Typography Manual
Typography Manual
Typography Manual
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typography manual 3
WHAT’S IN A LETTER
Every serious subject has a language of its
own. Typography is no exception. The
following diagram shows a few terms used to
talk about letter forms. Many more appear in
the Glossary of Typographic Terms at the end
of this document. These terms let you discuss
type like an expert.
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X-HEIGHT
Traditionally, x-height is the height of the lower case letter x. It affects the feel of a typeface, how
many characters fit on a line, and depending on how the type is set, how easily your text can be
read. At very small point sizes, a font with a larger x-height is easier to read, everything else being
equal. Compare the following examples of Adobe Jenson,™ Utopia,® and Minion,® all at a
point size of 10:
Utopia 10/13
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MEASURING TYPE
To understand how type works, you must know how it is measured. Basically, typefaces are meas-
ured in two ways: height and width.
Type Height
In earlier times when type was cast in metal, it was sold in dis crete sizes that were mea s ured in
points. Today’s digital fonts can be enlarged or reduced by simply selecting, or specifying, a point
size.
Originally, the term point size referred to the height of the metal body that held the characters.
This was slightly larger than the distance from the highest to the lowest feature in the design.
A traditional point is approximately 1/72 of an inch or .01384 inch. With the advent of desk-
top publishing, the point became exactly 1/72 of an inch. Picas are another unit of measurement
used for type; one pica equals 12 points, and six picas equal an inch.
This method of measuring is still used for digital type. Typefaces that have very long ascenders
and descenders look smaller than other typefaces when both are printed at the same point size.
This incongruity is illustrated below.
26pt Postino
26 Point Bickham Script Pro
Type Width
To understand how type works, you must know how it is measured. Basically, typefaces are meas-
ured in two ways: height and width.
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VARIATIONS ON A THEME
A type family generally contains three variations on the regular face: italic, bold, and bold italic.
However, many families have been designed to include variation in weight from ultra light to
ultra black; variation in width from condensed to extended; multiple character sets, such as small
capitals, titling capitals, swash capitals, oldstyle figures, alternates; and more.
This variety enables you to achieve just the look you want and allows for a good deal of flexi-
bility. For example, it is often necessary to make a given amount of type fit into a predeter mined
amount of space on the page. When space is an issue, a condensed or extended version of a type-
face can be a real lifesaver!
Cambria EB Garamond
Italic Regular
Bold Italic
Bold Italic Semibold
Semibold Italic
Medium
Medium Italic
Bold
Bold Italic
Extra Bold
Extra Bold Italic
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SPACING
Type is defined by the space around it, whether between letters, words, or lines.
monospaced (im)
propotionally spaced (im)
Today, most of the digital type used on computers is designed to be proportionally spaced. With
proportional spacing, each letter is given just the amount of space it needs to look right and be
most legible. Using a proportional font, you can fit much more text on a page than using a mono-
spaced font while at the same time making the text easier to read.
Line Length
As lines of text get long, it can be difficult for the reader to move from the end of one line to the
beginning of the next. On the other hand, short line lengths break up the text and interrupt the
reader. The ideal line length depends on the design of the typeface, type size, line spacing, and
length of the copy. Generally, a line should have 55 to 60 characters, or 9 to 10 words, for optimal
readability.
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Leading
Leading is the vertical distance between lines of type and is measured in points. During the days of
metal type, printers inserted extra strips of lead between long lines of text to make them easier
to read. This procedure gave rise to the term leading (pronounced ledding). Leading is measured
from the baseline of one line of text to the baseline of the next line of text. Most word processing
and page layout applications let you adjust the leading in your documents.
Experiment with this feature to see how it affects legibility.
Too much leading causes the eye to jump from Too much leading causes the eye to jump fro
line to line and is disruptive to reading. Too
line to line and is disruptive to reading. Too little leading creates dark, uninviting color that
may cause the eye to skip a line when scanning
little leading creates dark, uninviting color that to find the next one.
