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=Where can I get good fonts?=
=Where can I get good fonts?=


There are some great donated URW fonts from Artifex (makers of GhostScript and GhostPCL) that are well worth grabbing. There are some good quality fonts in there, like Clarendon, URW Bookman, and Antique Olive. See [http://www.scribus.org.uk/modules.php?op=modload&name=Web_Links&file=index&req=viewlink&cid=3 Web Links on www.scribus.net] for those and several other sources of fonts and font information.
*[http://artifex.com/downloads/ Artifex] A set of 80 TrueType fonts, donated and freely licensed to Artifex Software Inc., makers of GhostScript and GhostPCL, by the URW foundry. The fonts are of pro quality and well worth grabbing. Nimbus Sans, Nimbus Roman, Garamond No.8, URW Palladio are just few of them that are worth mentioning. For a complete list and more information, see [http://wiki.scribus.net/canvas/Right_font_4_right_purpose Right font for right purpose on Scribus Wiki]


The very prolific and very gifted type designer Manfred Klein has put a huge collection of high-quality TrueType fonts on the web at his [http://moorstation.org/typoasis/designers/klein/index.htm Fonteria]. ([http://moorstation.org/typoasis/designers.htm TypeOasis], the site that hosts the Fonteria, has nice work by other designers, too.) Perhaps the best thing about Klein's selection is the large number of good text fonts that take off in subtle ways from classical serif faces. He offers the fonts "free for private and charity use. They are even free for commercial use – but if there’s any profit, pls make a donation to organizations like 'Doctors Without Borders.'" Some free TrueType fonts can also be downloaded from [http://www.schriftgrad.de/Menueleiste/Xdownload.htm schriftgrad] which als hosts a good glossary on typography/printing/DTP in German. http://fonts.goldenweb.it/index_file/l/en is a directory with 20 590 free TrueType fonts of mixed quality, and http://www.webpagepublicity.com/free-fonts-g.html contains 6500 TTF fonts, also free as in beer. Please check any of those fonts for licensing issues, since there may be restrictions such as only for non-commercial use.
*[http://www.gust.org.pl/projects/e-foundry/tex-gyre/ The TeX Gyre Collection of Fonts] A collection of 35 OpenType versions of Artifex fonts from the Polish TeX Users Group. With extended character set and true small capitals but under the different names, the fonts are of the same pro quality.


The [http://corefonts.sf.net/ MS Core TrueType fonts] might be useful too, though as far as I know they're not really designed for print use.
*[http://www.sil.org/ SIL International] offers several good quality [http://www.sil.org/computing/catalog/show_software_catalog.asp?by=cat&name=Font free fonts], for Latin, Greek, Hebrew and Cyrillic alphabets and for some Asian and African scripts.


Corel WP has the TTF fonts and Corel Draw has the TTF plus PS fonts. At least this is true for WP 8/9 and Draw 8/9. The fonts are in their own folders and can be copied WITHOUT installing the product anywhere.
*[https://googlefontdirectory.googlecode.com/hg/ Google Fonts] offers some very well done fonts under Open Source licenses. Previews are available [http://code.google.com/webfonts here].


Despite rumours to the contrary, CorelDraw fonts are high quality Bitstream fonts which have been used by pre-press folks for years without incident.
*[http://www.theleagueofmoveabletype.com/ The League of Moveable Type] is where new Open Source fonts are collected and offered under the OFL or a CC license. The fonts are of very good quality and the collection, although slowly, is growing.


Another affordable source for fonts is the German manufacturer of the multi-platform office suite [http://softmaker.de/ Softmaker] Office. They offer one "font of the month" for free download. If TrueType fonts are sufficient for your work, you can buy a [http://www.softmaker.de/megafont.htm CD-ROM] with 10 000 fonts for (at the moment) 59,95 EUR. In case you need professional grade fonts, they are offering [http://www.infinitype.com/features_en.htm 6000] TrueType and Type 1 fonts for 429 EUR (which isn't much).  
*[https://fedorahosted.org/liberation-fonts/ Liberation Font Family] A font family of 3 set - Sans, Serif and Monospace. Designed by Ascender Type Foundry, the fonts are of pro quality, also substitute for and metric compatible to Arial, Times New Roman and Courier New. A narrow sans family of the fonts, which ist metric compatible to Arial Narrow, was later contributed by Oracle Corporation.


Adobe Illustrator has fonts (Adobe garamond etc.), also Adobe Type Manager (full product) has fonts but it is no longer compatible with XP since XP uses Open Type now.
*[http://linuxlibertine.sourceforge.net Linux Libertine] offers two free font families under the GPL License: Linux Libertine (a bit like Times) and Linux Biolinum (Organic Grotesque). With a wide range of character sets as well as true Small Capitals, the fonts have pro quality.  


There is also some good (and some bad) OS2 fonts at http://hobbes.nmsu.edu
*The [https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Category:Packaged_fonts Fedora project] continues to build a collection of high-quality fonts for different purposes, like non-Latin scripts or formulas. The collection also contains some fonts that can be used for Latin-based scripts.


