Overview

This repo contains a utility webpage that compares between fonts by overlaying images of popular proprietary fonts with similar open source alternatives. Live site at fonts.scribeocr.com.

The definition of "similar" used for this project is "if the fonts are printed over each other, there is a high proportion of overlap." This definition differs significantly from a listing of fonts that have a similar "feel", or have similar typographic features, which are the criteria used by most authors of "alternatives to [font]" lists online.

The open source fonts included in the comparison are listed below. All information in the sections below are personal notes/impressions, and should not be relied upon by others considering deploying these fonts. Always double-check the applicable licenses yourself. "GPL" is used as shorthand for all GPL variants.

Open Source Alternative Fonts

Arial

• ua1r8a.woff - URW Arial (URW A030)
  • Source: urw-arial Tex package
    • This may have been included in previous versions of Ghostscript, but does not appear to be included in the most recent version.
  • License: Aladdin Free Public License
  • Note: Converted from .pfb to .woff for web compatibility.
• See also:
  • URW Nimbus Sans
    • Listed as alternative to Helvetica, which is very similar to Arial.

Baskerville

• LibreBaskerville-Regular.ttf - Libre Baskerville
  • Source: Google Fonts
  • License: OFL
• QTBasker.otf - QT Basker
  • Source: QualiType Font Collection
  • License: OFL

Bookman

• URWBookman-Light.ttf - URW Bookman Light
  • Source: Ghostscript Base 35 Fonts
  • License: GPL
• See also:
  • QT Bookmann
    • QT Bookmann appears to be identical to URW Bookman for common characters.
    • URW Bookman has more characters, however QT Bookmann has a permissive license (OFL), so may be useful in certain contexts.

Calibri

• Carlito-Regular.ttf - Carlito
  • Source: Google Fonts
  • License: OFL

Century Schoolbook

• C059-Roman.ttf - URW Schoolbook L (C059)
  • Source: Ghostscript Base 35 Fonts
  • License: GPL

Courier New

• NimbusMono-Regular.ttf - Nimbus Mono
  • Source: Ghostscript Base 35 Fonts
  • License: GPL

Garamond

• EBGaramond-Regular.ttf - EB Garamond
  • Source: Google Fonts
  • License: OFL
• Garamond-Antiqua.ttf - URW Garamond
  • Source: Ghostscript PCL5 Fonts
  • License: Aladdin Free Public License
• QTGaromand.otf - QT Garomand
  • Source: QualiType Font Collection
  • License: OFL
• See also:
  • Cormorant Garamond
    • This font is Garamond-like in style, however is not directly comparable to Garamond MT.
    • The "about" page sates this is intentional, as "[the creator] did not use any specific font as a starting point or direct reference".

Helvetica

• NimbusSans-Regular.ttf - URW Nimbus Sans
  • Source: Ghostscript Base 35 Fonts
  • License: GPL

Minion

• CrimsonText-Regular.ttf - Crimson Text
  • Source: Google Fonts
  • License: OFL

Palatino

• P052-Roman.ttf - URW Palladio
  • Source: Ghostscript Base 35 Fonts
  • License: GPL
• See also:
  • QT Palatine
    • QT Palatine appears to be identical to URW Palladio for common characters, so is not included in the comparison.
    • QT Palatine is permissively licensed (OFL), so this font is worth considering if the license of URW Palladio is problematic.

Times New Roman

• NimbusRoman-Regular.ttf - URW Nimbus Roman (No 9)
  • Source: Ghostscript Base 35 Fonts
  • License: GPL

Veranda

Comparing optimized fonts to Veranda also applies to Tahoma. The glyphs of Tahoma and Veranda only differ by simple geometric transformations.

• tahoma.ttf - Wine Tahoma
  • Source: Wine
  • License: GPL

Licenses

• Aladdin Free Public License (AFPL)
  • Non-commercial, copy-left
• GNU Public License (GPL)
  • Copy-left
• Open Font License (OFL)
  • Permissive

Adding New Fonts

Adding a new commercial font/free font comparison requires doing the following:

1. Add the new free font to the fonts directory.
2. Updated overlapTest.js to add the new font to the list.
3. Add new renders of the commercial font to the char_img directory.
   1. This is done using the script scripts/generateFontImages.js.
   2. Running this script requires having the commercial fonts on your local system, and then creating a new file at scripts/localPaths.js listing the location of each commercial font on your system.
      1. The structure the localPaths.js file should have can be seen in the snippet below.

export const fontPaths = {
    "Arial": [local path],
    "Bookman": [local path],
    "Calibri": [local path],
    "Century": [local path],
    "Courier": [local path],
    "Garamond": [local path],
    "Helvetica": [local path],
    "Minion": [local path],
    "Palatino": [local path],
    "Times New Roman": [local path],
    "Veranda": [local path]
  };