LETTERSPACE LETTERSPACE
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AVOID
Some letter combinations, particularly in
words set in capitals, result in awkward spac-
ing unless they are kerned. Kerning is the
AVOID
adjustment of space between pairs of letters.
Kerning is especially important at large point
sizes. As the characters are enlarged, so is the
space between them.
Word spacing, the space between words,
should be constant in flush left, flush right, or
centered text. However, for justified text, Task Toolkit 118
word spacing varies from line to line to keep
margins even. Task Toolkit 118
To aid readability, it’s important to keep word spacing as consistent as possible — even if it means
hyphenating words. Tight word spacing lets you place more text on the page, but can make it
difficult to distinguish words from each other. Loose word spacing fills up a page with a small
amount of text, but the text becomes harder to read as the words begin to look disconnected.
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TYPOGRAPHIC COLOR
Spacing concerns and the design of the typeface itself affect what is known as typographic color.
This term may seem like a misnomer in an age when even word processors let you apply actual
color (for example, red, blue, or green) to type as easily as changing the point size. Typographic
color is really the grey value, or density, of a mass of type on the page. A page may have light or
dark color, but you must keep the color consistent on the page to aid readability.
Minion 11/14
Myriad 12/14
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Italics, Boldface, and Uppercase
Unless you’re indicating text that is hyperlinked, you should avoid underlining text. Underlining
is left over from typewriters, which lacked italics. Sometimes under lining is necessary when no
adequate italic is available. Use italics for emphasis or for proper convention, such as the titles of
books, periodicals, and plays.
If you want something to jump out on the page, try using boldface—but remember, contrast
attracts attention. The bestdesigned pages display a clear hierarchy of information. If you make
everything bold, nothing will stand out. Also, avoid using a bold italic typeface in body text. Usu-
ally bold or italic will be sufficient.
Sometimes, by selecting the bold or italic style option, an application will try to automatically
create a bold or italic version of a typeface if one is not installed on your computer. These comput-
er-generated styles should be avoided. It is always preferable
to use the true bold or italic version of a typeface.
Avoid using all uppercase letters to emphasize text. They aren’t as readable as lowercase letters
and interrupt the flow of the text. When your document calls for all capitals, use a small capital
typeface, such as those included in many Adobe® typefaces.
Optical Sizes
High-quality typefaces have always had different designs depending on the point size of the text
to be set. In the days of metal type, each point size had its own unique design that was specifi cally
tailored for its usage. For example, a typeface to be used at 6 point, such as in a photo caption,
would be a bit thicker or denser than a typeface used for a headline set at 72 point. Several of Ado-
be’s OpenType® fonts include four optical size variations: caption, regular, subhead, and display.
Called Opticals, these variations have been optimized for use at specific point sizes. Although the
exact intended sizes vary by family, the general size ranges include: caption (6–8 point), regular
(9–13 point), subhead (14–24 point), and display (25–72 point). Several of Adobe’s Multiple
Master fonts also include the ability to select an optical size.
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Getting Your Quotes Right
The neutral quote marks,’ and “, that are accessible from your keyboard are traditionally used to
indicate units of measure. True, or directional, quotes, ‘ ’ and “ ”(sometimes called curly quotes),
should be used whenever possible. Some applications automatically apply true quotes by changing
the application’s preferences.
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Upper- and Lowercase Numbers
When you are setting numbers with lowercase text, it is best to use lowercase numbers. That’s
right! Numbers come in upper- and lowercase versions.
The lowercase versions are often called oldstyle figures, and they contain characters with
ascenders and descenders. Uppercase numbers look fine in spreadsheets and in uppercase text, but
look too large in body text.
These numbers, 123 and 456 or 789 and even These numbers, 123 and 456 or 789 and even
0, set in upper case look too large in text. 0, set in lowercase work much better with
text.
Small Capitals
Smaller versions of regular capital letters, called small capitals or small caps, are drawn to have the
same typographic color as the lowercase characters in a typeface, and to be visually appealing when
used alongside lowercase text.
