Type – In the past, type was used to refer to the different forms used to create the font, such as metal or wooden blocks. Today, type is a general term involving the shape or design of letters.

Typeface – A specific design of type is known as the typeface family or classification, such as Arial. A typeface is more specific and involves the family and form, such as Arial Black.

Font – A font is the specific size and form of a particular typeface, such as Arial Black 12pt.

Anatomy of Type

Every curve, curl, and swirl of type letters has a name. Here are the main categories and subcategories:

1. Counters – the white space within letters, such as the bowls in “b”s and “d”s or the space within a “c.”
   
   • Eye – the counter of a lowercase “e.”
   • Aperture – counters that are open, such as with “c”s and “y”s.
2. Serifs – the extra strokes on letters.
   
   • Ear – a flag on the upper right corner of the bowl of a letter (such as with a “g”).
   • Chin – such as on a capital letter “G,” the right angled stroke on a capital letter.
   • Spur – an extra tag at the end of curved letters.
   • Beak – similar to spur, a beak is a more pronounced stroke at the end of the arms of letters.
3. Strokes – basically the connecting lines and curves on letters.
   
   • Arm – a horizontal line on a letter that is not used to connect to another line, such as with “F.”
   • Tail – any stroke on a letter that descends below the line, such as with “g” or “p.”
   • Stem – the supporting vertical line of a letter.
   • Extender – the part of a letter that reaches above or below the line of text.
   • Crossbar – the horizontal line between two stems of a letter, such as with a capital “A.”
   • Cross-stroke – the line used to cross “t”s and “f”s. 

Sans Serif vs. Serif

You may have heard that sans serif fonts and serif fonts differ in appearance and use, but do you really know how and why? Here’s a quick overview:

Sans serif type do not contain any extra strokes, known as flags and tags, on the tips of the letters. Simply put, the lines are straight, such as with the Arial typeface. Without these flags and tags, sans serif type can be more difficult to read, which is why it’s best to use these typefaces at a large size, such as in headlines or subtitles.

Serif type contain the flags and tags on the tips of letters, such as with the Times New Roman typeface. The strokes help to lead a reader to one letter and, therefore, word to the next, making longer blocks of text easier to read. This is why serif typefaces are used in body text – the strokes create a flow and readability.

Type Alignment

When placing type on the page, don’t forget these basic alignment rules for design:

• Use margins.
• Keep line lengths short using columns if necessary.
• Left-justify for even lengths on both sides of type.
• Use bullets to break up long paragraphs.
• Select the widow/orphan control to avoid hanging paragraphs at the beginning and end of pages.
• Create white space between blocks of text to lead the reader to the next section.
• Do away with old-fashioned typewriter rules: no more double-hard returns and double-spacing after punctuation.
• Only use centered text when absolutely necessary, such as with invitations.

Type Formatting

Format your fonts appropriately for the purpose of the text:

• Use a larger size for headlines.
• Create even spacing between words and letters with kerning/tracking tools.
• Avoid all caps.
• Use only the bold/italic version of a text rather than using the bold/italicize tool from the font format window.
• Keep font size appropriate to the age of readers and the size of the document.
• Choose only two to four different fonts to use in a single document.
• Use typefaces that are easy to read.

Type Printing Tips

Fonts are one of the most common problem-causers when sending a document to print. Find out which of the following fonts your printing company accepts and send a copy of the file for each font you use. This will save you the headache of having to go back and fort when trying to print out a poster printing project.

1. OpenType Fonts – Also known as OTF fonts, this is the new version of fonts that transfers between a Mac and PC. All of the data needed for the font is contained in a single file. The files will have either an .otf or .ttf suffix.
2. Type 1 Fonts – Still the most commonly used font file in desktop publishing, Type 1 Fonts use separate files for the screen and printing version. Send both file versions to your printing company. In Windows, the file icon appears as a dog-eared page with a lower case “a”; the printing version is a .pfb and the screen version is a .pfm. For a Mac, the file icon appears as a dog-eared page with a capital letter “A” for the bitmap version, while the outline version appears as horizontal lines with the capital letter “A” in front.
3. TrueType Fonts – Like an OTF font, TrueType fonts use one file for the font data. Unlike OTFs, TrueTypes for PCs are not compatible with Mac TrueTypes. The file is known as TTF in Windows and looks like a dog-eared page containing two capital letter “T”s overlapping. For a Mac, the file is named SFNT and looks like a dog-eared page containing three letter “A”s, all in descending sizes.