Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Free font resources

Here are some font resources you should be aware of:

Source Sans Pro

Source Sans Pro is Adobe's first "open-source" type family. The free sans serif type family is available in 12 styles, and includes a number of OpenType features such as fractions, old style numerals, and stylistic sets. As an open-source typeface, it is completely free to use for any private or commercial purposes. You can read more about the development of Source Sans Pro here.

Source Code Pro

Source Code Pro is a monospaced version of Source Sans Pro, available in 6 styles. You can read more about the development of Source Code Pro here. This is a free open-source font.

Type sample

Google Web fonts

Google Web fonts is a directory of "hundreds of free open-source fonts optimized for the web". However, as my friend Bob Levine pointed out recently, the fonts can also be downloaded in TrueType format for use in print or digital projects. To do so,

1. Visit www.google.com/webfonts, browse the fonts, and add one or more fonts to your collection.

2. Click the Download your Collection link in the upper-right corner of the Web page.

ScreenSnapz001

3. Follow the on-screen instructions to download the fonts in your collection as a zip file. You can then unzip the file and install the TrueType fonts on your system.

Source Sans Pro, Source Code Pro, and all the Google Web fonts are all licensed using the SIL Open Font License.  

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Great resource. I also like http://www.losttype.com/ for display fonts. They are a co-op of typographers with some great designs.

Inkling said...

Several years ago, I did the interior of a book with quite a few equations. Cobbling together the characters I needed on a Mac with the usual Adobe font additions proved to be woefully inadequate.

At the time I had not heard about the STIX fonts. Any chance Adobe might create a high-quality version of the STIX fonts, meaning one optimized for InDesign?

As the Wikipedia article points out, several major scientific and technical publishers use it and it has a fairly complete character set. But the last time I checked, it still came up a bit lacking.

The STIX project desperately needs some professional assistance. Every OS and every major layout app should ship with at least one font that has a large science/math character set.