QMS PS 410, User Manual

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All of the previous typeface families are authentic; they are licensed
and carry the true name.
About Typeface and Fonts
Many terms and phrases in desktop publishing originate from the
language of printers and typesetters. This chapter explains common
words and phrases used when printing with typefaces. The more
you know about typeface and your printer’s capabilities, the more
you can improve the appearance of your documents.
The following two words, typeface and font are two words you
should know. Often confused, typeface is the larger category, while
font is a subset of typeface.
Typeface Typeface refers to the style of the face of printing type.
Typeface does NOT define a particular size, but only a
style or licensed design.
Font A font is a complete collection of characters in one
typeface all of one size, like 10-point Courier. Although
you hear font used more generally as if referring to a
kind of typeface, a font is defined by being of the same
style and size.
You may notice that the printer’s resident typefaces are divided into
two sections. One way of classifying different kinds of typeface is
to group them as
■ serif
■ sans serif
A serif is a decorative line or tail on the ends of lines forming a
letter. Serifs are usually on the lower half of a letter, and they have
Chapter 5
5 - 4 P r o f e s s i o n a l P r i n t i n g