From owner-freebsd-chat Tue Apr 17 0:51:47 2001 Delivered-To: freebsd-chat@freebsd.org Received: from nef.ens.fr (nef.ens.fr [129.199.96.32]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 692A837B424 for ; Tue, 17 Apr 2001 00:51:44 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from Rahul.Siddharthan@lpt.ens.fr) Received: from corto.lpt.ens.fr (corto.lpt.ens.fr [129.199.122.2]) by nef.ens.fr (8.10.1/1.01.28121999) with ESMTP id f3H7pgq04168 ; Tue, 17 Apr 2001 09:51:42 +0200 (CEST) Received: from (rsidd@localhost) by corto.lpt.ens.fr (8.9.3/jtpda-5.3.1) id JAA75216 ; Tue, 17 Apr 2001 09:51:40 +0200 (CEST) Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2001 09:51:40 +0200 From: Rahul Siddharthan To: Brett Glass Cc: James Howard , Joseph Mallett , chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: banner(6) Message-ID: <20010417095140.A74385@lpt.ens.fr> References: <20010416191256.R27477@lpt.ens.fr> <20010416193151.U27477@lpt.ens.fr> <4.3.2.7.2.20010416211727.045766e0@localhost> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline User-Agent: Mutt/1.2.5i In-Reply-To: <4.3.2.7.2.20010416211727.045766e0@localhost>; from brett@lariat.org on Mon, Apr 16, 2001 at 09:18:41PM -0600 X-Operating-System: FreeBSD 3.4-STABLE i386 Sender: owner-freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk X-Loop: FreeBSD.org Brett Glass said on Apr 16, 2001 at 21:18:41: > At 11:31 AM 4/16/2001, Rahul Siddharthan wrote: > > >I could say "typeface" if that makes you feel better. But the figlet > >package itself calls them "fonts". > > "Fonts" is the correct term. A "typeface" is a design for a set of > characters, regardless of size. A "font" is a typeface scaled to a > specific size and density (e.g. 11 point bold). I think that needs clarification. Merely scaling a font (multiplying by a factor x) doesn't create a new font. A scalable helvetica postscript font is the same font at all sizes. Traditionally, when you scale a typeface (in particular, make it smaller) you're supposed to change its appearance to improve readability. But Knuth's Computer Modern is the only computer font family I know of which actually does this. So Computer Modern 6pt roman is actually different from 10pt roman in the same typeface. But both are scalable -- for illustration, Knuth's TeXbook compares a 6pt font scaled to 10pt, with the corresponding 10pt font. I have the impression that, traditionally (in the days of movable type), a general design was (as you say) a "typeface" and a "font" was a particular set of characters implementing a typeface. Or something like that. In the computer age, "font" has acquired a slightly different meaning. In the Adobe/Microsoft age, the distinction between different sizes of the same typeface seems to have vanished. - Rahul. To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message