Font

For other uses, see Font (disambiguation).

The Bauer Bodoni typeface, with samples of the three of the fonts in the family: Roman (or regular), bold, and italic.

In metal typesetting, a font (American English) or fount (Commonwealth English) is a particular size, weight and style of a typeface, defined as the set of fonts that share an overall design. For instance, the typeface Bauer Bodoni (shown in the figure) includes fonts "Roman" (or "regular"), "bold" and "italic"; each of these exists in a variety of sizes.

In the digital description of fonts (computer fonts), the terms "font" and "typeface" are often used interchangeably.[1] For example, when used in computers, each style is stored in a separate digital font file.

In both traditional typesetting and computing, the word "font" refers to the delivery mechanism of the typeface. In traditional typesetting, the font would be made from metal or wood type: to compose a page may require multiple fonts or even multiple typefaces.

Metal type sorts arranged on a composing stick
  1. ^ "Typefaces vs. fonts: here's how they're different". Shaping Design Blog. 2021-11-09. Archived from the original on 2023-06-29. Retrieved 2023-06-14.