User`s guide

Some Basic Facts about Fonts
6-5
Appendix
6
Some Basic Facts about Fonts
This section summarizes some of the basic facts you should know about fonts.
What Is a Font?
A font is a collection of letters and symbols used when printing a document. In
general, a group of letters and symbols sharing a common design is referred to as a
font. A font consists of the letters A to Z in both upper and lowercase, as well as
numerals and symbols.
The design that distinguishes one font from another is referred to as a “typeface.”
Each font has a typeface name, such as Courier, CG Times, Letter Gothic, etc.
Attributes of Fonts
All fonts share some common characteristics, called “attributes.” The typeface is
one such attribute. The letters and symbols that are actually printed are determined
by these attributes.
Typeface
The design of the letters (e.g. Courier, CG Times, Helvetica, or
Gothic).
Stroke Weight
The thickness of the lines with which the letters are drawn (e.g.
bold, medium, or light).
Style
Whether the letters are drawn straight or at an angle (e.g.
upright or italic).
Point Size Height of the letters (e.g. 10 point or 5 point).
Pitch (cpi)
Number of characters that are printed in one inch (e.g. 10 cpi,
12 cpi, or Scale).
Character Width (Fixed/
PS)
Indicates whether the character width is set to “Fixed” or
“Proportional.”
Orientation
Orientation of the characters on a page (“Portrait” or
“Landscape”).
Symbol Set
The rule that defines the correspondence between the character
codes coming from the host computer, and the letter forms that
appear on the page (e.g. Roman-8).