Fonts Features

InDesign Inspiration

Nick Sherman uses Adobe InDesign for everything from band buttons to cookbooks for kids with cancer. Check out his work in this inspiring article.

Set Them Free!

Find and use the free images and photos hidden in common applications.

TypeTalk: It's Fontariffic!

Answers to your questions about awkward spaces, "prime" time, and free fonts.

Scanning Around With Gene: Five Years on a Flatbed

On the occasion of five years writing his column for CreativePro.com, Gene Gable looks back on what he's learned scanning everything from dirty cocktail napkins to old record-albums. That, and the difference between a quail and a pheasant.

TypeTalk: Fast Answers to Font Questions

Are smart quotes always curly? Are headlines always left aligned? When is it OK to use ampersands? And how do you find and use true small caps?

TypeTalk: Practical Tips You Can Use

From how to break long URLs to the epic struggle between em dashes and en dashes, we have the answers to your typographic quandaries.

TypeTalk: A Cornucopia of Font Facts

This month, learn how to handle scaling surprises, PDFs that need editing, an optical font family, and those weird marks some editor scribbled on your layout.

Desert Island Reading

Last month, I received an email message from someone setting up a new graphic design department at a university.

TypeTalk: Do's and Don'ts

This month's column covers spaces, faces, traces, and more!

TypeTalk: Waddya Wanna Know?

While type may seem like a niche topic, it covers a surprisingly large territory. This column ranges far and wide: from stylistic sets to text boxes to point sizes to hyperlinks.

TypeTalk: Counter Intelligence

Got a question, any question, about type, typography, or fonts? We have the answers!

Year-Round School

Thanks to the Internet, back-to-school time isn't limited to the fall anymore. These online resources can help you improve your skills and invigorate your creativity.

Scanning Around With Gene: Part 2 of That '70s Type!

Gas was in short supply during some of the 1970s, but not so great type designs. Several new companies and technologies emerged that made that period the decade of display type. While good headlines were still set one letter at a time, new technology gave both designers and typesetters almost unlimited options. The results, says Gene Gable, while not always readable, were at least nice to look at.

Scanning Around With Gene: Part 1 of That '70s Type!

The decade from 1970 to 1980 stands out for many reasons, from sideburns to Richard Nixon to disco. But the things Gene Gable remembers most fondly are the decorative, bold, and sometimes goofy type designs.

TypeTalk: Information, Activation, Matching Feet, and Style Sheets

The newest installment of our type column is bursting with stuff you need to know.

Fonts: They've Been Everywhere

Follow along as we travel from hot metal type to phototypesetting, to Type 1, to TrueType, to OpenType, then end the journey with a rousing rendition of a type-centric Johnny Cash song. Who knew the Man in Black was a font fan?

TypeTalk: Your Fountain of Font Facts

This month, read about em and en dashes in print and on the Web; specimen books; and the best way to convert quotation marks and primes from dumb to smart and back again.

TypeTalk: What You Want to Know

Questions and answers on word spacing, kerning, tracking, period placement, missing fonts, and font-size confusion.

TypeTalk: Opening Up About OpenType

Do you have questions about mixing font formats in one file, crossing platforms, automating old-style figures, the best apps for OpenType, and the fonts with the most bang for the buck? We've got answers!

TypeTalk: The Word on Indents, Hyphenation, Leading, and Finding Fonts

The type-setting abilities of today’s design applications can be huge time-savers -- when we use them correctly.