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The Difference Between Font Formats

typography

Fonts are the backbone of any design and understanding the different font formats is crucial for designers. In this blog post, we’ll delve into the world of font formats and explain their differences.

Font Format Types #

There are two primary ways that computers and digital devices display fonts:

  • Bitmapped or raster fonts: Each character is made out of pixels. While these fonts are faster for computers to display, they are not scalable. This means that a separate font is needed for each size and style.
  • Vector fonts or scalable fonts: Each character is made out of an outline, which allows for the font to be scalable. This means that a single font file can be used for any point size.

Common Font File Types #

There are many font file types, but the most commonly used ones are OpenType (OTF), TrueType (TTF), and Web Open Font Format (WOFF).

TrueType (.ttf) #

TrueType is a font format developed by Apple and was eventually licensed to Microsoft. They only require one file, but a separate file needs to be added for each instance of the font. TrueType typefaces are usually used in a business office since they can be a little unreliable for publishing.

OpenType (.otf) #

OpenType is a newer font type built on the TrueType format that supports more advanced typesetting features like small caps, ligatures, and alternatives inside the font instead of separately. It was intended to replace TrueType fonts. OpenType fonts were initially created by Adobe and Microsoft and use the Unicode standard for character encoding.

Web Open Font Format (.woff) #

The Web Open Font Format is efficient in loading websites with its super compressed file. It’s designed to be small in file size, making it faster to load on web pages.

PostScript Fonts #

PostScript fonts were created by Adobe. They have two different parts, one that contains information for printing, and the other that’s used to display the font on the screen. A drawback to them is that they’re not cross-compatible, so there are different versions for Macs and PCs.