Font

Font Basics and Terminology - Etymology: The word 'font' derives from Middle French 'fonte' meaning 'something that has been melted; a casting.' - Metal type: In a manual printing (letterpress) house, the word 'font' refers to a complete set of metal type used to typeset an entire page. - Characteristics: Fonts may have different stroke widths, styles, character widths, and variations. The term 'Roman' can also refer to the language coverage of a font. Font Weight - Definition: The weight of a font refers to the thickness of the character outlines relative to their height. - Range of weights: A typeface may come in fonts of many weights, from ultra-light to extra-bold or black. - TrueType font format: Introduced a scale from 100 through 900, where 400 is regular. CSS and OpenType also use this scale for font weights. Font Styles and Attributes - Font Styles: Fonts can have multiple weights, smooth transitions between weights, and grades designed for different printing materials. - Font Slope: Sloped or slanted styles like italic and oblique are commonly used. Different styles exist for cursive-only scripts. - Other Style Attributes: Fonts can have digit styles, small caps, titling fonts, and separate character sets for Japanese syllabaries. Font Width and Optical Size - Font Width: Fonts can vary in width, with narrower fonts labeled as compressed or condensed, and wider fonts as wide or extended. - Optical Size: Versions of typefaces optimized for specific font sizes. Variable font technology allows for manual adjustment of optical sizing on a continuous scale. Font Metrics and Variants - Metrics: Font metrics include cap height, x-height, kerning, and sidebearings. Some fonts are duplexed, meaning multiple weights have the same character width. - Serifs: Some typefaces incorporate serif and sans-serif or intermediate slab serif fonts. Alternate capitals and drop caps are common in serif typefaces. - Character Variants: Typefaces may have different variants and alternative characters. Stylistic sets allow users to turn on and off related alternative characters. - Digits: Fonts can have multiple kinds of digits, including proportional and tabular figures. OpenType format allows for more flexibility in digit settings. Note: The content has been organized into 5 comprehensive groups, combining identical concepts. The facts, statistics, and detailed points have been retained.