Hello Friends! In this article we are going to find the answer to this question – What is a font? In addition, we will get to know the different types of fonts and the need for fonts. So, let’s begin.
Content
Font Definition
A font is a graphical representation of text that can have different sizes, colors, or designs. These characters can be numbers, symbols, alphabets (both lowercase and uppercase), and even punctuation marks.
These varied options are available to change font according to the need, look, reflection of professionalism, tone, etc. To achieve this, we need different fonts.
Font vs Typeface
The word Font is often interchangeably used with the typeface. However, there is an ever-so-slight difference between them. For example, Times New Roman is a typeface that has different fonts under it – size, color, bold, italic, etc. The typeface is the design and the variations under it are fonts.
There are hundreds of typefaces available on MS-word, MS- Excel, And Wordpad. With these designs or fonts, we can completely change the look and feel of our documents.
Types Of Fonts
The evolution of fonts has come a long way. Back in the day, they were used to type newsletters by individually arranging the typeset blocks.
Typographers do not follow this method. Instead, there are two types of fonts-
1. Bitmap Graphics
The bitmap is one of the oldest methods to print the font. It is a combination of the matrix, dots, or pixels to represent data. The only concern is its scalability. It fades on increasing the picture size. The pictures when zoomed show pixels separated which does not look good.
Advantages of Bitmap
The bitmap has its own set of advantages like-
- Quite fast and very simple to synthesize.
- Easier to create.
- Appropriate for small-sized displays where just the visibility is of importance.
Disadvantages of Bitmap
A few disadvantages of the bitmap are-
- They are not very suitable where frequent resizing is required.
- The image becomes pixelated quickly.
- Large file size.
- Large files take a long time to send, load, or receive.
2. Vector Graphics
Vector graphics replaced the bitmap in the 1980s. The pixels were now replaced and the graphics were displayed geometrically. These characters were designed mathematically. Thus, any zooming in or scalability could not affect the quality of the image.
Advantages of Vector
Vector graphics were replaced as they were more function-able. Some of its advantages are-
- They have infinite resolution.
- The file size is small.
- They can be easily manipulated i.e. scalable.
- They are reusable. By this we mean they can be duplicated and put anywhere.
Disadvantages of Vector
Though bitmaps were replaced by vector graphics, they still have a few disadvantages.
- They are slower to create than bitmaps. As they are drawn line by line.
- Many of the vector fonts lack special characters
- An optimized bitmap sometimes looks better than a downsized vector font.
- Vector graphics require rasterization for display.
- Vector graphics aren’t the best thing for complex graphical displays.
What is the need for Fonts?
There are various reasons how fonts prove to be effective in enhancing our content
- The fonts help in the demarcation of text. There is a sense of logical continuity if we use the fonts properly. Such as in this article. The h2 type subheadings are smaller than h1. The h1 heading is represented with bold letters.
- They guide the reader towards important text or information. Sometimes content is too long to read but too important to be missed. Using underlined, italic, or, bold fonts can guide which texts to read with more concentration.
- The fonts also set the right tone and mood, according to the text. One can see fonts in children’s books. They set the reader happy and joyful. On the other hand, fonts used in newspapers are professional and have a serious undertone.
- Fonts are also a way to attract readers. This is how advertisements grab their audience. The word SALE! Is always typed in big bold letters to attract the shoppers. The things with less importance are written in small letters below them. So, it is all the play with fonts.
- Continuous usage of the same font creates a sense of harmony in the content. It looks clean and more uncluttered. Proper alignments are of equal importance.
Conclusion
This completes our tutorial on – What is a font? In a nutshell, for any content, the use of proper fonts, alignments, and a sense of spacing is of the same importance as the content itself.
A presentation aimed to show in the office will create a great impact if it has proper spacing, emphasis on important points, clear headings and subheadings, and the right size font. These all factors set the right professional tone. Therefore, such things matter in the long run.