Some applications allow you to apply a small-capitals style to your text. This usually means
that the application reduces the point size of full caps to about the height of the lowercase. The re-
sulting letters are usually too light, even if the application does something like expanding the type
horizontally. Small capitals are useful for section headings or chapter titles, to accent important
words or phrases in mid-sentence, or at the beginning of a paragraph for a lead-in. True small caps
are one sign of a truly professional typesetting job.
Many of Adobe’s OpenType fonts contain small capitals, and applications that support the Open-
Type small caps feature, such as Adobe InDesign, can substitute these letterforms automatically.
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Alignment
The alignment of the text within text blocks contributes to the tone of your documents. When
text is aligned to one margin and ragged on the other, it can create an informal feeling. Left aligned
text is easier to read than right aligned text. Avoid right alignment unless it is appropriate as a
design treatment. Justified text aligns on both the left and right hand sides and is used in news-
papers, newsletters, and traditionally in book work. Justified text is sometimes considered more
formal than ragged text. Not surprisingly, it optimizes the amount of copy you can fit on a page.
The alignment of text The alignment of text with- The alignment of text
within text blocks contrib- in text blocks contributes within text blocks contrib-
utes to the tone of your to the tone of your docu- utes to the tone of your
documents. When text is ments. When text is aligned documents. When text is
aligned to one margin and to one margin and ragged aligned to one margin and
ragged on the other, it can on the other, it can create ragged on the other, it can
create an informal feeling. an informal feeling. Left create an informal feeling.
Left aligned text is easier aligned text is easier to read Left aligned text is easier
to read to read
Left aligned Justified Right aligned
TYPOGRAPHIC COLOR
Copyfitting is the process of deciding which
typeface, point size, leading (line spacing),
and line length are necessary to fit a certain
amount of text into a given space. With care-
ful planning, these
choices need only be made once, at the begin-
ning of a job. It is important to understand
how each of these choices affects readabili-
ty. In general, text becomes less readable as
the typeface becomes too condensed or too
extended, point size becomes smaller, lead-
ing becomes tighter, or line length becomes
longer.
If you find yourself forced to use 6-point
Helvetica* Compressed Ultra with 6-point
leading, it is time to start editing!
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CHOOSING AND USING
TYPEFACES
With literally thousands of typefaces readily available it would be logical to ask “How do I go
about choosing (and using) the best typeface—or combination of typefaces—for my publica-
tion?” Unfortunately, there’s no simple and quick answer to this question— the choice of what’s
best will vary with several factors, including the intended audience and their aesthetic values, the
tone or attitude you’re trying to convey, the medium you’re designing for, and the content of the
publication.
The following guidelines give only a very brief overview of a complicated and subjective top-
ic—entire books have been dedicated to it. But if you combine the following guidelines with
your own aesthetic values and common sense you’ll probably avoid making those formal wedding
invitations look like a ransom note. Unless, of course, that’s how you want them to look!
While some of the differences between serif text fonts seem almost insignificant when single words
are isolated, each of these fonts has a distinct look and feel when applied to extended copy. Some
look more (or less) modern, formal, or just better than others in a given situation. Having a wide
variety of serif text faces to choose from means that you’ll be able to most effectively convey
the intended message of any publication or document.
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Choosing Fonts for Headlines
You have many more options in style and flavor when choosing fonts for headlines. Headlines
are arguably the most important part of a publication —whether or not they’re understood at a
glance can determine if anything else is read (or looked at), regardless of how easy or hard it is to
read the remaining information. Considerations beyond readability —such as the publication’s
style, content, or other design considerations —will also affect your choice of headline fonts.
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COMBINING TYPEFACES
IN A PUBLICATION
Almost all publications will contain headlines and body copy, or at least subordinate textual
information. Commonly you’ll need or want to use different typefaces for the various levels of
information in the publication. This presents a new problem—how do you effectively combine
typefaces within a publication?
There are several possible outcomes when you combine typefaces in a publication—they may
complement one another, contrast with one another, or conflict with one another. The first two
outcomes are usually good, the last one is usually bad. Here are a few guidelines to help you
choose:
• Avoid using an excessive number of typefaces in a single publication. Some experts recom-
mend using no more than two typefaces on a single page, while others set the number slight-
ly higher. Judicious use of typeface variety helps the reader sort information and navigate
through a document. Too many competing faces create chaos.
