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Q. What is the difference between Times Roman and Times New Roman, and why are both listed in my font menu? Is Times Roman the “Old” version? Please explain!

A. Stick with me -- this is going to get a little complicated because we’re talking about apples to apples (Times Roman and Times New Roman) and apples to oranges (Times Roman and Times Old Roman).

The typeface referred to as Times Old Roman was the typeface used by the British newspaper, The Times, in the early 1900s. Times New Roman is the face designed by Stanley Morison and Victor Lardent in 1931 after Morison, a typographic consultant to The Times (and for Monotype), criticized the typography and the printing of the newspaper.

The Times Roman and Times New Roman in your font menu are variations on a theme, so to speak. Times New Roman was originally developed by Monotype for use on their typesetting equipment; newspapers of the day also used Linotype equipment, so a version of Times New Roman was developed for these typesetters by Linotype, which became known as Times Roman. These distinctions remain today; that is, the Times New Roman on your computer is a Monotype font, and Times Roman is a Linotype font. The two do have subtle differences in design and spacing, so they're not exactly interchangeable.

Figure 1. Two versions of Times can be seen in my Mac font menu: Times (PostScript) by Linotype, and Times New Roman (OpenType) by Monotype.

To complicate things further, not every version of Times New Roman is exactly the same. For instance, while the OpenType version of Times New Roman set at 12 point is virtually identical to 12 point Times New Roman set in metal, the PostScript Windows version of Times New Roman has a shorter alphabet length. So let the user beware -- of the subtle differences, that is!

Figure 2. The subtle differences in design details are circled in Linotype’s Times Roman in the top example and Monotype’s Times New Roman, below it.

Love type? Want to know more? Ilene Strizver conducts her acclaimed Gourmet Typography workshops internationally. For more information on attending one or bringing it to your company, organization, or school, go to her site, call The Type Studio at 203-227-5929, or email Ilene at info@thetypestudio.com. Sign up for her e-newsletter at www.thetypestudio.com. You can also follow Ilene on Facebook and Twitter.