Font File Formats
WHAT IS A FONT FILE?
A font file is used to store one or more fonts on a computer system, adding extra typeface styling to the operating system and its programs. The font file contains standard alphabet characters in different languages as well as special characters. A modern operating system comes pre-installed with multiple fonts, which have been stored in the form of font files. There are a number of popular font file formats in use today, including TrueType Fonts (TTF) to OpenType Fonts (OTF).
HOW ARE FONT FILES USED?
Font files are used to store a particular font, which can then be shared with different computer systems. Font files enable a standardized method to display and print text-based characters.
Search File Types
What Are Popular Font Files Extensions?
| TTF The TTF or TrueType Font format is commonly used on Windows as well as Mac OSX. TrueType fonts allow resizing without loss in display quality, promising the highest level of resolution for computer screens as well as printers. A TrueType font consists of two parts: a description of the font itself, as well as a program which reads the font description and generates the bitmaps. | |
| OTF The OTF or OpenType Font file format, created by Adobe and Microsoft, contains the screen and printer font data in one component. It also has support for multiple platforms and expanded character sets with storage support for up to 65,000 characters. It is supported on Windows as well as Mac OSX. | |
| FNT The FNT or Windows Font File format, used by Microsoft Windows, contains raster or vector fonts. Files with the FNT extension are generic and can be used by multiple programs. | |
| FON The FON file extension is an older font file format, commonly used by the font library in Windows 3.x systems. One drawback of using the FON format is that it doesn't support resizing like modern font file formats (TTF, OTF). Moreover, it can also look different on paper when printed than it actually looks on a computer screen. | |
| MF The MF or METAFONT file format contains fonts as glyphs (represented as a system of fills and equations). It is used by TeX, a markup language for typography, and LaTeX, a high-quality typesetting system. MF files can be converted to a generic font file (GF file) using a program by the same name called METAFONT. |
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