Wether you’re trying to find the best font for your novella, because you’re a selfpublisher, or you’re designing a leaflet as a startup graphics designer — the licensing fees for professional, commercial fonts can be daunting at times. While there are ways (like always) to basically obtain any font you want for free, there is a free and perfectly legal way to get lots of quality fonts: open source.

w ^醚你想找到你的中篇小说最好的字体，因为你是一个selfpublisher，或者你正在设计一个小册子作为启动图形设计师-专业，商业字体的授权费用可能时常是艰巨的。 虽然有一些方法(像往常一样)基本上免费获取您想要的任何字体，但是有一种免费且完全合法的方法来获取许多优质字体：开源。

Open source basically means, that you’re free to use the fonts for any kind of project, be it commercial or just for private use. There are an estimated onehundredandthirtyfive quadrofontzillion fonts out there in almost as much variations.

开源基本上意味着，您可以自由地将字体用于任何类型的项目，无论是商业用途还是私人用途。 估计有一百一三十五种四字形字体出现在几乎一样多的变体中。

Who really needs all of those?

谁真正需要所有这些？

If you’re not required to use “specific” fonts for a given project, you’re free to use “lookalikes” or “alternative” fonts. In all honesty, if you have a handful of fonts, you’re set for almost any kind of project.

如果不需要为给定项目使用“特定”字体，则可以自由使用“ lookalikes”或“ alternative”字体。 老实说，如果您有几种字体，那么几乎可以进行任何类型的项目。

I recommend a “5-way typeset” like so:

我建议像这样的“ 5向排版”：

• 5 sans serif fonts (think Arial)
  5种无衬线字体(认为Arial)
• 5 serif fonts (think Times New Roman)
  5种衬线字体(认为Times New Roman)
• 5 monotype fonts (think Courier New)
  5种单型字体(想用Courier New)
• 5 handwritten and swirly fonts (think Brush Script)
  5种手写和涡旋字体(认为画笔脚本)
• 5 really heavy fonts (think Impact or Gothic 821)
  5种非常沉重的字体(认为Impact或Gothic 821)
• 5 fonts with dingbats and emojis (think Webdings)
  5种带有dingbat和emoji的字体(认为Webdings)

Again, if you’re free in your font choice and don’t need to work with certain fonts (for example, as a graphics designer adhering to CI guidelines), you can do perfectly fine with just a small set of open source fonts like above. Everything else is just excess “fluff”.

同样，如果您可以自由选择字体，并且不需要使用某些字体(例如，作为遵循CI准则的图形设计师，则可以使用一小部分开源字体，例如以上。 其他一切都不过是多余的“绒毛”。

If you’re using open source writing software, like Libre Office as an alternative to MS Office, you’re already decked out with a great set of open source fonts like

如果您使用的是Libre Office等开源写作软件，而不是MS Office的替代软件，那么您已经拥有大量开源字体，例如

• Liberation Serif (instead of Times New Roman)
  解放衬线(代替Times New Roman)
• Liberation Sans (instead of Arial)
  Liberation Sans(代替Arial)
• Liberation Mono (instead of Courier New)
  解放单声道(代替Courier New)

Those are all a really great starting point to cover your most basic font needs.

这些都是满足您最基本的字体需求的绝佳起点。

If you’re using a distribution of Linux as your OS (Solus, for example) you already know about the great benefits of open source ressources and software. You also already got a nice set of open source fonts, provided by your OS.

如果您使用Linux发行版作为操作系统(例如Solus )，您已经知道开源资源和软件的巨大好处。 您还已经获得了由操作系统提供的一组不错的开源字体。

有关类型的基本准则和建议 (Basic guidelines and recommendations about type)

Please note that typography is a very complex (and wonderfully so) subject, which is impossible to cover in just one short paragraph. But if you’re only getting started, or want some very basic no-thrills-guidelines on how to use fonts in an effective way, here you go:

请注意，排版是一门非常复杂的主题(真是太好了)，这不可能在短短的一段中涵盖。 但是，如果您只是开始使用，或者想要一些关于如何有效使用字体的非常基本的入门指南，请按照以下步骤操作：

• never ever use Comic Sans for anything, except articles exposing how truly awful it is

  从来没有将Comic Sans用于任何事物，除非有文章说明它是多么的糟糕

• don’t use “digital watch”-type fonts for anything supposedly futuristic, it was already getting old back in the 1990's
  不要将“数字手表”类型的字体用于任何所谓的未来派，它早在1990年代就已经变老了
• don’t use handwritten fonts for body text, or in ALL CAPS
  请勿在正文或全部大写中使用手写字体
• for long bodies of text, use serif fonts to lessen eyestrain
  对于较长的文本，请使用衬线字体减轻眼睛疲劳

