Re: [NTG-context] What are the best fonts to use
Cecil, thanks for asking this question. Even though the answers may/will be subjective, it is quite likely that there are people here who have given some thought to font choice. I agree with previous responses that reading a book on typography would certainly be helpful. Nevertheless, I am interested in hearing what fonts people like (if they do not mind sharing). I, and perhaps some others, may learn about a few fonts. Bharat On Mon, Mar 14, 2011 at 8:31 PM, David Rogers davidandrewrog...@gmail.com wrote: * Cecil Westerhof cldwester...@gmail.com [2011-03-14 12:44]: At the moment I use for my ebook: \usetypescript[palatino][texnansi] \setupbodyfont[palatino,rm,12pt] Does not look to bad, but layout is not my forte. So if people have tips about the fonts to use, I like to hear them. Do you use other fonts when using a printed book? I don't think this question can have one answer. There are many good answers, depending on the kind of book (or other printed material). 1. I think the layout of the page itself can have a great deal to do with whether a certain font looks good (e.g. amount of white space, length of lines, etc). Paying proper attention to the gross aspects of your layout, such as margins and line heights, goes a long way to improving the appearance of the whole work, and brings out the best in whichever font you choose. 2. To some extent, different fonts can suit different material (e.g. a book of poems vs a financial report, or a textbook vs a novel). For extended reading, the conventional wisdom is to choose a normal-looking font that doesn't call attention to itself too much, but obviously you also want one that is at least somewhat attractive to look at. 3. Frankly, giving people what they are already used to is often the best plan - probably more often than typographers would care to admit. In my opinion, variation for its own sake is over-rated and over-used. -- David ___ If your question is of interest to others as well, please add an entry to the Wiki! maillist : ntg-context@ntg.nl / http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context webpage : http://www.pragma-ade.nl / http://tex.aanhet.net archive : http://foundry.supelec.fr/projects/contextrev/ wiki : http://contextgarden.net ___ ___ If your question is of interest to others as well, please add an entry to the Wiki! maillist : ntg-context@ntg.nl / http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context webpage : http://www.pragma-ade.nl / http://tex.aanhet.net archive : http://foundry.supelec.fr/projects/contextrev/ wiki : http://contextgarden.net ___
Re: [NTG-context] What are the best fonts to use
Dear all, In light of the question on fonts I have wondered how ConTeXt deals with this Monotype Baskerville 11/12.5 pt or Monotype 11 on 12 point Bembo that I see at the beginning of books. Are there commands to achieve this. There probably are but I haven't recognised them. Thanks, Charlie On 16 Mar 2011, at 11:45, Curiouslearn wrote: Cecil, thanks for asking this question. Even though the answers may/will be subjective, it is quite likely that there are people here who have given some thought to font choice. I agree with previous responses that reading a book on typography would certainly be helpful. Nevertheless, I am interested in hearing what fonts people like (if they do not mind sharing). I, and perhaps some others, may learn about a few fonts. Bharat ___ If your question is of interest to others as well, please add an entry to the Wiki! maillist : ntg-context@ntg.nl / http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context webpage : http://www.pragma-ade.nl / http://tex.aanhet.net archive : http://foundry.supelec.fr/projects/contextrev/ wiki : http://contextgarden.net ___
Re: [NTG-context] What are the best fonts to use
Hi, Graphic designers describe in this way the font-size and linespacing. So one can do things like this: \definedfont[Baskerville at 11pt]\setupinterlinespace[line=12.5pt]... Willi On 16 Mar 2011, at 13:50, Charles Doherty wrote: Dear all, In light of the question on fonts I have wondered how ConTeXt deals with this Monotype Baskerville 11/12.5 pt or Monotype 11 on 12 point Bembo that I see at the beginning of books. Are there commands to achieve this. There probably are but I haven't recognised them. Thanks, Charlie On 16 Mar 2011, at 11:45, Curiouslearn wrote: Cecil, thanks for asking this question. Even though the answers may/will be subjective, it is quite likely that there are people here who have given some thought to font choice. I agree with previous responses that reading a book on typography would certainly be