Exactly What Is a Font?
Technically, what computer users call a font is what typographers call a typeface: a set of characters available in one or more related stylistic variations. For example, the font/typeface Arial has the styles Arial Regular, Arial Italic, Arial Bold, Arial Bold Italic, Arial Black, and Arial Black Italic. In typographic terminology, that collection is a typeface and each stylistic variation is a font. In computer terminology, that collection is a font or font family, and each stylistic variation is a style, typestyle, face, or typeface (depending on what program you're using). For consistency, this book uses the terms font for the set and style for the individual variations. Figure 28.1 shows a selection of fonts and their styles.
Figure 28.1
An assortment of fonts and their styles
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