In
proportional
(or
typographic
) fonts, every character can have a different width. Since proportional fonts have
characters with different widths, the font size is specified in point size, not pitch.
Point size
refers to the height of
the characters in the font. A
point
is defined as 1/72 inch. The characters in a font printed at 24 point will be twice as
large as the characters in the same font printed at 12 point.
The following illustration shows samples of a font printed in different point sizes:
The point size of a font is defined as the distance from the top of the tallest character in the font to the bottom of
the lowest character in the font. Due to the definition of point size, different fonts printed at the same point size
may appear quite different in size. This is because there are other font parameters that affect how the font looks.
However, the point size of a font is an excellent specification of the relative size of a font. The following examples
illustrate two very different proportional fonts at 14 point:
Bitmapped and Scalable Fonts
The printer uses both bitmapped and scalable fonts.
Bitmapped
fonts are stored in print memory as predefined patterns of bits that represent a typeface at a specific size,
style, and resolution. The following illustration shows an example of a character from a bitmapped font.
Bitmapped fonts are available in different type styles and point sizes as downloadable fonts.
Scalable
fonts (also called
outline
fonts) are stored as computer programs that define the outlines of the characters
in the font. Each time you print characters from a scalable font, the printer creates a bitmap of the characters at the
point size you choose and saves it temporarily in print memory.
Understanding Fonts 254
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General
Weight and Dimensions