helpful. Nevertheless, I am interested in hearing what fonts people like (if they do not mind sharing). I, and perhaps some others, may learn about a few fonts. Bharat ___ If your question is of interest to others as well, please add an entry to the Wiki! maillist : ntg-context@ntg.nl / http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context webpage : http://www.pragma-ade.nl / http://tex.aanhet.net archive : http://foundry.supelec.fr/projects/contextrev/ wiki : http://contextgarden.net ___ ___ If your question is of interest to others as well, please add an entry to the Wiki! maillist : ntg-context@ntg.nl / http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context webpage : http://www.pragma-ade.nl / http://tex.aanhet.net archive : http://foundry.supelec.fr/projects/contextrev/ wiki : http://contextgarden.net ___
Re: [NTG-context] What are the best fonts to use
Ah Willi, It is quite clear now. I did think along those lines but wasn't sure. Thank you very much, Charlie On 16 Mar 2011, at 12:59, Willi Egger wrote: Hi, Graphic designers describe in this way the font-size and linespacing. So one can do things like this: \definedfont[Baskerville at 11pt]\setupinterlinespace[line=12.5pt]... Willi ___ If your question is of interest to others as well, please add an entry to the Wiki! maillist : ntg-context@ntg.nl / http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context webpage : http://www.pragma-ade.nl / http://tex.aanhet.net archive : http://foundry.supelec.fr/projects/contextrev/ wiki : http://contextgarden.net ___
Re: [NTG-context] What are the best fonts to use
Am 2011-03-16 um 13:59 schrieb Willi Egger: Graphic designers describe in this way the font-size and linespacing. So one can do things like this: \definedfont[Baskerville at 11pt]\setupinterlinespace[line=12.5pt]... But use bp instead of pt - TeX's point is smaller than a PostScript point, we had that recently... see also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_(typography) Greetlings from Lake Constance! Hraban --- http://www.fiee.net/texnique/ http://wiki.contextgarden.net https://www.cacert.org (I'm an assurer) ___ If your question is of interest to others as well, please add an entry to the Wiki! maillist : ntg-context@ntg.nl / http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context webpage : http://www.pragma-ade.nl / http://tex.aanhet.net archive : http://foundry.supelec.fr/projects/contextrev/ wiki : http://contextgarden.net ___
Re: [NTG-context] What are the best fonts to use
Thank you Hraban, It is falling into place now. Charlie On 16 Mar 2011, at 13:18, Henning Hraban Ramm wrote: But use bp instead of pt - TeX's point is smaller than a PostScript point, we had that recently... see also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_(typography) ___ If your question is of interest to others as well, please add an entry to the Wiki! maillist : ntg-context@ntg.nl / http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context webpage : http://www.pragma-ade.nl / http://tex.aanhet.net archive : http://foundry.supelec.fr/projects/contextrev/ wiki : http://contextgarden.net ___
Re: [NTG-context] What are the best fonts to use
Hi, I recently started to dabble in typography. There's a lot to learn there. The proposed book sure is a good start, but there are also lots of online resources (e.g. www.typophile.com - their forum is filled with interesting discussions about your question). What I've learned in the last months is that there are no hard rules - only guidelines. When it comes to choosing a font for a book, it depends (like already mentioned) on the kind of book. A dragon-fantasy book may take a different font than a childrens book or a futuristic novel. Compare for example Monotype Centaur to ITC Stone Serif. Then again, the font should not distract from the contents of the book, but it can help adding a little soul to it. You also have to consider the features you need. Do you need greek or russian characters? Do you need small caps? How is the ligature support? Maybe oldstyle numbers would be nice? Do the italics please you or are they too fancy and somehow don't fit in? How many cuts (italic, semibold, bold) do you need? Another tip would be: go to the library or check the books you own for a pleasing design and adopt it (I think in this case, copying/ stealing is a good thing ;). Sometimes the typeface used is mentioned on the publishing information on the first couple of pages. If not, use www.whatthefont.com and a scan/photo to identify or use www.identifont.com with the QA system. And theres always the list of more or less safe fonts (no claim to be complete): Arnhem