Palatino
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Palatino is a serif typeface created by Hermann Zapf in 1948. It is admired by many, for its grace and strength. It has been adapted to virtually every type technology, and is probably one of the most used and copied typefaces in existence.
Named after 16th century Italian writing master Giambattista Palatino, Palatino is based on the humanist fonts of the Italian Renaissance, which mirror the letters formed by a broadnib pen; this gives a calligraphic grace. But where the Renaissance faces tend to use smaller letters with longer vertical lines (ascenders and descenders) with lighter strokes, Palatino has larger proportions, and is considered much easier to read. See the "typeface" article for more on classification.
The digital type foundries Linotype and Adobe Systems sell authentic versions of Palatino; Palatino Linotype is authorized by Zapf as the definitive Palatino. However, certain hot metal versions of Palatino, of smaller x-height, are both more legible and elegant to many eyes. In the Bitstream font collection, Palatino is called Zapf Calligraphic.
Microsoft distributes a similar typeface, Book Antiqua (originally by Monotype), which is considered by many to be an inferior imitation. Like Arial, which is a Helvetica look-alike, Book Antiqua was designed as an alternative to licensing the fonts mandated by Adobe's Postscript standard. Both Book Antiqua and Arial share the the original typefaces' character width, spacing and kerning properties.
In 1993 Zapf resigned from l'Association Typographique Internationale (ATypI) over what he viewed as its hypocritical attitude toward unauthorized copying by prominent ATypI members.
Altough Bookman Antiqua isn't a direct copy, Microsoft has since licensed and distributes a verion of Zapf's original design called Palatino Linotype in Windows 2000 and XP.
Samples
The following paragraph is in Palatino or in Palatino Linotype, URW Palladio L or Bitstream Zapf Calligraphic 801 if one of them is installed on your machine. If not, a monospace font is used:
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. The quick brown fox jumps over a lazy dog. 这是一些汉字。 Zhè shì yì xiē Hànzì. Example of IPA transcription: /ɪg'zɑːmpəl əv aɪpiː'eɪ tɹɑːn'skɹɪpʃən/. Greek: Ελληνικά. Cyrillic: Кириллица. Thai: ฟหกดึ้. Khmer: កខ. Arabic: العربية. Scandinavian characters: ÅÄÆÖØ åäæöø.
The following paragraph is in Monotype Book Antiqua, if it installed in your machine. If not, a monospace font is used:
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. The quick brown fox jumps over a lazy dog. 这是一些汉字。 Zhè shì yì xiē Hànzì. Example of IPA transcription: /ɪg'zɑːmpəl əv aɪpiː'eɪ tɹɑːn'skɹɪpʃən/. Greek: Ελληνικά. Cyrillic: Кириллица. Thai: ฟหกดึ้. Khmer: កខ. Arabic: العربية. Scandinavian characters: ÅÄÆÖØ åäæöø.
External link
- John Butler has compiled this Palatino FAQ (http://www.mindspring.com/~fez/palatino/palfaq1.0.txt).
- Luc Devroye
- More on the Palatino Story (http://cgm.cs.mcgill.ca/~luc/palatino2.html)
- The quality of Linotype palatino (http://cgm.cs.mcgill.ca/~luc/palatinoquality.html)
- Hermann Zapf wrote a life history for Linotype Library, available Here (http://www.linotype.com/7-1741-7-12704/theschoolyears.html)de:Palatino