r/typography • u/Tony_IceCream • 3d ago
Question about font families
Average Joe here, know nothing about typography and fonts (I do, though barely, know the difference between the two).
My question is mostly software side, so i don't know if it's the right place to ask.
Why do font families exist as separate types?? Why isn't there a standard that allows multiple variations within the same file? Software like MS Word limits customization to basic stuff like bold and italics, so multiple files are needed for condensed fonts and whatnot, but why not just switch to a more flexible standard that allows for more options? (on a per font basis, obviously not all fonts need all the possible variations)
feel free to give me a computer science or a history lesson with your answer if necessary
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u/ApresMoiLuhDeluge 3d ago
well, they do exist as you describe. "variable" fonts like Acumin and Adobe's foray into "OpenType." usually they are a bit more expensive to purchase (which I guess make sense). there do have to be tweaks throughout the "pick x or y attribute to change as user desires" process to avoid terrible kerning situations - that might be more fixable now though, but in the past it meant more work to code them.
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u/Diamante_90 3d ago
It's such a bummer it's not widespread yet
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u/KAASPLANK2000 3d ago
Yeah, multiple master fonts have been around since the 90s (which is basically the same as a variable font afaik) and has never really caught on unfortunately.
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u/carlcrossgrove 3d ago
One variable font can give you any weight/width combo you want, and some even add slant so you can have all the same thousands of styles in “Italic”. Only problem: not every app can use them. - Caveat: Each variable font is different, so they aren’t really standard in the MS menu way you mention.
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u/Tony_IceCream 3d ago
just learned more about variable fonts with this great video! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OA20XUTENOE
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u/DunwichType-Founders 3d ago
The old Mac suitcase font format collected multiple screen fonts into one file. Truetype outline fonts could also be collected in a suitcase, but not postscript outline fonts. This format was deprecated years ago and I don’t think anyone still supports it.
The TTC format can collect multiple Truetype fonts into one file.
As for why families exist as multiple files, it’s because people buy lots of fonts without buying the whole family. Nobody wants to deal with dozens or hundreds of possible combinations of TTC files. They would all need to be generated, tested, and added to the font store which is a lot of work. Or generated automatically, which would require writing software to do this on the back end. And graphic designers tend to dislike the Truetype format because they don’t know anything about font formats, so selling them a new kind of Truetype font seems unlikely.
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u/Conxt 3d ago
Typography-wise, MS Word is extremely dense and outdated. Even disregarding variable fonts (see other comments), it has been possible to have dozens of styles grouped into a single font family for about 30 years now.