The key to picking a font size is to not go so small that your audience cannot read it and to not to go so large that it breaks your lyrics up in too many unwanted places. Ideally you want to choose a font size that is comfortably legible when viewed from the back of your auditorium.
A proper font size will be between 32 to 64 points for a 4:3 screen and 48 to 96 points for a 16:9 screen. However, your font, software, operating system and screen resolution will all have an influence in determining the right value for your situation. Determine a single font size that works well within your space and stick with it.
Some other key points to consider when choosing the perfect font size are:
- Find the smallest font size that is comfortably legible from the back of your auditorium. There is no need to use oversized text if it is unnecessary. Large type is overpowering and gives the impression that you are yelling at your community.
- Too small of a font can lead to less community participation. When a word is small and difficult to read the human mind perceives it as less important.
- Spend some time testing different font sizes in your auditorium.
It cannot be stressed enough to keep a consistent font size throughout your presentation and especially within one song. As you switch between slides you never want the size of your text to change. Using different font sizes will break the visual consistency. Do not increase your font size to fill space just because a line is short. It is preferable to have more of the background (or negative space) showing than to fill the screen with larger text.
Two questions to ask when determining the best font size for your environment are:
- Is anyone squinting their eyes when reading your slides?
- Can you comfortably read all your text from the back of the room?
Common complaints for projected lyrics are that the text is too small and
it cannot be read from the back of an auditorium. In this case you will want to reexamine your situation and increase your default font size accordingly. If standard font sizes still do not make the lyrics legible for the elderly or visually impaired, try printing out songbooks to meet the needs of your community. This will accommodate their needs without having to resort to excessively large text on your screen.
The environment in which you are projecting will have an influence on the font size you choose. For example, a long narrow room with small screens will require a larger font, while a cinema theater with large screens in a relatively shallow space will require a smaller font.
Avoid Small Fonts
If your environment has an undersized screen in relation to your room size, you might have a problem with your text being too small.
A few ideas to help allow for larger text are:
- Break up lines of text at natural points and put less text on the screen at one time
- Decrease the tracking (letter spacing) of your text
- Use a narrower font
To learn more worship lyric projection best practices read The Worship Media Handbook.
