A Little Bit About Fonts
(Just the basics)
What are fonts?
• A font is a family of typefaces such as “Times New Roman”
• A font can include multiple type faces, such as “Times New Roman Bold” and “Times New Roman Italic”
• Each typeface is created individually by a type designer.
Where are Fonts?Font files are stored on your computer in several locations
On the Mac:Library > Fonts
And Users > Username >Library > Fonts
Applications can have their own fonts too
Fonts on WindowsMostly in the Windows > Fonts folder, although occasionally inside a program folder
Managing Fonts
• The Mac comes with Font Book, but there are multiple 3rd party applications for managing fonts
• Windows has a very simple control panel. There are 3rd party applications for windows too.
Font Book on the Mac
Control Panel on Windows
A Little History
• Adobe developed Type 1 Postscript Fonts– These came in two parts: bitmap files for viewing
on screen and postscript files for printing
• Apple developed TrueType– These have both the screen rendering pieces and
the printer info in one file.– They are good for printing to printers without
postscript, like inkjet printers.
History Continued…• Apple Licensed the technology to Microsoft– MS TrueType fonts are in a slightly different format
and Windows can not use Mac TrueType fonts.
• Microsoft and Adobe teamed up to create OpenType format for fonts.– OpenType uses both postscript and TrueType
technologies– OpenType is cross platform and holds a lot more
characters (glyphs) than earlier formats.
A Little Bit About Typography
• Old style serif– Has serifs– Has a diagonal relationship between thick and thin
parts of the letters.
A Little Bit About Typography
• Modern style serif– Has serifs– Has a vertical relationship between thick and thin
parts of the letters.
A Little Bit About Typography
• Sans serif– Has no serifs
Sans serif
A Little Bit About Typography
• Script– Resembles hand letering
Script
A Little Bit About Typography
• Decorative– Anything goes…
A Few Typography Terms
• Leading – how much space between lines of text
• Kearning – how much space between letters• x Height – How tall is the lower case x in a
typeface• Decenders / Ascenders – letters that stick
below or above the x-height lines.