FONT CATEGORIES

Fonts Grouped By Category
A much smaller list of fonts common to all computers, can be found here.

Scroll to the bottom for an explanation of which fonts to use for websites, print-outs, etc.

Note: If any of these fonts are not on your computer, you will be viewing "Courier New" font instead.

If you were to do an Internet search for different font types, you would literally find dozens of font categories but some of those categories could easily be combined into just one. For example, rather than listing separate categories for "Old Style Serif", "Slab Serif", "Transitional Serif", etc. we grouped all of these into the "Serif Font" category.
By doing this, we grouped all fonts into six categories:
• Blackletter Fonts
• Serif Fonts
• Sans Serif Fonts
• Script Fonts
• Decorative Fonts
• Monospaced Fonts

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * BLACKLETTER FONTS * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Blackletter686 BT
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Lucida Blackletter
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Old English TextMT
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * SERIF FONTS * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Baskerville Old Face
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Bell MT
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Bernard MT Condensed
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

BernhardMod BT
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Bitstream Vera Serif
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Book Antiqua
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Bookman Old Style
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Californian FB
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Calisto MT
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Elephant
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Garamond Antiqua
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Georgia
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

High Tower Text
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

LcdD
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Onyx
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Onyx BT
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Palatino Linotype
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Perpetua Titling MT STD
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Rockwell
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Times New Roman
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Xerox Serif
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * SANS SERIF FONTS * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Agency FB
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Arial
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Arial Rounded MT
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Berlin Sans FB
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Bitstream Vera Sans
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Century Gothic
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Eurostile
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Haettenschweiler
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Hippo
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Impact
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

MS Sans Serif
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

News Gothic MT
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Placard Condensed
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

QuickType
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Tahoma
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Trebuchet MS
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Tw Cen MT
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Verdana
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Xerox Sans Serif Narrow
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * SCRIPT FONTS * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Artista
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Blackadder ITC TT
Blackadder ITC TT
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Bradley Hand ITC
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Comic Sans MS
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Edwardian Script ITC
Edwardian Script ITC
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Freestyle Script
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

French Script MT
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Informal Roman
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Kristen ITC
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Kunstler Script
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Lucida Calligra
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Maiandra GD
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Matisse ITC
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Matura MT Script Capitals
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Mead
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Mercurius Script MT
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Mistral
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Monotype Corsiva
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Palace Script MT
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Papyrus
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Parchment
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Pristina
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Rage
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Ribbon131 Bd BT
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Script
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Tempus Sans ITC
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Viner Hand ITC
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Vivaldi
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Vladimir Script
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * DECORATIVE FONTS * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Algerian
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Beesknees ITC
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Braggadocio
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Broadway
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Castellar
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Chiller
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Colonna MT
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Cooper Black
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Desdemona
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Flexure
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Forte
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Gigi
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Gradl
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Harlow Solid
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Harrington
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Juice
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Kino MT
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Niagara Engraved
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Niagara Solid
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

OCR A
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Playbill
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Ransom
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Ravie
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Showcard Gothic
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Snap ITC
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Stencil BT
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Terminal
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Transam
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Westminster
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Wide Latin
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * MONOSPACED FONTS * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Andale Mono
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Bitstream Vera Sans Mono
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Consolas
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

Courier New
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

MS Gothic
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

MS Mincho
1234567890!@#$%^&*()
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Blackletter Fonts were popular many centuries ago and in fact, the Gutenberg Bible was printed using this font in the 1450's. Since it has been a long time since these fonts were commonplace, people today are not used to reading text in this style. Also, blackletter fonts are very complex and intricate which increases the difficulty in their readability. It's no surprise that traffic signs are not printed in this font.

Blackletter fonts are not recommended for any lengthy sections of text, and so you would never see these being used in an encyclopedia, newspaper articles, magazine articles and especially not for a website. You could use these fonts as a header in a website article but remember to use these sparingly.
So, what is the pupose of using blackletter fonts? Their style is extravagant and elegant, giving them a formal and dignified manner which practically ensures that these will be used for printing special documents such as diplomas, wedding invitations, etc.

Serif Fonts have small extensions at the tips of some letters.
(Note the red highlights in the graphic below.)

As a general rule, serif fonts look better when printed rather than being displayed on a web page but that hasn't stopped some website owners from using them, particularly Georgia font.

There's an interesting use for serif fonts if your site has a "printer-friendly" section. That is to say, if you have pages which people might want to print, you could put those same pages in another section but set them up with a "Times New Roman" font and people could print from that page.

Sans Serif Fonts (unlike serif fonts) have no extensions.
The general rule for websites is that sans serif fonts are the best font family to use for web pages.
Online, they are the most easily readable fonts and they are the ones to use if you are displaying large portions of text.
And we're not just saying that. We use Arial font as the principal typeface for all pages at www.1728.com.

Script Fonts are fonts that resemble handwriting.
For simplicity sake, we have combined the Brush Script, Calligraphic and Cursive fonts into this category.
Generally speaking, these fonts look much better when printed.
They are quite fancy and formal and look very impressive on invitations and greeting cards.
Still, online they can be useful as a header for a long block of text.
(See the graphic on the left.)
A script font header followed by sans serif text can break up the monotony of an entire web page that is set up totally of just one font type.

Decorative Fonts like the script fonts are not designed to be used for large blocks of text. You wouldn't expect a book to be published entirely in Braggadocio font would you?
Use decorative fonts in the same manner as you would with script fonts.
Incidentally, in the six groups of fonts that are listed above, we have included the display and fantasy fonts in the decorative font category.

Monospaced Fonts have precisely the same amount of horizontal space for each letter, unlike all the other fonts listed above, which are called proportional fonts. With proportional fonts, the letter 'w' takes up much more horizontal space than the letter 'i'.
By looking at the monospaced font group, you may notice that they are very plain-looking but monospaced fonts are handy to use if you need to "line up" data.
For example, here is five days of weather displayed with Arial font:
Sat Oct 01 Fair
Sun Oct 02 Sunny
Mon Oct 03 Fair
Tue Oct 04 Rain
Wed Oct 05 Cloudy

Here is the same weather report using Courier New font:
Sat Oct 01 Fair
Sun Oct 02 Sunny
Mon Oct 03 Fair
Tue Oct 04 Rain
Wed Oct 05 Cloudy

Do you notice how much more neatly and precisely all the letters and numbers line up?
So, this is the font to use if you need to display data in neat columns.
Actually, there are other ways to line up data neatly but this provides the quickest solution.

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