Glossary Term Links

Typography | Typeface | Typesize | Typeface Style | Fonts | Serif | Sans Serif | Font Sources | Bit Mapped Fonts | Outline Fonts | Scaleable Fonts | True Type Fonts | Leading | Kerning | Justification

Typography deals with the all aspects of the text of a document.

typography	the general character or appearance of printed matter
typeface	set of characters determined by shape, design and width of its letters, as Times Roman, Helvetica, Avant Garde, or Park Avenue. A typeface is either Serif or Sans Serif.
typesize	is measured in points (72 points to a vertical inch) or pitch, which is non-proportional (10 characters to the inch.) With points, the larger the number, the larger the typesize; with pitch (cpi or characters an inch), the larger the number, the smaller the typesize.
typeface style	variations in font attributes, such as bold, italics, and underlined

All typefaces are either

Serif

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

They have heading and trailing edges to aid in reading printed material.

or

Sans Serif

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

They have no heading and trailing edges. Sans Serif is the computer screen standard.

The term "Font" comes from the Latin for "pouring", referring to the molten lead that was poured in the matrix, or case, to form the letters for typesetting. There was a case for capitals (upper) and a case for small (lower) letters.

font	An all encompassing term referring to a complete set of letters, numbers, and symbols which appear in a particular typeface, type size, and type style.
font sources	Resident(installed on your computer);add-on(in an additional cartridge in your printer; soft fonts (stored on your hard disk and downloaded to your computer.
Bit mapped fonts	Characters are formed by arranging bits (pixels) in certain patterns. All sizes and styles must be stored as a separate bitmap.
Outline font	Mathematical descriptions, or algorithms, describe each character in the font as an outline, consisting of a series of points.
Scaleable font	The characters vary in size according to how far apart the points are drawn, but the description is the same for each character, regardless of its size.
true-type fonts	A set of scaleable outline fonts that are built-in with Windows microcomputer systems.

Kerning	character formatting that adjusts spacing between combinations of characters.
Leading	text formatting that adjusts the vertical spacing between lines of body of text.
Justification	paragraph alignment where both left and right edges are flush with the margin.

Typography Tips to Remember

Bitmap fonts print faster than outline fonts because the shape does not have to be generated from mathematical formulas.
There can be an infinite number of font sizes with Outline fonts since they are scaleable.
Outline fonts take less computing resources than bitmap fonts.
True Type fonts are scaleable from 2 points to 1200 points (16.5 inches high.)
True Type fonts are portable; they can be embedded with the document when it is saved to disk.
True Type fonts are "true" to their typeface, and are WYSIWYG ; printed, they will look basically the same as on the screen.

To investigate more about typography, visit the Microsoft Web site at www.microsoft.com/typography

©This page is copyrighted by Kathyrn A. Marold, August 29, 2007. Department of Computer Information Systems, Metropolitan State College of Denver. Unauthorized use is forbidden.