(Beginner): what are good and free fonts to use for body text? Tips for licensing? Where to buy, etc.?

[Amy Choue]

Having done quite a bit of practicing, I am ready to do actual formatting for a paperback.

I did all the practicing with a manuscript in Times New Roman. But now that I'll be formatting for an actual book, I would like to know what font to settle on. I think it would be great to have one, single, font that would always be the first choice to consider for body text. And the font used in the image below can be that font, it seems to me. Is it Minion? (I tried to find out what font it is and was told that it is Minion). I opened my Publisher to see whether it has Minion. It has Minion, Minion Pro. I added a number of fonts to the default fonts of Publisher but I did not add any font that requires license for commercial use. And the search I've done let me know that Minion is not a free font. So the Minion Pro (it's not one of the default fonts, I assume) I downloaded must be a demo, or pirated version, not the official, licensed version. 

If the font is indeed Minion and I should have license to use it for commercial purposes, I would consider going about it soon. But then, it seems, strictly speaking, there aren't that many free fonts. I asked ChatGPT about whether Times New Roman is a free font and it says No, I need to have license to use it for commercial purposes. The same for Georgia, Garamond and Baskerville. About what fonts are free and good for body text, its response was: Libre Baskerville, Crimson Text, and some others. 

So knowing little about fonts to begin with, I became more confused.  I somehow assumed the fonts that are default in MS Word are free to use for commercial purposes (and Georgia and Gararmond, not to mention TNR, are default, aren't they). What do you guys to with your chocies regarding fonts for body text? What are great (the best, for you) fonts to use for body text? And what are free fonts to use and what are fonts many people are willing to purchase? 

 

 

(Edit added). 

After posting this, I began search on this topic, and am realizing this is a huge topic and has been discussed over and over in many venues. I discovered that Caslon is also a good font for body text? (Never heard of this before). Google fonts provide "Libre Caslon" and it looks good in Word document. 

Is "myfonts.com" a good place to purchase fonts? I'm reading this article here: https://www.indesignskills.com/inspiration/fonts-for-books/ and its link to purchase a font goes to that site. Where do people purchase fonts? 

 

[Affinityconfusesme]

arial is very professional also and is available within the software.

[walt.farrell]

44 minutes ago, tzvi20 said:

arial is very professional also and is available within the software.

The software will use any static fonts you have installed, but the Affinity applications don't supply fonts themselves.

[kenmcd]

There are a number of high quality "free" OFL-licensed font families which are good for text.

Crimson Pro - (probably the closest to Minion)
Google Fonts has been updating this family, and not keeping the public sources up-to-date.
This Pro version has more features, and more styles available than the Text family.
And it has a variable font which you could use to make your own custom weight if you desire.
Download here: https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Crimson+Pro

Source Serif 4
I use this daily for long documents.
Many OpenType features, and optical size - this is a professional font for free.
Created by Adobe employees.
And it has a variable font which you could use to make your own custom weight if you desire.
Download here: https://github.com/adobe-fonts/source-serif   
Use the release download from the repo, not from Google Fonts.

STIX Two Text - (described as "a fresh take on Times Roman")
High quality text fonts made by experts.  Again, professional grade.
And it has a variable font which you could use to make your own custom weight if you desire.
Download here: https://github.com/stipub/stixfonts

Libre Baskerville - is rather limited
Just Regular, Italic, and Bold.
Not much in the way of OpenType features.
It is in the Google Fonts pipeline to be upgraded in the future.
Download here: https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Libre+Baskerville 

There is also an update to Libre Caslon in the works, but that is way off.

Times New Roman is not a modern font - compared to the first three above.
It has a lot of really odd stuff in it.
Recommend you avoid it and use a modern font.

Another high quality text font...little different style...
Literata - A contemporary serif typeface family for long-form reading
Was originally created as the brand typeface for Google Play Books.
Since has been expanded and improved.
Lots of OpenType features, lots of languages - and optical size.
And it has a variable font which you could use to make your own custom weight if you desire.
Download here: https://github.com/googlefonts/literata
That will have v3.103 for download.
There is a v3.200 available from another repo with a few updates/fixes.
If you decide to use that one I can attach the updated version.

Test these font families with your text and see how they look.
Print at least a chapter and read it completely.
 

Note: all of these include multiple static fonts that you can use in APub.
Not sure if I made that clear.

[Amy Choue]

51 minutes ago, kenmcd said:

Test these font families with your text and see how they look.
Print at least a chapter and read it completely.

Whoa, many thanks! I could download all but not Styx Two Text. Is it not by clicking on "Source code (zip)"? It doesn't seem to open. But I could save that for later. 

I'll have to turn several chapters, each in different font, into a PDF and see, as you say, how they appear by reading them completely. During my search, I've come upon remarks about Google fonts not adequate for print, having been developed for uses on the web. Then some other commenters say some Google fonts are good enough for either web or print. One designer was saying that Merriweather is her most favorite font, among Google fonts, for print purposes. So it seems to me, at least a group of fonts from Google are perfectly suitable for print? Among them, Merriweather, Crimson Pro? And how about, EB Garamond? In one of the articles I read today, someone was recommending EB Garamond very highly. 

Anyhow, many thanks again! 

[Return]

Try looking in the resources forum first.

 

[Amy Choue]

16 minutes ago, Return said:

Try looking in the resources forum first.

 

Wow this looks amazing. I am getting to know the world of typography bit by bit, a world I hardly knew before. One of the fonts here is named "Glacial Indifference." I would very much like to use it for its name's sake. Many thanks!   

