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This chapter defines common terms used in the description of fonts
and typefaces, and displays the printer’s resident typefaces.
Many of the terms and phrases used in desktop publishing are
derived from the language of professional printers and typesetters.
This section explains common words and phrases used when dis-
cussing typefaces.
A named design of a set of
printed characters, such as
Times, that has a specified
obliqueness (degree of slant)
and stroke weight (thickness of
stroke). It does not define a
particular size.
A group of similar typefaces.
For example, the Times
typeface family consists of four
typefaces: Times Roman, Times
Bold, Times Italic, and Times
Bold Italic.
A set of characters of the same
typeface (such as Times), style
(such as
italic
), stroke weight
(such as bold), and point size
(such as 10). Although you hear
the term “font” used more
generally, as if referring to a
typeface, it’s really a subset of a
typeface.
A collection of symbols
designed for various printing
applications. Many character
sets are composed of the
letters (uppercase and
lowercase A-Z), digits (0-9),
and any symbol (such as blank
space, dollar sign, and
ampersand). Other character
sets are composed entirely of
symbols.