Bembo Caslon Dante Fournier Garamond Goudy (Old Style) Hoefler Text Janson Text Minion Palatino Sabon Stone And finally: Your budget. Are you willing to buy fonts? That would probably come in at 30-60 bucks (but that's nothing if you are serious aboutt your book). If not, some of the above can be obtained for free (still being commercial fonts, e.g. Minion with Adobe Reader, Hoefler Text is on Mac OSX...) but only a few are really free. Apart from the TeX-fonts I can thing of Linux Libertine (not resticted to Linux, despite the name), Vollkorn or some from The League of moveable type. As a final inspiration, this beauty: http://fontsinuse.com/moby-dick-the-arion-press-edition/ Take care, Christian Am 20:59, schrieb Curiouslearn: Cecil, thanks for asking this question. Even though the answers may/will be subjective, it is quite likely that there are people here who have given some thought to font choice. I agree with previous responses that reading a book on typography would certainly be helpful. Nevertheless, I am interested in hearing what fonts people like (if they do not mind sharing). I, and perhaps some others, may learn about a few fonts. Bharat On Mon, Mar 14, 2011 at 8:31 PM, David Rogers davidandrewrog...@gmail.com wrote: * Cecil Westerhofcldwester...@gmail.com [2011-03-14 12:44]: At the moment I use for my ebook: \usetypescript[palatino][texnansi] \setupbodyfont[palatino,rm,12pt] Does not look to bad, but layout is not my forte. So if people have tips about the fonts to use, I like to hear them. Do you use other fonts when using a printed book? I don't think this question can have one answer. There are many good answers, depending on the kind of book (or other printed material). 1. I think the layout of the page itself can have a great deal to do with whether a certain font looks good (e.g. amount of white space, length of lines, etc). Paying proper attention to the gross aspects of your layout, such as margins and line heights, goes a long way to improving the appearance of the whole work, and brings out the best in whichever font you choose. 2. To some extent, different fonts can suit different material (e.g. a book of poems vs a financial report, or a textbook vs a novel). For extended reading, the conventional wisdom is to choose a normal-looking font that doesn't call attention to itself too much, but obviously you also want one that is at least somewhat attractive to look at. 3. Frankly, giving people what they are already used to is often the best plan - probably more often than typographers would care to admit. In my opinion, variation for its own sake is over-rated and over-used. -- David ___ If your question is of interest to others as well, please add an entry to the Wiki! maillist : ntg-context@ntg.nl / http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context webpage : http://www.pragma-ade.nl / http://tex.aanhet.net archive : http://foundry.supelec.fr/projects/contextrev/ wiki : http://contextgarden.net ___ ___ If your question is of interest to others as well, please add an entry to the Wiki! maillist : ntg-context@ntg.nl / http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context webpage : http://www.pragma-ade.nl / http://tex.aanhet.net archive :
Re: [NTG-context] What are the best fonts to use
On 16 mrt. 2011, at 17:51, Christian meta...@gmx.de wrote: And finally: Your budget. Are you willing to buy fonts? That would probably come in at 30-60 bucks (but that's nothing if you are serious aboutt your book). If not, some of the above can be obtained for free (still being commercial fonts, e.g. Minion with Adobe Reader, Hoefler Text is on Mac OSX...) Be sure to read the license for those: many of these bundled fonts are only 'free' for use within the application they came with. I am pretty sure that is the case for the Adobe Reader fonts. Best wishes, Taco ___ If your question is of interest to others as well, please add an entry to the Wiki! maillist : ntg-context@ntg.nl / http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context webpage : http://www.pragma-ade.nl / http://tex.aanhet.net archive : http://foundry.supelec.fr/projects/contextrev/ wiki : http://contextgarden.net ___
Re: [NTG-context] What are the best fonts to use
