Adobe Type Library: Type Classifications
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Adobe® typefaces are organized in the Type Classification pop-up menu according to a simplified
version of the internationally recognized system adopted by the Association Typographique
Internationale (ATypI). In addition to the traditional classifications of typefaces by historical origin, we
have added some that are unique to the Adobe Type Library, such as Adobe Originals® and
OpenType® typefaces.
Adobe Originals
Within the Adobe Type
Library is a growing collection
of original typefaces that have
been designed exclusively for
Adobe by in-house and
consultant type designers,
specifically to meet the
demands of electronic
publishing. Adobe Originals
typefaces include both new
designs and revivals of
classics from typographic
history.
Decorative & Display
While typefaces in this group
incorporate elements from
many different styles, they are
most effective when used at
large sizes for display
purposes, such as headlines
and titles.
Greek
Celebrating the beauty of
Hellenic letterforms, several
Adobe fonts now include
monotonic Greek glyphs, and
a few also contain historical
polytonic Greek glyphs, used
primarily in biblical and
Byzantine scholarship.
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Blackletter
Blackletter typefaces –
sometimes referred to as Old
English or Gothic – were used
for text in Germany until
World War II, but are now
primarily used as display
type.
Didone (Modern)
Improvements in late 18th
century paper production,
composition, printing and
binding made it possible to
develop a type style with
strong vertical emphasis and
fine hairlines. Named after
Didot and Bodoni, Didone
types include strong contrast
between thick and thin
strokes, curved strokes on a
vertical axis, and often, serifs
with no brackets.
Hand-tooled, Inline, Outline,
Stencil
These display typefaces have
a special design appearance
on the face of the letters, in
most cases the removal of all
or part of the fill of the
characters or the inclusion of
a distinctive highlight
engraved or “tooled” into the
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Capitals
These typefaces contain all
capitals and are designed for
titling and other display
purposes, where they will
primarily be displayed at large
sizes.
Expert Collection
The Adobe Expert Collection
character sets are designed
to meet the exacting
requirements of professional
typographers and designers.
These sets include old style
(lowercase) figures, small
capitals, fractions, superior
and inferior figures, and a
complete set of f-ligatures.
Japanese
Drawing on a rich cultural
heritage, Adobe's Japanese
typefaces are rooted in
traditional Japanese typeface
design, but have a clear and
original touch reflecting the
modern era.
http://www.adobe.com/type/browser/classifications.
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Asia
Computer Related
Typefaces in this group are
primarily used for computer-
related purposes, such as
numerical scanning or optical
character recognition.
Garalde Oldstyle
Garalde typefaces include
some of the most popular
roman styles in use today.
The distinguishing features of
Garalde typefaces are
apparent in Adobe
Garamond, which has a
horizontal bar on the
lowercase e, a slightly greater
contrast between thick and
thin strokes than Venetian
types, axis curves that are
inclined to the left, and
bracketed serifs.
Mathematical
These typefaces include
special mathematical symbols
used when setting equations
and other formulas.
Cyrillic
Named after Saint Cyril, who
brought modern learning to
Eastern Europe, Cyrillic
alphabets have the same
roots as Latin alphabets
–Greek script – and are used
for Russian and other Slavic
languages.
Glyphic
Unlike letterforms created
with pen or brush, glyphic
designs are based on letters
carved or chiselled in stone.
Since most inscribed letters
are capitals, glyphic typefaces
also tend to have only
capitals. Some of these can
be used effectively for text,
but most are better suited to
display applications such as
posters, packaging and book
titles.
Monospaced
All of the characters in a
monospaced typeface have
the same width. Most
typefaces have proportionally-
spaced characters, but
monospaced characters are
often required when setting
text on forms, financial
statements and other
Adobe Type Library: Type Classifications
OpenType Pro
OpenType Pro fonts include
expanded character sets to
support central European
languages, and some also
support Greek and/or Cyrillic.
The language coverage
varies by family.
Script
Since a Parisian printer
created the first in 1643, script
typefaces have become
almost as numerous as the
handwriting instruments –
brush, broad-edged pen or
pointed pen – that they were
designed to imitate. Script
typefaces often mimic
handwriting techniques by
joining letters with connecting
lines.
Transitional
Containing elements of both
Garalde and modern (Didone)
typefaces, transitional
typefaces are beautifully suited
to text because of their
regularity and precision. The
axis of the round characters is
vertical or barely inclined, the
contrast between hairlines and
main strokes is slightly
pronounced, and serifs are
thin, flat and bracketed
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left side of the character
strokes.
Opticals
Optical fonts include versions
whose design has been
optimized to appear best
when printed at Display,
Subhead and Caption point
sizes as well as when used at
smaller text sizes. The subtle
difference adds a professional
polish to any fine print piece.
Slab Serif
Born out of the Industrial
Revolution and the increased
use of posters, billboards and
other forms of advertising, slab
serif typefaces, with their
strong, square finishing
strokes, are extremely
effective for commanding
readers' attention.
Venetian Oldstyle
Named after the first roman
typefaces that appeared in
Venice in 1470, Venetian
typefaces were initially
designed to imitate the
handwriting of Italian
Renaissance scholars. These
typefaces originated as book
type and still serve that
function well because of their
clarity and legibility.
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Ornamentals
Ornamental typefaces contain
decorative ornaments or
symbols in some or all of the
character positions instead of
letters. These ornaments can
be used to embellish or
decorate documents.
Small Caps & Old Style
Figures
Some typefaces include sets
of small capitals and old style
figures to complement the
regular (base) typeface. In
these packages, small capitals
substitute for lowercase
letters, while old style
(nonlining or lowercase)
numerals replace modern
(lining or uppercase)
numerals.
http://www.adobe.com/type/browser/classifications.html
Phonetic
Phonetic alphabets contain
special linguistic characters
that are used to describe
pronunciation. These
typefaces are appropriate for
dictionaries, language guides,
linguistic texts, or wherever
else spoken sounds need to
be typographically
represented.
Swash
These typefaces contains
special ornamental swashes –
or flowing extensions to the
character strokes – that add
grace and beauty to the
letterforms. Swash characters
are intended to be used for
initialing purposes and as
decorative capitals.
documents where exact
spacing is required.
Sans Serif
Though the first sans serif
(without serif) typeface was
issued in 1816, another
hundred years passed before
this style gained popularity.
Highly legible for both display
and text use, sans serifs
generally fall into one of four
categories: Grotesque,
Neo-Grotesque, Geometric
and Humanist.
Symbol
Symbol typefaces have been
created for a variety of nontext
uses: musical notation, map
making, mathematics,
newspaper and commercial
publishing, and even desktop
publishing. These packages
can put the finishing touch on
a project or help with
specialized tasks.