Using Bold Fonts

One way to grab attention in a sea of words is to set some text in bold fonts. It is heavier, darker than regular type. Bold fonts are used for emphasis to make certain words and phrases stand out from surrounding text. Here's How:

1. Emphasize with bold fonts. Use bold fonts for emphasis, to highlight important points.
2. Use restraint when using bold type. Whole paragraphs of text set in bold type are hard to read. The reason bold type creates emphasis is that it slows down the reader and forces their eye to really take in the words more carefully. But if you slow them down too much they may just skip over what you have to say.
3. Create contrast by using bold fonts. Use bold fonts for headlines to increase the contrast between headlines and body text.
4. Use bold fonts to aid skimming of instructional text. In some instances it is useful to readers to have titles, proper names, or key terms in a manual within a block of copy highlighted with bold for ease in scanning.
5. Avoid fake bold fonts. Set type in the bold (or heavy) version of a typeface rather than using the bold style function of your software. If a true bold version of a font is not installed the software creates a weaker fake bold.