A Guide to Open Source Fonts
Ubuntu
The Ubuntu font was released in 2010 and has been used as the default font in Ubuntu releases ever since. A sans serif font, Ubuntu has large rounded bowls on letters like b and o that make it highly readable, both online and on the page, while eccentricities like the half crossbar on the letter t and the tail of the l offer a modern, original look. The Ubuntu font creates a strong impression. In fact, it is among Ubuntu’s greatest contributions to open source (Figure 11).
Proprietary Substitutions
If you choose to use open source fonts, you may find that you need to replace a well-known proprietary font. My book Designing with LibreOffice includes an appendix that lists the closest substitutions available for many proprietary fonts (Table 1). Note that some of these substitutions are more exact than others. The quality may also vary. Happy hunting!
Table 1: Free Equivalents for Standard Proprietary Fonts
| Proprietary Font |
Free Equivalent |
| Alternate Gothic #1 |
League Gothic |
| Arial |
Liberation Sans*, PT Sans, Open Sans Condensed, Lato |
| Arial Narrow |
Liberation Sans Narrow* |
| Avenir |
Mint Spirit No2, Nunito |
| Baskerville |
Baskervald ADF Std |
| Bembo |
EB Garamond |
| Bodoni |
Accanthis ADF Std, Oranienbaum |
| Caladea |
Cambria* |
| Calibri |
Carlito* |
| Centaur |
Coelacanth |
| Century Gothic |
Muli |
| Comic Sans |
Comic Relief |
| Courier |
Liberation Mono |
| Courier 10 Pitch |
Courier Code* |
| Courier New |
Cousine |
| Eurostile |
Jura |
| Frutiger Istok |
Normal 400, Mint Spirit No2, Nunito |
| Futura Light |
Futura Renner Light |
| Garamond** |
Crimson Text, EB Garamond |
| Georgia |
Nimbus Roman No. 9 |
| Gill Sans |
Cabin, Gillius ADF, Hammersmith One, Railway Regular, Raleway |
| Goudy Old Style** |
Goudy Bookletter 1911, Linden Hill, Sorts Mill Goudy |
| Helvetica |
Liberation Sans,* PT Sans, Open Sans Condensed, Lato |
| Helvetica Narrow |
Liberation Sans Narrow* |
| Joanna |
Fanwood |
| Letter Gothic |
Josefin Sans, Josefin Slab |
| Myriad |
Junction, PT Sans |
| News Gothic |
News Cycle |
| Stone Sans |
Nunito |
| Stone Serif |
Lustria |
| Tahoma |
Lucida Sans, Nimbus Sans |
| Times New Roman |
Liberation Serif,* Linux Libertine* |
| Trajan |
Cinzel |
| Univers |
Universalis ADF Std |
| Verdana |
DejaVu Sans |
| * Metrical equivalents |
|
| ** “Garamond” and “Goudy” are often generic names for fonts inspired by particular designers. The closeness of the equivalent depends on which font you are trying to match. |
|
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