Understanding Font Categories
You can search for and buy fonts using a variety of
search criteria. One of these criteria is a search by Categories.
Note that fonts can be in more than one category.
- Blackletter. Blackletter
type was a dominant letter shape of medieval typography. Today it is
used for headlines and display purposes to create a medieval feeling.

- Computer-related. These
fonts can be used for computer-related purposes, such as when a machine
must read the font or to give a computer look-and-feel to a document.

- Decorative and Display.
These fonts greatly vary in appearance and style. They are often used
in headlines, newsletters, and invitations.

- Engraved. Engraved
fonts are based on letters carved in stone. They are similar to glyphic
fonts except they are generally more formal. Engraved fonts look best
when displayed at large sizes, and are often used in headlines.

- Funny. Funny fonts
have unique typefaces that often feature pictures or special effects
on the characters.

- Garalde. Garalde fonts
include some of the most popular roman styles. Garalde fonts have a slightly greater contrast between thick and thin strokes than Venetian fonts, axis curves inclined to the left, and bracketed serifs.

- Glyphic. Glyphic
fonts are based on letters carved in stone. Some of these font sets
are capital only.

- Legible. Legible
fonts generally have thin strokes and wide characters. They may or may
not have serifs (“feet” or fine lines at the end of main or cross strokes).
These fonts were designed to be very readable and clear at standard
text sizes (9-12 points).

- Mathematical. These
fonts contain mathematical and symbol characters used in equations and formulas.

- Modern. These fonts
have horizontal serifs ("feet"or fine lines at the end of
main or cross strokes), great stroke contrast, and a vertical axis.

- Monospaced. These
fonts have characters that are all set on the same width. Monospaced
sets are useful for documents that require exact spacing or tabular
text.

- Picture. These fonts
entirely consist of pictures. There are no letter or number characters.
Using picture fonts is a good way to add graphics to your documents
without importing graphic files.

- Sans Serif. These
fonts have no serifs. A serif is a short line that finishes off the
stroke of a letter.

- Script. These fonts
imitate a variety of handwriting styles.

- Slab Serif. These
fonts have heavy, square serifs with no brackets, and very little stroke
contrast. A serif is a short line that finishes off the stroke of a
letter. Slab serif fonts are good for posters, billboards, and other
advertising.

- Symbol. These fonts
have pictures and symbols, and no letter or number characters. Using
symbol fonts is a good way to add graphics to text without having to
import graphic files.

- Transitional. These
fonts have thin serifs ("feet"or fine lines at the end of
main or cross strokes), great stroke contrast, and a vertical (or near
vertical) axis.

- Venetian.
Venetian typefaces were initially designed in 1470 to mimic the handwriting of Italian Renaissance scholars. These typefaces work well as book type because of their clarity and legibility.

Copyright © 1999–2009 MyFonts.com, Inc.