Font Glossary

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X

Oblique:
Sloped roman version of a typeface, often used in place of a true italic version.
Old Face:
Modeled on the humanistic miniscule, Old Face typefaces were originally written with a medium thick broad pen and hence displayed little stroke contrast and the triangular serifs. Some examples: Garamond, Palatino, Aldus.
Old Style Figures:
Also called non-lining figures or non-ranging figures. Figures or numerals of different heights, some of which descend below the baseline. The descenders make them generally more legible and they are therefore often used in texts whereas lining figures are often used in tables.
For PostScript and TrueType formats old style figures are usually located in seperate fonts using the name extention “OsF”. OpenType technology does not need separate fonts, because in addition to lining figures, old style figures can be integrated into the same font.
OPI:
Protocol developed jointly by Aldus and Linotype-Hell for replacing low-resolution images (image references in layouts) with their original high-resolution data. Now used mainly in pure PostScript systems.
OpenType:
OpenType is the standard font format in modern operating systems. OpenType fonts may include up to 65,536 characters, which – thanks to clear encoding with Unicode – may have their origins in many different languages. They can also combine typographical variations in one file that previously may have been distributed throughout various fonts, e. g., small capitals, old style figures and ligatures. OpenType fonts may have a certain intelligence (so-called features) which enables them to respond to particular character set situations and helps to improve display; this includes e. g., replacement tables for ligatures or raised or lowered characters. An OpenType font is composed of one single file which can be used both for Windows and for Mac OS X.
Orientation:
The way in which type is laid down on a page. Orientation can be described as portrait (vertical), inverse portrait (upside down), landscape (sideways), or inverse landscape (sideways, upside down).
Orphan:
The first line of a paragraph occurring at the bottom of a page. Should be avoided. See also widow.
The Know How section offers detailed background knowledge to deal with all enquiries about the use of fonts.