• Avoid using two or more similar fonts on a page. Selecting fonts that are not different enough
can cause conflict. For example, it’s usually a poor idea to use two script typefaces on a single
page, or a script face and an italic, or two different slab serifs, or two different old faces, etc.
• Remember that fonts are part of the overall design of a publication and should be chosen to
match (or contrast with) the design style of the publication. Readability is important, but so
is design!
ADDITIONAL TIPS
Bullets
A single, consistently used graphic element
can add flavor to your document and high-
light key points. Instead of the standard
bullet, look through symbol faces for an
ornament that matches your message. If your
document is clean and simple and you have
only a few bullet points, an ornament will add
interest. Be careful not to clutter your docu-
ment.
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Hanging Indents
• When a bulleted or numbered list contains items that run to more than one line, it is common
to hang the text from a bullet or number.
1. The hanging indent more clearly marks the item in the list. A paragraph may also be hung
from the first line of text (often with a run-in head of small caps, bold, or italic) when no
bullet or number is present.
Reversed Text
For print publications, white text on a black background should be used sparingly, and never at
small sizes. Similarly, for web projects and video titling jobs, white text on a black background is
an effective way to grab attention, and works well when there is a minimum amount of text.
Reversed Type
Avoid reversing small type or type with thin strokes
or serifs that may fill in. You may want to letterspace
bold, condensed faces slightly.
Using Styles
Styles are paragraph descriptors that specify, for example, what font to use and how much to
indent. If your design application supports styles, you can build a set to give all your documents a
consistent look.
When styles are applied to your documents, you can easily change the entire look of a docu-
ment just by changing the style definitions.
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Keeping It Simple
Good document design is mainly a combination of common sense and keeping things simple.
Look at attractive examples of documents that are similar to what you’re trying to create.
The following list explains some basic rules.
• Long lines of text are hard to read. Generally, a line should have 55 to 60 characters, or 9 to 10
words. Try multiple columns or, if you are stuck with a long line length, increase the leading
slightly to make it easier for the eye to move from line to line.
• White space on the page makes your document cleaner-looking and easier to read.
• Use indents and bullets to highlight important points. Use headings and subheadings to help
your readers find the information they’re interested in.
• Avoid using more than two type families on a page. Generally one serif and one sans serif
make a nice mix. Using the sans serif for head lines and the serif for body text is a common and
effective formula.
• Use italics or bold to highlight words and phrases, rather than using all uppercase. All upper-
case is hard to read.
• Left justification can be easier to read and looks less formal than full justification. Pick the
alignment option that matches the tone of your document.
• Graphs, pictures, and charts add interest to your documents and clarify your text. Horizontal
and vertical lines can be used sparingly to break up blocks of text.
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GLOSSARY OF
TYPOGRAPHIC TERMS
This section provides a small glossary of terms frequently used in the type world.
alignment The positioning of text within the text block or frame. Align-
ment can be flush left, flush right, justified, or centered. Flush left
and flush right are sometimes referred to as left justified and right
justified.
body text The paragraphs in a document that make up the bulk of its con-
tent. Body text should be set in an appropriate and easy to read
face, typically at 10 or 12 point size.
cap height The height from the baseline to the top of the uppercase letters
in a font. This may or may not be the same as the height of as-
cenders. Cap height is used in some systems to measure the
type size.
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centered Text placed at an equal distance from the left and right margins.
Titles are often centered. It is generally not good to mix centered
text with flush left or flush right text.
character, character code A single letter, punctuation mark, number, space, or any other
object or symbol in a typeface set. In the context of modern
computer operating systems, it is often defined as a code with a
meaning attached to it. For example, the decimal character code
97 represents the letter a. Also see character encoding, keyboard
layout, OpenType, Unicode.
copyfitting The process of adjusting the size and spacing of type to make it
fit within a defined area of the page.
