Easiest font on the eyes?
 

What is the general concensus on which font is the easiest to read? I was just fooling with my e-mail, trying to find a font i like to read, and I got fed up. Can you help me out?

There are clearly fonts that are NOT good for reading, but as far as a good one, there are many. You want something with letters that are defined, but not rigid, and i think the size of the font is the most important part. depending on your monitor and resolution somwhere between 12-18 is a good size makes it easier on your eyes and most people with glasses may even be able to read it easier.
For extended periods of typing or reading my favorites are:
ZapfEllipt BT
Microsoft Sans Serif

Thanks again W2. I was wondering about size of font too. I read Guy Kawasaki's blog and he did state that a lot of people use too small of a font.

Easiest to read
 

Arial black used at an appropiate size is perfect
not very adventurus but easy going on the eyes

Whatever font you use, be sure to enable ClearType
 

Its been even scientifically proven to increase productivity.

Just check out this research project from the University of Texas - http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/~ct/

Cleartype should always be enabled (especially if you have an LCD monitor), so once you do that all fonts should look nice. However, research does prove that serif fonts (like Times or Georgia) are easier to read because of the curves they have and sans serif font put a little bit more strain on your eyes, because their characters don't 'flow'.(well I've read about this... so I don't have a link or anything like that except the wikipedia one).

However according to me, if you plan on reading the text on the computer then i think sans-serif fonts look the best, and if you are planning to print something out (like say, print out the e-mail) then serif fonts are better (that's why newspapers, books etc use serif). And like William says it should be about 12px, so that you don't need to strain a lot.

I would say Times New Roman and also Arial. They are the basic ones, but they are very easy to see and read, and the size mainly is 12.

I'm a big fan of several fonts.

Tahoma
Georgia
Verdana
Trebuschet MS
Times New Roman

Arial is so bland and boring, in my opinion. I usually always remove Arial as the default font in my Office applications.

i agree...i think these two are the usual fonts used... and i don't really like fooling around with these things unless i need too...:)

I read somewhere that Ariel, Times new roman and MS sans serif are the most appropriate fonts for reading and font size 12 is good I suppose

Size 12 is definetly good, but my prefered font is Verdana. The tests are interesting, but maybe it's all about tastes and what people are used too. I just turned ClearType on, and I don't like it much.

The easiest font to read is "Verdana". This is the font which is being used in this forum...The advantage with this font is that the characters are very clear and there is less chance of mis-interpretation of the letters..

I have several favorites, but readability has a lot to do with the medium. On screen readability is not the same as printed by any means. For printed media in large blocks of text, I suggest Baskerville or Garamond. Large bodies of text should be in a serif font.

I would rank the top 10 fonts for printed text (large bodies of text) this way (favorite to least favorite).
1. Garamond
2. Baskerville (or New Baskerville)
3. Book Antiqua
4. Georgia
5. Goudy Old Style
6. Acanthus
7. Caslon
8. Atlantix
9. Bauer Bodni
10. Century Schoolbook

For titles or fancy text I would say go with:
1. Bernhard Modern
2. DeVinne
3. Tiffany

For a sans serif you can't go wrong with Arial, but Swiss is also really nice.

In a pinch, for a serif font, Dutch is also good. I tend to avoid CG Times, Times and Times New Roman if I can, because it is just WAY over used (my opinion), plus I do not find it that easy to read. I have much less eye fatigue reading Garamond or Baskerville.

I prefer Courier New because not only is it a serif font, but it is mono spaced. I like to give 'i's as much space as 'w's and 'q's.

For on screen reading I suggest Dutch, Goudy Old Style or Georgia for your serif fonts. Arial, Helvetica or Swiss for your sans serif fonts

Personally i prefer the DejaVu Fonts.
I think that is looks just right for reading.:)

Easy fonts to read?
 

My own eyesite is diminishing, and after several trials with different fonts, I found that Comic Sans/12 point seems to allow me more time on my "beast" without undue eyestrain.

All the best,
Mel

That's under restricted access- is there quote from the paper or something similar that open access.

Here you go the url has been fixed
http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/~ct/