4 ms·

Ahh, very satisfying to learn the name of this property. It’s especially important in data tables when coupled with tabular numbers (essentially mono spaced nu

Ahh, very satisfying to learn the name of this property. It’s especially important in data tables when coupled with tabular numbers (essentially mono spaced numbers) so you can e.g. bold a cell without having the thousands or decimal separators get out of alignment in a column of numbers. Spreadsheet programs use fonts with this property.

jack_jennings 6y ago
Also called Lining Figures, this property is a lot more common than “duplexed” alphabetical glyphs — even if they are not the default, most text fonts now support them as an opentype feature.
- nicolaskruchten 6y ago
  My understanding is that the term “lining” refers to numbers with the same height, (which is also common and appreciated in data tables!) and that “tabular” refers to numbers with the same width, so not quite the same thing: https://creativepro.com/typetalk-know-your-figures/ https://creativepro.com/typetalk-know-your-figures/
  - jack_jennings 6y ago
    Yep, you’re right. My mistake.
crazygringo 6y ago
Fonts in general usually keep their numerals and certain punctuation characteres all of equal width, and of equal width between regular and bold (even when their letters get wider in bold). It's not really something special spreadsheet programs do or select for. It's just how basically all workhouse body typefaces operate, like Helvetica or Times New Roman or Calibri, precisely for the reason you list.
- nicolaskruchten 6y ago
  Well, Verdana at least doesn’t, and that’s when I first noticed it :)
  - crazygringo 6y ago
    True. Verdana is a weird font in a lot of ways -- it was designed for low-DPI screens in the 1990's, mainly as an interface font for Windows. It was never intended for print at all, and so doesn't follow some standard typographical conventions (such as bolded numerals being the same width). Which is why when IKEA chose it as their main branding font (in their print catalog, no less!) to replace Futura, there was such an outrage among graphic designers, as it was such a terrible choice. (IKEA no longer uses Verdana anymore though.)
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]

jack_jennings 6y ago

Also called Lining Figures, this property is a lot more common than “duplexed” alphabetical glyphs — even if they are not the default, most text fonts now support them as an opentype feature.

nicolaskruchten 6y ago
My understanding is that the term “lining” refers to numbers with the same height, (which is also common and appreciated in data tables!) and that “tabular” refers to numbers with the same width, so not quite the same thing: https://creativepro.com/typetalk-know-your-figures/ https://creativepro.com/typetalk-know-your-figures/
- jack_jennings 6y ago
  Yep, you’re right. My mistake.

crazygringo 6y ago

Fonts in general usually keep their numerals and certain punctuation characteres all of equal width, and of equal width between regular and bold (even when their letters get wider in bold). It's not really something special spreadsheet programs do or select for. It's just how basically all workhouse body typefaces operate, like Helvetica or Times New Roman or Calibri, precisely for the reason you list.

nicolaskruchten 6y ago
Well, Verdana at least doesn’t, and that’s when I first noticed it :)
- crazygringo 6y ago
  True. Verdana is a weird font in a lot of ways -- it was designed for low-DPI screens in the 1990's, mainly as an interface font for Windows. It was never intended for print at all, and so doesn't follow some standard typographical conventions (such as bolded numerals being the same width). Which is why when IKEA chose it as their main branding font (in their print catalog, no less!) to replace Futura, there was such an outrage among graphic designers, as it was such a terrible choice. (IKEA no longer uses Verdana anymore though.)
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]