This document explores font use and management. Understanding Font Families and Font Qualities Tips for Effective Font Use Exploring Font Samples Viewing Font Samples Printing Samples without Viewing Them Inserting Special Characters and Symbols Installing Fonts from Other Sources Understanding Font Families and Font Qualities Fonts, like people, have names to distinguish one from another. Monospaced fonts look like typewritten text because each letter uses the same amount of space, e.g., W and I both take up the same amount of space. In contrast, proportional fonts give each letter the correct amount of space based on its size and shape.
Proportional fonts use less space and, therefore, less paper to print.
Try changing text in Courier New to Bookman or Times New Roman and notice the difference in your printouts. Printer fonts are fonts inherent to the printer you are using and do not print the way they look onscreen. The table below summarizes the qualities of commonly used fonts. Each font and its description have been typed in that font type at 12-point size. Tips for Effective Font Use Do not use too many different fonts in a document.