sIFR, or scalable Inman Flash Replacement is a technique for displaying typography on the web, without requiring your visitors to install the font you’d like to use.

I really like sIFR + the Dynamic Rendering module. It gives you an opportunity to add some extra style and creativity with fonts in your design. Just don't use it too much, since its Flash.

So I was setting up sIFR on a site today and could'nt get it working for the life of me.  I had it all set up, uploaded my fonts, set up my rules, didn't work. Added other fonts I knew worked on this site... still no go. So, when all else fails consult d.o. Found out by reading the issues for the Dynamic Rendering module that if a font file has a hyphen in it, it crashes the sIFR javascript.  Just deleted the fonts via the font manager, changed the file name and re-uploaed, and it worked. I love simple solutions!

Here are some more sIFR tips to help you along the way...

You'll need to turn your True Type Fonts into an swf file so that sIFR can render them. Use this online tool to generate the swf: http://www.sifrgenerator.com.  You can download a tool here: http://www.coffeecup.com/sifr-font-maker/

Your fonts also need to be True Type Fonts, ttf. Here is an online converter: http://onlinefontconverter.com/  Also checkout Font Forge: http://fontforge.sourceforge.net/

Here is a treasure! You can download a bunch of fonts already converted to an swf movies from these sIFR font libraries: http://www.isarie.com/?p=17 & the best repository I've found is sIFR Vault - http://sifrvault.com/

If you are finding that the width or height needs to be adjusted, try adjusting the fitExactly argument in the js... check out JavaScript Methods. There are lots of links to other useful pages there too.

A biggie here... if you have a font that is wider than it is tall you may end up with problems such as the last couple of characters wrapping. Add letter-spacing via css. In the same vein, if you find that the last couple of letters are totally disappearing and you have the wide fonts going on, check to see if you  have the margin set via the module. That could throw it off too.

This go around sIFR was kicking my butt... but... we made it through. Its never good to look outside the relationship when things get rocky, but I have to admit that I did. Check out the Signwriter module as one of the many options to Dynamic Rendering & sIFR. Here is a list of ten others from SmashingMagazine.com.

Give sIFR a try and let me know how it goes. If you have any problems or if you have questions hit me up - if I can't help you, I will commiserate with you!

Here are some helpful links...

sIFR Tutorials
   http://www.wakeuplater.com/website-building/use-your-own-fonts-a-simple-sifr-guide.aspx
Download the latest release and a helpful blog
   http://novemberborn.net/sifr3
For a full description visit the project page:
  http://drupal.org/project/render
Bug reports, feature suggestions and latest developments:
  http://drupal.org/project/issues/render

Other tools that help things go smoother...
Chocolate and Stella!   :)