Culture · 6 pages · 12 min
How a font differs from a typeface
A typeface is the design of the letters, and a font is the metal or the file that sets it.
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From the opening
A typeface is a design, related letterforms that share a structure, which is what a name such as Caslon points at. A font, in the composing room, was one concrete supply of that design at one size and one style, metal you could pick up and set. The opening covers design versus the setting object, metal fonts were one size, and a family may be several files.
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Inside
- Design versus the setting object
- Metal fonts were one size
- A family may be several files
- Substitution shows the split
- Where the idea stops applying
- A distinction worth keeping
Sources
- Metal fonts as size-specific type
- Digital font files as implementations of a typeface