystroke in the lower left status bar. You
can copy and paste it, or use the Type command in Photoshop to select the
characters you want to use. The Character Map application can be dragged
and dropped onto your desktop for frequent use.
You can also make yourself a "cheat-sheet" which is very helpful
for those who like a larger and more permanent visual record. To make mine,
I used Microsoft Word from the Office Suite of programs. If you have Word,
you can download and use the file I created called FONT
TABLE.doc to make and print your own reference pages.
To Use The Font Table
Save the file to your computer, then open it in Word. The file consists
of a table 12 columns wide and 16 rows long. The columns are divided into
sets of pairs, with the characters each shown in Arial 12 point type in
the left and the same character in 36 pt. type on the right. This gives
you one small and one big version of each. Click at the top of the column
starting with a large lower case "A" and select the entire column.
Then use the drop down font menu and choose your desired dingbat font--with
that one click that selects, the entire column will change to that font,
while keeping the smaller version to the left in Arial for comparison.
You can then do this for every large sized column. The quick and easy way
is to use the Format Painter---while your newly changed column is still
highlighted, click the cursor on the paintbrush icon on the tool bar and
then immediately click to choose the next column of large sized type----viola;
it changes to the new dingbat font. ONLY change the large sized columns,
and you will have your cheat sheet. Print it out and collect them all a
notebook for ease in visual use. I notate the name of the font and the
size of the displayed font on the printout, as some require being done
at a larger size like 72 pts. to really be able to see them well. If you
don't have MS Word you can probably do this same thing with another word
processing program.
My favorite way to use dingbats is with Adobe Photoshop, where I get
the absolutely best quality image, and can work with it the most. When
creating designs to use for making ReadyStamp rubber stamp and matrix tray
sets, I want a 300 pixels per inch for the best resolution. Open Photoshop,
choose FILE, NEW, and from the dropdown menu PRESET choose LETTER. This
should give you a 8 1/2 by 11 inch letter sized file in which you have
a white background and 300 pixels per inch. If you work with a smaller
resolution, your print outs may be distressingly tiny. Choose Bitmap or
Grayscale for your Color Mode, and the file will be between 1 and 8 M;
if you leave it at RGB it will be many times larger for no good reason---
rubber stamps are created using black and white art.
If you want to use color for web or print images, you can reduce the
size of your working canvas to create smaller files.
Here's the lower case "b" and "o"
characters from Kitchen Tile.
I used the type tool to create the line "bobobob" and then
used a second Layer to type in "obobobo" in order to stagger
the design.
A third layer was created just like the first (you can use the Duplicate
Layer command here) and all were carefully moved to create seamless joins
in each line.
The resulting black and white design is ready to be used in making a
clay transfer, PHOT-EZ silkscreen stencils, or rubber stamps that can be
purchased from a wonderful Cerebral Palsy Association sheltered workshop
company called Ready Stamp.
At left is a set of images I recently had made into stamps. These are
using characters from fonts called "Linedings" and "Deco
Borders". I'll use them with polymer clay to create miniature
furnishings for dolls, beads and designer jewelry,
tiles for mosaics and many other applications.
When having your own stamp sets made, you can fit in as many images
as possible into a 7" by 9" rectangle, and have them reproduced
in uncut rubber stamps and matrix tray form for only $32 plus S/H!
For more information about Ready Stamp read the web page built specially
for these fabulous tools...they are my ABSOLUTE FAVORITES, and I support
the company wholeheartedly and urge you to give them a try.
When using dingbat fonts, remember that you can put different bits and
pieces together from more than one font, and you can create collaged images
all your own. Try changing the size of the font, or its orientation----when
displayed vertical orientation rather than horizontal the differences can
be very useful! Another great tip is to select the image, choose IMAGE,
then ADJUSTMENTS, the choose INVERT.
This gives you the negative of the image, as is seen in the Celtic Knot
at the beginning of this page. 
If you were to cut and paste the
characters using the font Knot Maker as follows you would get this image:
1¼YTTY½2
ÀËofepÊÁ
Wm4_`3mX
SkauualS
SibuubjS
Wn2_`1nX
ÂÉohgpÈÃ
3¾ZTTZ¿4
Putting each line of type on a separate Layer allows you to manipulate
how closely they are joined and create a seamless image.
Do be aware--collecting fonts--and particularly
dingbat fonts---can be VERY addictive. I have over
900 fonts, with 100 dingbat fonts, and I am only beginning. Many people
have far more, and having them all active on your computer can seriously
slow down performance. You can keep many of them inactive until you need
to use them, especially once they begin to really add up.
