Fonts are also known as typefaces. Fonts have names, such as Helvetica, Times New Roman, and Bodoni. The word processor's default font (the font that your text appears in unless you specify otherwise) is Times New Roman.
Each font may appear in several sizes. Size is traditionally measured in points,
where a point is 1/72 of an inch. Here you can see some samples of different fonts in
assorted sizes:
Each font is unique, but there are a couple of convenient categorizations we can make.
A font is either proportionally spaced or non-proportional, referring to the relative widths of characters. Old-fashioned typewriters produced a non-proportional font; every letter or number used the exact same amount of horizontal space. Computers don't have the mechanical limitations of early typewriters, so most fonts on a computer are proportional, which tend to be more readable and more appealing. Still, there are times when you'll prefer to use a non-proportional font.
Another characteristic is the presence of serifs, which are small lines or flourishes abutting the main strokes of characters. Serif fonts contain them; sans-serif ("without serifs") fonts don't. Some fonts are not easily categorized, such as the font used for the title of your textbook, which widens at the end of each stroke but does not contain obvious serifs.
Most fonts contain upper- and lower-case letters, numerals, and basic
punctuation. Others, however, were created for other purposes. Symbol fonts are used to
print mathematical symbols; a Cyrillic font can print Russian letters; a Dingbats font
(such as Wingdings on your Windows machine) prints a wide variety of small pictures and
ornaments.
Copyright 1996 by the Curators of the University of Missouri