Non-Designer’s Type Book, The, Second Edition

Computer-Drawn vs. True-Drawn

You can compress and expand type through most software applications with the click of a button. This is okay for an occasional emergency, but the computer distorts the type by simply squishing it. If you need a compressed face so you can, for instance, get more words into your newsletter, please don’t let the computer squish the type —invest in a “true-drawn” condensed face. True-drawn faces have been redesigned with different proportions, stroke thicknesses, counter spaces, and other fine features so as to retain the integrity of the typeface and maintain readability. Below are examples of what the computer does to the letterforms as opposed to what the designer does.

In the first example, the computer simply squished ...