What are fonts and typefaces?

“The distinction between font and typeface is that a font designates a specific member of a type family such as roman, boldface, or italic type, while typeface designates a consistent visual appearance or style which can be a “family” or related set of fonts. For example, a given typeface such as Arial may include roman, bold, and italic fonts.“

 

How do I install them on a Windows PC?

There are several ways, but this is what I do (on Windows 7):

1. Click the start menu button.
2. Click on “Control Panel.”
3. Click “Fonts.”
4. Open the folder where you’ve saved your new font (usually the download folder) and paste it into the Fonts folder.
   • If your font is in a .zip file, you’ll have to unzip it.  You can either use a program like Winzip (which has a free trial you can download repeatedly), or you can right-click the file, go to “open with,” and open the .zip file with Windows Explorer.
   • You should probably close any running programs while doing this.

Clicky clicky.  Or clicky clicky here. I don’t own a mac right now (boo) so there’s no specific way I go about it.

 

What’s the difference between TrueType, OpenType, and PostScript fonts?

If you just want a font that prints well and is easy to read on the screen, then consider using a TrueType font. If you need a large character set for language coverage and fine typography, then you might want to use an OpenType font. If you need to print professional quality print publications, such as glossy magazines, or you need to do commercial printing, PostScript is a good choice.

And here’s Adobe’s slightly longer but still brief explanation.

 

Where can I get free fonts?

There are lots of free fonts out there, and if you’re as broke as I am, you are thankful for this.  I usually bookmark places I find, so I’ll share a few of them here.  Some of these are websites of font-creators, others are sites that aggregate content from other sites.

REMEMBER:  Even though these fonts are free to download, it’s up to you to double-check the license agreement for every font you use.  Some are free to use for commercial use, others are free for non-profit or independent projects, others are non-profit only.  Most creators will have their agreement either on their website or included in the .zip file as a .txt document

And if you want something that’s completely free and unique, you can always hand-letter.

If you’ve got any other sources or tidbits of information, feel free to add them in the comments!

(cross-posted from DA)

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