• for short informative blurbs, flyers and posters use sans serif fonts for enhanced clarity

  对于简短的简短说明，传单和海报使用无衬线字体来增强清晰度

• most layouts will do fine with 3 different fonts max
  大多数布局最多可以使用3种不同的字体
• use monotype fonts sparingly — they’re really easy to skim through though, making them perfect for drafting
  谨慎使用单色字体-尽管它们确实很容易浏览，使其非常适合草稿

• in long essays or copy it’s a good idea to use sans serif fonts for headlines and serif fonts for the body text, to improve contrast, structure and readability (take note, how Medium is doing this by default in our articles)

  在长篇论文或抄袭中，最好将sans serif字体用作标题，将serif字体用作正文，以提高对比度，结构和可读性(请注意，Medium在我们的文章中默认是如何做到的)

• when creating brochures or flyers with black-on-white text, it can look more elegant, to make the text not actually 100% black, but rather a 90% grey, to decrease page glare
  在创建带有黑白文本的小册子或传单时，它看起来更优雅，以使文本实际上不是100％黑色，而是90％灰色，以减少页面眩光

• use handwritten fonts very sparingly, maybe for greetings, headlines and birthday wishes, or as a signature

  使用手写字体 非常少用，可能是问候，头条新闻和生日祝福，或者是签名

• good typography is always about readability first, style second

  好的排版总是关于 可读性第一 ，样式第二

• research how to do proper title case, if you’re lazy like me, use Title Case Converter

  研究如何做适当的标题大小写，如果您像我一样懒，请使用“ 标题大小写转换器”

• if you’re presenting boatloads of text, think of the whitespace as a designelement, that’s as important, as the content itself

  如果要呈现大量文本，请将空白视为一个designelement ，这与内容本身一样重要

• if you’re strictly providing manuscripts and do no formatting yourself, provide your publisher/editor with exactly what they ask for, if you don’t have specific instructions, going with 1,5 line spacing and Times New Roman or Liberation Serif, size 12, is a pretty safe bet (at least in Europe)

  如果您严格提供稿件且不格式化自己，请为发布者/编辑提供确切的要求，如果没有特定说明，请使用1.5行距和Times New Roman或Liberation Serif，大小12，是一个相当安全的选择(至少在欧洲是这样)

“Type is a beautiful group of letters, not a group of beautiful letters.” ― Matthew Carter

“ Type是一组漂亮的字母，而不是一组漂亮的字母。” ―马修·卡特

在哪里可以获得免费，优质的开源字体？ (Where to get free, quality, open source fonts?)

So where do you actually get good open source fonts? There are really 2 major ressources I can wholeheartedly recommend — and both of them have stunning websites.

那么，您实际上从哪里可以获得好的开源字体？ 我可以全心推荐2种主要资源，而且它们都有很棒的网站。

Open Source Font Library

开源字体库

This is a very minimalistic and clear website, navigating it is a breeze and it provides all the information you need at a glance. Also take note of the no-thrills-1990’s charme. There’s hundreds of quality fonts in all kinds of categories. If you start browsing, you’ll get lost for a while, but your haul of beautiful fonts will be more than worth it.

这是一个非常简单明了的网站，浏览起来非常轻松，它一目了然地提供您需要的所有信息。 还请注意1990年的魅力。 各种类别中都有数百种优质字体。 如果您开始浏览，将会迷失一阵子，但是购买精美的字体将是值得的。

Open Foundry

开放式铸造

A very unique take on how to show off independently created open source fonts with fascinating and bold typography. You just scroll through paragraphs of formatted phrases. Klicking on a font, reveals further artistic typography, details about the font, it’s creator and the option to download. Navigation isn’t as straight forward or snappy as on the Open Source Font Library page. It takes a bit getting used to. But the experience is that much more involved. A must for fontlovers.

关于如何展示引人入胜的大胆字体的独立创建的开源字体的非常独特的看法。 您只需滚动格式化短语的段落即可。 轻敲字体，可以显示进一步的艺术字体，字体的详细信息，字体的创建者和下载选项。 导航不像“开源字体库”页面上的那样简单明快。 这需要一点时间来适应。 但是经验要多得多。 字体爱好者的必备品。

如何识别字体？ (How to identify fonts?)

