User Guide

share a similar appearance. Typical methods of
categorization consist of measures such as thickness of
stroke, angle of the stroke, roundness of letterforms, and
many other dimensions which lie beyond the scope of this
guide. Before the advent of Fontographer, the number of
typefaces available for Windows was limited.
Family
When speaking about a group of related fonts, we shall use
the word family to describe a related group of faces. The
Goudy Oldstyle family used in the text of this manual
consists of four fonts: Goudy Oldstyle-Plain, Goudy
Oldstyle-Bold, Goudy Oldstyle-Italic, and Goudy
Oldstyle-BoldItalic.
Font
A font (derived from “found,” as in typefoundry) of type is
a particular style of type in one body-size and one style of
face. For Windows, the distinction between fonts and faces
is not always straightforward. Since the distinction
between face and font is not clear, we feel justified in
using the term “font” to describe both a particular size of a
face, and the underlying face itself. When talking about the
face in the abstract sense, we shall continue to use the
word “face” in its proper sense.
Point size
A letter’s type size is measured by its point size. The point
system of type measurement was invented in 1737 by
Pierre Fournier, a Parisian typefounder. Fournier’s unit of
measurement was 0.349 mm. In modern desktop
publishing, a point is defined as 1/72 of an inch.
The point size of a font is measured as the distance from
the ascent line to the descent line. A 14-point font
measures 14 points from its ascent line to its descent line.
Sans serif
This manual’s section headings are sans serif (without
serifs). Sans serif type is generally considered more
modern, while serif type is considered more readable.
Some typographers have referred to sans serif typefaces
as “grotesque.” In the United States, sans serif letters
Fontographer User's Manual
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