Another place worth looking at is the [http://tug.org/fonts/ TeX Users Group (TUG)]. It provides links to some free high quality Type 1/TTF/Open Type fonts.
*[http://www.fontsquirrel.com/ Fontsquirrel] offers a selection of manually selected/searched high quality free fonts.


So http://fontshop.de is a good place to go, but you might also have a look at http://linotype.com, http://lucasfonts.com and maybe http://fontfabrik.com  (they only retail). They are all German companies offering some really nice fonts, that unfortunately aren't affordable for everybody, because they are quite expensive.
*The [http://thelinuxbox.org/files/msttcorefonts.tar.gz MS Core TrueType fonts] ([http://corefonts.sourceforge.net/ Sourceforge.net]) Also known as Web Safe fonts, which includes Arial and Times New Roman among others, released by Microsoft for free use.


An interesting article on [http://www.publish.com/article2/0,1759,1834275,00.asp publish.com] not only provides a little bit of history of professional font manufacturing, but also many links to commercial vendors. It might be worth checking their products.
* [http://openfontlibrary.org/ Open Font Library] is a collection of fonts available under free licenses.
 
* [http://www.kimberlygeswein.com/ Kimberly Geswein] offers many fabulous, free-to-use handdrawn fonts with fabulous names. 
 
*Another place worth looking at is the [ftp://ftp.dante.de/tex-archive/fonts/ German TeX Users Group (TUG)]. It provides some free high quality Type 1/TTF/Open Type fonts. Similarly, the Comprehensive TeX Archive Network (CTAN) [http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/fonts/ offers] a wide range of excellent fonts. Previews are available [http://www.tug.dk/FontCatalogue/index.html here].
 
*For using Chinese fonts, the UbuntuCN wiki is worth to checkout, [http://wiki.ubuntu.org.cn/%E5%85%8D%E8%B4%B9%E4%B8%AD%E6%96%87%E5%AD%97%E4%BD%93 Free Chinese Font]
 
==See Also==
* [[Right_font_4_right_purpose|Right font for right purpose]]
* [[Scribus_Links#Download_resources|Scribus Links: Download resource section]]
* [http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Font-HOWTO/ Optimal Use of Fonts on Linux] from The Linux Documentation Project
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_software_Unicode_typefaces Wikipedia on free open source fonts]
* [http://www.unifont.org/fontguide/ Unicode Font Guide For Free/Libre Open Source Operating Systems]
* [http://cg.scs.carleton.ca/~luc/latest.html Luc Devroye] has regularly updated list of font foundries and designers, including those offering free quality fonts. It also includes many [http://cg.scs.carleton.ca/~luc/fonts.html articles] on typography and fonts.

Latest revision as of 09:33, 16 June 2012


This article is part of the FAQ series.
Installation • Usage • PDF issues • Fonts • DTP • Other

Where can I get good fonts?

  • Artifex A set of 80 TrueType fonts, donated and freely licensed to Artifex Software Inc., makers of GhostScript and GhostPCL, by the URW foundry. The fonts are of pro quality and well worth grabbing. Nimbus Sans, Nimbus Roman, Garamond No.8, URW Palladio are just few of them that are worth mentioning. For a complete list and more information, see Right font for right purpose on Scribus Wiki
  • The TeX Gyre Collection of Fonts A collection of 35 OpenType versions of Artifex fonts from the Polish TeX Users Group. With extended character set and true small capitals but under the different names, the fonts are of the same pro quality.
  • SIL International offers several good quality free fonts, for Latin, Greek, Hebrew and Cyrillic alphabets and for some Asian and African scripts.
  • Google Fonts offers some very well done fonts under Open Source licenses. Previews are available here.
  • The League of Moveable Type is where new Open Source fonts are collected and offered under the OFL or a CC license. The fonts are of very good quality and the collection, although slowly, is growing.
  • Liberation Font Family A font family of 3 set - Sans, Serif and Monospace. Designed by Ascender Type Foundry, the fonts are of pro quality, also substitute for and metric compatible to Arial, Times New Roman and Courier New. A narrow sans family of the fonts, which ist metric compatible to Arial Narrow, was later contributed by Oracle Corporation.
  • Linux Libertine offers two free font families under the GPL License: Linux Libertine (a bit like Times) and Linux Biolinum (Organic Grotesque). With a wide range of character sets as well as true Small Capitals, the fonts have pro quality.
  • The Fedora project continues to build a collection of high-quality fonts for different purposes, like non-Latin scripts or formulas. The collection also contains some fonts that can be used for Latin-based scripts.
  • Fontsquirrel offers a selection of manually selected/searched high quality free fonts.
  • Kimberly Geswein offers many fabulous, free-to-use handdrawn fonts with fabulous names.
  • Another place worth looking at is the German TeX Users Group (TUG). It provides some free high quality Type 1/TTF/Open Type fonts. Similarly, the Comprehensive TeX Archive Network (CTAN) offers a wide range of excellent fonts. Previews are available here.

See Also

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