If you’re trying to recreate specific typography or designs, you sometimes need to do some serious research, to find look-a-like fonts, or the one specific font you’re supposed to use. This can be a hassle. Experienced graphics designers may know a few dozen fonts from the top off their head, when they see them, but might also struggle with more exotic and seldomly used fonts.

如果您试图重新创建特定的字体或设计，则有时需要进行一些认真的研究，以查找外观相似的字体或您应该使用的一种特定字体。 这可能很麻烦。 经验丰富的图形设计师在看到它们时可能会从头顶上知道几十种字体，但也可能会尝试使用更多奇特且很少使用的字体。

Whatever your usecase might be, if you need to identify a font, you can do so, based on only a small sample of the font in question. It’s really easy too!

无论用例是什么，如果需要识别字体，都可以仅基于所涉及字体的一小部分进行识别。 真的也很容易！

WhatTheFont! by myfont.com

WhatTheFont！ 由myfont.com

WhatTheFont provides a wonderful little online applet, where you can upload a sample image of the font in question. Just a mouseclick later you’re presented with suggestions, most of the time those will be quite accurate. Fonts are offered for purchase, but you can just use them as a reference to find a similar open source font too, if you don’t need that specific font.

WhatTheFont提供了一个很棒的在线小应用程序，您可以在其中上载有关字体的示例图像。 稍后单击鼠标，您就会看到一些建议，大多数情况下，这些建议是非常准确的。 提供了一些字体供您购买，但是如果您不需要特定的字体，也可以将它们用作查找相似的开源字体的参考。

Fontspring Matcherator

Fontspring Matcherator

Basically, it does the same as WhatTheFont! but is a bit more advanced. It offers better ways to highlight the specific letters you want to identify. The rest of the experience is really similar. Personally, I’ve had more accurate results with this.

基本上，它与WhatTheFont的功能相同！ 但是有点高级。 它提供了更好的方法来突出显示要识别的特定字母。 其余的经验确实很相似。 就个人而言，我得到了更准确的结果。

使用字体标识符的一般建议 (General advice for using font identifiers)

To get the best possible results for your font identification endeavor, make sure that your sample images

为了获得最好的字体识别效果，请确保您的示例图像

• are straightened out and not warped
  伸直而不扭曲
• provide the best possible contrast between font and background
  提供字体和背景之间的最佳对比
• are of reasonable size and resolution (more is better)
  具有合理的尺寸和分辨率(越多越好)
• are either in .jpg or .png file format
  格式为.jpg或.png

• show at least 5 to 10 different letters and/or numbers

  显示至少5到10个不同的字母和/或数字

结论 (Conclusion)

Getting a personal set of professional and beautiful fonts must neither be complicated, or expensive. Open source is a wonderful thing! Sticking to the limited selection of open source fonts, compared to the staggering vastness of commercial fonts available, will also provide some guidance and ease of mind. To me that’s no limitation, but an added bonus. Too much choice can be a struggle.

获得一套个性化的专业且美观的字体既不复杂也不昂贵。 开源是一件了不起的事情！ 与可用的商业字体惊人的庞大相比，坚持使用有限的开源字体选择，也将提供一些指导和简便性。 对我而言，这不是限制性的，而是额外的好处。 选择太多可能会很麻烦。

Identifying a font doesn’t require years of experience working with typography anymore (it won’t harm though). Using the websites I recommend, you can safe yourself tons of licensing fees for high end fonts and hours of research. You might even fall in love with fonts and typography, like I did, so many years ago.

识别字体不再需要多年的排版经验(尽管这不会造成伤害)。 使用我建议的网站，您可以放心使用大量高端字体和研究时间来支付大量许可费用。 就像我一样，您甚至可能在很多年前就爱上了字体和版式。

I hope you found this article informative! If you enjoy monospace fonts as much as I do, check out my article about them. If you’re still looking for that perfect writing laptop for 2020, read about my recommendation. Not sure if you got a writer’s soul — find out here.

希望您发现这篇文章内容丰富！ 如果您像我一样喜欢等宽字体，请查看我有关它们的文章 。 如果您仍在寻找适用于2020年的完美书写笔记本电脑，请阅读我的建议 。 不知道您是否有作家的灵魂-在此处查找。

Thank you for reading! Stay safe, healthy and keep creating!

感谢您的阅读！ 保持安全，健康并不断创造！

This article is based on personal experience and opinion. It doesn’t contain any affiliate links and I am not associated to any of the websites presented.

本文基于个人经验和观点。 它不包含任何会员链接，我也没有与所展示的任何网站相关联。