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dingbats Symbol characters such as decorations, arrows, and bullets.
drop cap A design treatment in which the first capital letter of a paragraph
is set in a larger point size and aligned with the top of the first
line. This method is used to indicate the start of a new section of
text, such as a chapter. Also see raised cap.
expert set, expert A font that has a more refined, or expanded, set of typographic
collection characters than regular fonts. Expert sets may contain oldstyle
figures, ligatures, small capitals, embellishments, fractions, or
other unique characters. Also see OpenType.
typography manual 23
family A collection of typefaces that were designed and intended to be
used together. For example, the Utopia family consists of roman
and italic styles, as well as regular, semibold, and bold weights.
Each of the style and weight combinations is referred to as a font
or typeface.
flush left Text that is aligned on the left margin is said to be set flush left or
flush left, ragged right. The term ragged right is sometimes
used alone to mean the same thing.
flush right Text that is aligned on the right margin is said to be set flush right
or flush right, ragged left. The term ragged left is sometimes used
alone to mean the same thing.
font One weight, width, and style of a typeface: Optima* Bold and
Helvetica Light Condensed are examples of fonts. Before digital
type, a font usually referred to a specific point size of a particular
style of a typeface. For example, 48-point Helvetica Bold would
have been considered a font. Today, the terms font, typeface, and
family are often used interchangeably, though family usually
refers to the general type design, such as Helvetica, and font
and typeface usually refer to the specific weight, width, or style
of a type design, such as Helvetica Bold.
hanging indent A document style in which the first line of a paragraph is aligned
with the left margin, and the remaining lines are all indented an
equal amount. This is an effective way to display lists of informa-
tion.
headline The short lines of emphasized text that introduce detail informa-
tion in the body text that follows. Also the category of typefaces
that are designed to work best in headline text.
headline font A font that has been designed to look good at large point sizes
for use in headlines. Headline fonts generally do not contain a
complete set of characters since they do not require a
full set of special symbols and punctuation.
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italic A slanting or script-like version of a face. The upright faces
are often referred to as roman. Some publishing applications
allow you to apply a computer-generated, or fake, italicized style
to a roman font. Using this technique is not recommended.
Also see oblique.
justified A block of text that has been spaced so that the text aligns on
both the left and right margins. Justified text has a more
formal appearance, but may be harder to read if not properly set.
typography manual 25
ligature Two or more letters combined into a single letterform. In some
typefaces, character combinations such as fi and fl overlap, result-
ing in an unsightly shape. The fi and fl ligatures were designed to
improve the appearance of these characters. Letter combinations
such as ff, ffi, and ffl are available in Adobe’s expert
set fonts and in most OpenType Pro fonts. OpenType fonts may
also have other ligatures designed to improve appearance of other
letter combinations (such as Th) or for artistic effect.
multiple master A class of PostScript font developed by Adobe that allows you to
modify and create new fonts based on a particular style. For in-
stance, you could create fonts that are bolder or expanded while
still maintaining the correct proportions, stroke width changes,
and other subtle design characteristics of the original typeface.
Also see PostScript, PostScript Type 1.
optical size A specifi c typeface design that is tailored for the point size it is
to be used at. Several of Adobe’s OpenType fonts include four
optical size variations—caption, regular, subhead, and display—
that have been optimized for use at specifi c point sizes. Although
the exact intended sizes vary by family, the general size ranges
include: caption (6–8 point), regular (9–13 point), subhead
(14–24 point), and display (25–72 point). Several of Adobe’s
Multiple Master fonts also include the ability to select an optical
size.
PFB file The portion of a Windows PostScript Type 1 font that contains
the font’s outline information.
PFM file The portion of a Windows PostScript Type 1 font that contains
the font’s metrics information.
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paragraph rules Graphic lines associated with a paragraph that separate blocks of
text. Rules are commonly used to separate columns and isolate
graphics on a page. Some programs allow paragraph styles to
be created that include paragraph rules above and/or below the
paragraph.
point size The most common method of measuring type. The distance
from the top of the highest ascender to the bottom of the lowest
descender in points. In Europe, type is sometimes measured by
the cap height in millimeters.
printer font One of the two components of a PostScript font for the Mac OS.
