Learn: Original Format
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Bitmap
A kind of digital font that contains character shape data in the form of bits or pixels arranged in a grid pattern.
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Digital
Fonts that exist in digital form, usually as a computer file. There are mainly two kinds of digital fonts, outline and bitmap. They differ in the data that defines the shapes of the characters. In outline fonts, the data consists of mathematical curves. In bitmap fonts, the data consists of rows of bits or pixels arranged in a grid. Type is set by software that reads the font data and forms images on output devices (mainly computer screens and printers).
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Film Font
Fonts which exist as images on reels of film negatives. The usual film size is 2-inches, with the character images about an inch tall. Type is set by shining light through the character image onto a sheet of photosensitive paper. Character spacing is usually done “by eye” by the operator, but some systems include spacing marks on the film. Film fonts were used exclusively for display typography.
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Metal (Foundry)
Type in which characters are cast in metal alloy by hand. Type is set by arranging the metal pieces in a “galley”.
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Metal (Machine Composition)
Type in which characters are cast in metal by machine into individual letters or rows of letters. Type is set by an operator on a keyboard. Rows and columns of type are created automatically as the operator types. This method is sometimes called “hot type.”
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Non-typographical
Non-typographical methods of making letters or symbols such as rubber stamps, Dymo, handwriting, pictures, sculpture, etc.
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Photo-composition
Fonts that exist in the form of images on film or glass negatives. Type is set by shining light through the character images onto photosensitive paper or film. In the days when metal type was common, this method was often called “cold type.”
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Rub-down
Fonts that exist as images printed on the reverse side of a carrier sheet. The images are coated with a light adhesive. Type is set by positioning the carrier sheet over a surface (usually a piece of paper or board) and burnishing over a character image with a stylus. The character image is transferred from the carrier sheet to the surface. This is repeated for each character. Spacing was usually done by eye by the user, but some manufacturers included spacing marks.
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Strike on
A typesetting method that uses characters cast in hard metal, usually connected indirectly to a keyboard. Type is set by causing the characters to strike forcefully against a medium (usually some kind of inked ribbon), transferring the character image to paper held against a platen. Traditional typewriters and daisy-wheel printers are the most common examples of the strike-on method, but there were also many low-cost typesetting machines that used it.
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Wood
Functionally similar to metal type, but cut from hardwood using a special routing machine. Used for larger sizes because it was lighter and therefore less costly to ship than metal type.