[walt.farrell]

7 hours ago, kenmcd said:

And it has a variable font which you could use to make your own custom weight if you desire.

That sounds like something a font designer might find useful, but for most users of Affinity products, installing the variable font will probably cause problems as Affinity doesn't support them.

[kenmcd]

4 hours ago, walt.farrell said:

That sounds like something a font designer might find useful, but for most users of Affinity products, installing the variable font will probably cause problems as Affinity doesn't support them.

Guess that was not clear.
I am not suggesting using the variable font in Affinity. Duh.
This is more clear: "And it has a variable font which you could use to make your own custom weight static font if you desire."

If someone is trying to mimic the color of Minion Regular they may have to make some adjustments to the weight (and optical size). All of these fonts are going to appear darker. Minion is designed for high-end offset printing on high-quality very smooth paper (high-quality books). So the lighter color is appropriate there. Depending on how this book is to be produced that color may or may not be "just right." And having a variable font available makes it easier (not easy) to produce static fonts that are "just right" for the specific project.

[kenmcd]

@Amy Choue

Tried to post a long reply yesterday and the CloudFlare settings blocked me (again).

Still blocking me today.

Not sure if it just does not like the attachments or what.
Will try again later.

Now, let's see if this does post...

Well that did work.
Maybe I will try posting it in pieces.

[walt.farrell]

5 minutes ago, kenmcd said:

Maybe I will try posting it in pieces.

At worst, you can type your post, take a screenshot before clicking Submit, and post the screenshot. 

[R C-R]

12 hours ago, Amy Choue said:

Whoa, many thanks! I could download all but not Styx Two Text. Is it not by clicking on "Source code (zip)"? It doesn't seem to open.

FWIW, I had a lot of trouble getting some of those github pages and/or their content to load but eventually got to https://github.com/stipub/stixfonts/tree/master/zipfiles where, when I clicked on the STIX2_13-all.zip entry on the right, to my surprise that file downloaded in just a few seconds. I only wanted the otf versions so I probably could have clicked on the static_otf.zip one instead but regardless, after unzipping the 'all' one, I had no trouble installing all the otf STIX Two Text files on my Mac.

[purplie]

I usually find good free fonts at https://fonts.google.com.

[Mithferion]

Hi!

Typography enthusiast here. It's a wonderful and a giant world. I hope I can help:

On 9/4/2023 at 5:27 PM, Amy Choue said:

I would like to know what font to settle on.

I would ask the following questions, in the following order:

• What are the technical requirements of the Text? This means:
  • Whats the language or languages that the Typeface must cover? Beyond Latin script, you might need Greek or Cyrillic scripts, for example. I use Spanish as my primary Language of work (Latin script with some aditional characters)
  • What are the Numbers features that you are going to require? Do you need Old Style figures? Do you need Tabular figures? Any other?
  • What are te Text formatting features that you need? Do you need Small Caps? Do you need specific weights for this project? Maybe you need Extra Black fonts or Lighter fonts?
• What are the stylistic requirements of the Text? This usually means if your project is best serverd by using one of these:
  • Sans Serif (maybe aplayful one if you are doing something for kids)
  • Serif

After that, you can narrow down your search and find something that fits.

 

On 9/4/2023 at 5:27 PM, Amy Choue said:

So knowing little about fonts to begin with, I became more confused.  I somehow assumed the fonts that are default in MS Word are free to use for commercial purposes

This might provide some light. But, to be honest, Font Licensing is sometimes confusing. Anyway, long story short: Microsoft does not put any restriction for your use case:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/typography/fonts/font-faq

But, when in doubt, use an Open Source Typeface (SIL).

 

On 9/4/2023 at 5:27 PM, Amy Choue said:

What do you guys to with your chocies regarding fonts for body text? What are great (the best, for you) fonts to use for body text? And what are free fonts to use and what are fonts many people are willing to purchase?

• For Typeface selection, refer to my first answer. Also, for printed material, my clients are best served with Open Source Typefaces because it basically have no restrictions
• Either Sans Serif or Serif. Which ones I prefer? there are more than this but just to provide a quick list:
  • Sans Serif:
    • Inter
    • Source Sans 3
    • Hanken Grotesk
    • Metropolis
    • Montserrat
    • Noto Sans
  • Serif
    • Amiri
    • EB Garamond
    • Libertinus Serif
    • Libre Bodoni
    • Ibarra Real Nova
    • Crimson Text
• Which Fonts people buy for Body Text? Well, depends on the Budget and what the Designer has picked for them. There are some Typefaces that are popular. There are some time-tested Typehaces that are classics that are safe to use but... Personally, the ones I use are intended for Logo Design (if the respective License allows it)

 

On 9/4/2023 at 5:27 PM, Amy Choue said:

I discovered that Caslon is also a good font for body text? (Never heard of this before). Google fonts provide "Libre Caslon" and it looks good in Word document.

Caslon is one of the classics, yes. And the version provided by Google Fonts is good, yes. 

 

On 9/4/2023 at 5:27 PM, Amy Choue said:

Is "myfonts.com" a good place to purchase fonts? I'm reading this article here: https://www.indesignskills.com/inspiration/fonts-for-books/ and its link to purchase a font goes to that site. Where do people purchase fonts? 

It has one of the largest collections of Fonts, having acquired several Type Foundries it's becoming more like a monopoly. But nonetheless, sometimes they run Sales and they have very good deals. But if you are starting out, maybe you should skip that for a while.

Best regards!

[R C-R]

FWIW,  Google has a series of 'choosing type' lessons at https://fonts.google.com/knowledge/choosing_type. One or more of them might be worth a read or at least bookmarking for future reference.