The printer font contains mathematically-defi ned outlines for
all characters (or glyphs) in that font, and is downloaded to the
printer when that font is used in a document. Also known as an
outline font.
proportional figures Numerals that have different widths depending on their shape.
When setting body text, it is preferrable to use proportional
figures. Also see tabular figures.
typography manual 27
raised cap A design treatment in which the first capital letter of a paragraph
is set in a large point size and aligned with the baseline of the first
line of text. Also see drop cap.
rivers Word spaces that align vertically from line to line in poorly justi-
fied text creating a distracting river of white space in a block
of copy.
screen font One of two components for a PostScript font on the Mac OS
platform. These are created by sending electronic information to
pixels (dots) on the computer screen thus allowing you to view
the font on-screen. Also known as a bitmapped font.
script font Fonts that appear to have been hand lettered with a calligraphy
pen or brush, or sometimes with a pencil or technical
pen.
style One of the variations in appearance, such as italic and bold, that
make up the faces in a type family.
symbol font A category of type in which the characters are special symbols
rather than alphanumeric characters.
tabular figures Numerals that all have the same width. This makes it easier to set
tabular matter. Most fonts have tabular figures. Also see propor-
tional figures.
text font Text fonts are used for body copy and are most commonly serif
fonts. In large families of typefaces these are often denoted with
the suffixes regular or book (for example, Utopia Regular or
ITC Veljovic Book).
28 typography manual
tracking Adjusting the average distance between letters in a block of text.
Generally, large type requires proportionally less space between
letters to appear subjectively right visually while small type re-
quires more letter spacing to appear right. Also see letterspacing.
typeface The letters, numbers, and symbols that make up a design of type.
A typeface is often part of a type family of coordinated designs.
The indiv. typefac are named after the family and are also speci-
fied with a designation, such as italic, bold, or condensed. Ex.: the
italic style of the Times fam. is referred to as a typeface or font.
unjustified Depending on alignment, this term refers to text that is set flush
left, flush right, or centered.
white space The blank areas on a page where text and illustrations are not
printed. White space should be considered an important graphic
element in page design.
word spacing Adjusting the average distance between words to improve legibil-
ity or to fit a block of text into a given amount of space.
typography manual 29
FOR FURTHER READING
There are several excellent books that can provide you with additional assistance in choosing and
using typefaces and in making type work better in your designs, including:
Beyond the Mac Is Not a Typewriter by Robin Williams. Peachpit Press, Berkeley, CA.
The Non-Designer’s Design Book by Robin Williams. Peachpit Press, Berkeley, CA.
Type & Layout: How Typography and Design Can Get Your Message Across—Or Get in the Way
by Colin Wheildon. Strathmoor Press, Berkeley, CA.
Stop Stealing Sheep & Find Out How Type Works by Erik Spiekermann.
Adobe Press, San Jose, CA.
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typography manual 31
Adobe, the Adobe logo, Adobe Caslon, Adobe Garamond, Adobe Jenson, Adobe Type Manager, ATM, Bickham Script,
Blue Island, Calcite, Chaparral, Cronos, Illustrator, InDesign, Jimbo, Kepler, Minion, Myriad, Photoshop, Postino, PostScript,
Shuriken Boy, Utopia, Voluta, and Warnock are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated
in the United States and/or other countries. Bembo and Ellington are trademarks of the Monotype Corporation registered
in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Offi ce and may be registered in certain other jurisdictions. Ocean Sans is a trademark
of the Monotype Corporation and may be registered in certain jurisdictions. Caravan Borders, Helvetica, Optima, and Times
are registered trademarks or trademarks of Linotype-Hell AG and/or its subsidiaries. ITC Veljovic and ITC Zapf Dingbats
are registered trademarks of the International Typeface Corporation. Spring is a trademark of LetterPerfect. Celestia is a
trademark of MvB Design. Mac is a trademark of Apple Computer, Inc., registered in the U.S.and other countries. OpenType
and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S.and/or other countries.
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