What Is Monotype Font?

Monotype fonts are bold, clear and contain easily distinguishable character sets.

Monotype fonts are the less aesthetically-pleasing, fixed-width fonts (such as Courier) that come as standard on modern computers but are used mainly for technical purposes. They are often wide in comparison to more elegant fonts, and are very easy to read, but look out of place for most modern computing purposes.

History

Monotype fonts date back to the earliest days of modern computing, where characters were displayed on a screen or printed out. Early computers were limited in their ability to display more than a handful of lines on a screen and were similarly hampered when printing because of the low number of dots they could produce per inch. The result was letters and numbers that could fit into a rigid array of dots or pixels.

Features

Monotype fonts feature a wide array of characters that fit into a specific area, usually a rectangle. Each character is rendered in the same amount of space (which gives rise to the term "fixed width font") and has an equal amount of space to either side of it. The result is that the same number of characters is displayed on each line of text.

Function

Monotype fonts are used in modern computing to make it easier to read printed text. Because each character is rendered at equal width, it is easier to distinguish between characters such as lower-case "l" and upper-case "i", or upper-case "O" and the number zero. Monotype fonts are therefore used to increase clarity where the clear transfer of information is paramount.

Benefits

In programming and other areas where it is essential to be able to differentiate between different characters quickly, a monotype font is essential. Similarly, anywhere where it is necessary to ensure that only a certain number of characters are used (such as on small display screens that can only render 100 characters at a time),100 characters in a monotype font always take up the same amount of space, regardless of the characters used.

Considerations

Monotype fonts look like they were produced on an old computer, or a typewriter. As a result, they can generate certain connotations in the mind of the viewer. As a result, monotype fonts should be used only where they are essential, such as when displaying code, rather than everyday; where a more aesthetically-pleasing font would be an advantage.

References

• "Adobe After Effects 7 Hands-on Training"; Chad Fahs and Lynda Weinman; 2007
• Lowing Heritage Foundation: Monospace/Fixed Width Programmer's Fonts