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05-fonts Page 2 Thursday, April 1, 1999 11:08 AM
Using Fonts to Format Your Document
Basic Concepts
A font is a collection of characters and symbols that
possess similar basic characteristics, called attributes.
Different fonts have different attributes, so you can
usually see the differences between fonts quickly. Some
of these attributes are described below.
Typeface
A typeface is a family of fonts that share a distinct
design. Within that family, there can be variations such
as
•
Character width (e.g., condensed or extended)
•
Character weight (e.g., light or demi)
•
Style (e.g., bold, italic, or Roman/upright).
As illustrated below, the Times typeface is quite distinct
from the Helvetica typeface.
Times
Helvetica
Examples of variations within a typeface are illustrated
below using the Times family. Variations can include
Times Roman
Times Bold
Times Italic
Times Bold-Italic
5–2
User's Guide
Font
A font is a single character set (such as Times Italic)
within a typeface. A typeface, in contrast, may include
many fonts.
Symbol Set
A symbol set is the specific set of characters and
symbols that are in the font. A symbol set is designed
for use in a particular application or to meet a special
need. For example, some are for word processing, while
others are exclusively for mathematical, technical, or
foreign language applications. The 31 symbol sets
resident in the Silentwriter 1760/65 are listed on
page 5-14.
Spacing
Fonts have either fixed or proportional spacing. Fixed
spacing provides each character the same amount of
space. Proportional spacing provides each character a
space relative to its size and shape, which improves the
appearance or legibility of the text.
Pitch
Pitch is the number of printed characters per inch (cpi).
Each character occupies the same amount of space,
which is determined by the character width used in the
font. Pitch applies only to fonts using fixed spacing.
Point Size
Point size is the unit of measure that describes character
height. There are 72 points in an inch and 12 points in a
pica. Characters are measured from the top of the
uppercase to the bottom of the lowercase letters.
Style
Style describes the angle of the character, such as Roman
(upright) or italic (slanted) type.
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