Good point. Metadata of the font says its licene can be found here: http://www.adobe.com/type/legal.html Be sure to read it. It's probably best to check with Adobe before using it commercially or just buying it. But at least you can try out the font in context, which is already a plus. Other commercial fonts can only be judged from specimen, and not in your own text environment. Cheers, Christian Am 20:59, schrieb Taco Hoekwater: On 16 mrt. 2011, at 17:51, Christianmeta...@gmx.de wrote: And finally: Your budget. Are you willing to buy fonts? That would probably come in at 30-60 bucks (but that's nothing if you are serious aboutt your book). If not, some of the above can be obtained for free (still being commercial fonts, e.g. Minion with Adobe Reader, Hoefler Text is on Mac OSX...) Be sure to read the license for those: many of these bundled fonts are only 'free' for use within the application they came with. I am pretty sure that is the case for the Adobe Reader fonts. Best wishes, Taco ___ If your question is of interest to others as well, please add an entry to the Wiki! maillist : ntg-context@ntg.nl / http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context webpage : http://www.pragma-ade.nl / http://tex.aanhet.net archive : http://foundry.supelec.fr/projects/contextrev/ wiki : http://contextgarden.net ___
Re: [NTG-context] What are the best fonts to use
On Mon 14 Mar 2011, Cecil Westerhof wrote: At the moment I use for my ebook: \usetypescript[palatino][texnansi] \setupbodyfont[palatino,rm,12pt] Does not look to bad, but layout is not my forte. So if people have tips about the fonts to use, I like to hear them. A discussion about ‘best fonts’ might be long and entertaining, but highly subjective and probably off-topic for this list. MkIV lets you easily use any OTF font, so the selection is huge. One way to approach it is to draw up a list of requirements (matched Greek/Cyrillic, companion math fonts, small caps, etc., and of course price if you are considering non-free fonts) and narrow the range. For the ‘traditional’ TeX fonts, I find that http://www.tug.dk/FontCatalogue/ is a good resource. Once you've narrowed your list according to objective measures, it's a matter of taste. I'd recommend reading Robert Bringhurst's /The Elements of Typographic Style/ as a good way to start thinking more deeply about these things. And there are (I am sure) other mailing lists where discussion of the best fonts would be entirely appropriate. Do you use other fonts when using a printed book? Some fonts (e.g. a lot of Microsoft ones) are specifically designed to look acceptable on a computer screen (very low-resolution compared to print), though that doesn't necessarily mean that they look bad on paper. So if you're designing for both screen and paper, screen is probably the tighter constraint. (I am still very much an amateur when it comes to typography, so please do not take this as anything like expert advice.) Hope this helps, Pont ___ If your question is of interest to others as well, please add an entry to the Wiki! maillist : ntg-context@ntg.nl / http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context webpage : http://www.pragma-ade.nl / http://tex.aanhet.net archive : http://foundry.supelec.fr/projects/contextrev/ wiki : http://contextgarden.net ___
Re: [NTG-context] What are the best fonts to use
* Cecil Westerhof cldwester...@gmail.com [2011-03-14 12:44]: At the moment I use for my ebook: \usetypescript[palatino][texnansi] \setupbodyfont[palatino,rm,12pt] Does not look to bad, but layout is not my forte. So if people have tips about the fonts to use, I like to hear them. Do you use other fonts when using a printed book? I don't think this question can have one answer. There are many good answers, depending on the kind of book (or other printed material). 1. I think the layout of the page itself can have a great deal to do with whether a certain font looks good (e.g. amount of white space, length of lines, etc). Paying proper attention to the gross aspects of your layout, such as margins and line heights, goes a long way to improving the appearance of the whole work, and brings out the best in whichever font you choose. 2. To some extent, different fonts can suit different material (e.g. a book of poems vs a financial report, or a textbook vs a novel). For extended reading, the conventional wisdom is to choose a normal-looking font that doesn't call attention to itself too much, but obviously you also want one that is at least somewhat attractive to look at. 3. Frankly, giving people what they are already used to is often the best plan - probably more often than typographers would care to admit. In my opinion, variation for its own sake is over-rated and over-used. -- David ___ If your question is of interest to others as well, please add an entry to the Wiki! maillist : ntg-context@ntg.nl / http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context webpage : http://www.pragma-ade.nl / http://tex.aanhet.net archive : http://foundry.supelec.fr/projects/contextrev/ wiki : http://contextgarden.net ___
