Counter (typography)

The counter of the letter 'p' shown in red

In typography, a counter is the area of a letter that is entirely or partially enclosed by a letter form or a symbol (the counter-space/the hole of).[1][2] The stroke that creates such a space is known as a "bowl".[3] Latin letters containing closed counters include A, B, D, O, P, Q, R, a, b, d, e, g, o, p, and q. Latin letters containing open counters include c, f, h, s etc. The digits 0, 4, 6, 8, and 9 also have counters. An aperture is the opening between an open counter and the outside of the letter.

  1. ^ Maxymuk, John (1997). Using desktop publishing to create newsletters, handouts, and Web pages (Google books (snippet view)). Neal-Schuman. p. 33. ISBN 978-1-55570-265-6. Retrieved July 19, 2009. Counter is the white space center of enclosed letters like Bb, Dd, Pp.
  2. ^ Narang, Sumita (2006). Designing Websites: According to the Ancient Science of Directions (Google books (limited preview)). Smita Jain Narang. p. 74. ISBN 978-81-207-3071-7. Retrieved July 19, 2009. Open space in a letter is called the counter or the aperture.
  3. ^ Ilene Strizver. "Anatomy of a Character". fonts.com.