What is the one Tagxedo feature that you love the most? I heard many said good things about the user experience, Jpg export, large selection of fonts and themes, abundance of knobs, and the history mode. But to me, I love Tagxedo's shape handling capability the most, by far.

Fitting words into shape is a very hard problem, and the mathematics and engineering behind it is complex. In the FAQ, I mentioned that there is a tradeoff between how words are sized, and how tightly the words fit the shape (see the discussion about "Emphasis" and "Tightness"). For better shape fitting, Tagxedo chooses a default emphasis of 0.60. In a more "standard" approach where font sizes are proportional to the frequency, the emphasis should be 1.00 instead (e.g. Wordle).

I'm a big fan of Wordle, and I appreciate the visual impact of a higher emphasis as shown in the Wordle clouds. Important words are prominently highlighted, loud and clear. So I decided to add a "Classic" mode to Tagxedo. When you select the "Class Cloud" -- as if you just choose another shape -- there are some adjustment to the parameters behind the scene, and the end result is a word cloud more in the style of Wordle. To go back to the "Tagxedo" mode, just choose a shape!

Visually stunning just the same, only in different ways. Give it a try!