Times New Roman is a serif font that was designed for the British newspaper The Times in 1931. It is one of the most widely used and influential fonts in history and a standard font on many computers and applications. In this article, we will explore the history, features, and usage of this classic font.
History of the Times New Roman Font
The Times New Roman font was commissioned by The Times of London in 1931. This was after Stanley Morison criticized the newspaper’s printing quality and legibility. Morison suggested that the newspaper should adopt a more modern and robust typeface suitable for both text and headlines. He collaborated with Victor Lardent, a lettering artist at The Times, to create a new font based on old-style serif fonts from the 18th century and earlier, such as Plantin and Baskerville.
The new font was first used in The Times on October 3, 1932, and was named Times New Roman to distinguish it from the previous font, Times Old Roman. It was an immediate success and received praise from readers and critics alike. It was also adopted by other newspapers and publications around the world, and became a popular choice for books, magazines, and academic papers.
In 1939, Monotype Corporation, the company that produced the font for The Times, released a commercial version of Times New Roman for general use. The font was also licensed to Linotype Corporation, which modified it to suit its own machines. Over the years, several variations and extensions of Times New Roman were created by different designers and foundries. These included Times Europa, Times Ten, Times Eighteen, Times New Roman PS MT, and Times New Roman World.
Font Features
Times New Roman is a serif font with vertical stress and moderate contrast between thick and thin strokes. It has a high x-height (the height of lowercase letters) and short ascenders and descenders (the parts of letters that extend above or below the baseline). These features make it compact and efficient in terms of space and readability.
Times New Roman has six weights (light, regular, medium, semi-bold, bold, and extra bold) with corresponding italic styles. It also has small caps, ligatures, fractions, and old-style figures (numbers that have varying heights and alignments). The font supports many languages and scripts, including Latin, Greek, Cyrillic, Arabic, Hebrew, Thai, Vietnamese, Devanagari, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada.
Times New Roman has some distinctive characteristics that make it recognizable and unique. For example:
- The uppercase Q has a long tail that crosses the circle.
- The lowercase g has a looped ear (the small stroke at the top right).
- The lowercase a has a curved top stroke that joins the bowl at an angle.
- The lowercase e has a horizontal bar that is slightly slanted upwards.
- The uppercase W has four vertical strokes instead of three.
- The uppercase J has a small hook at the bottom left.
Font Usage
Times New Roman is a versatile font that can be used for various purposes and contexts. It is especially suitable for long texts and formal documents, such as newspapers, books, reports, essays, dissertations, resumes, etc. It conveys authority, tradition, and professionalism.
You can also use it for headlines and titles, but it may not be very eye-catching or distinctive compared to other fonts. It can be paired with sans serif fonts for contrast and balance. For example:
We don’t recommend using Times New Roman for logos or display purposes, as it may look too common or boring. It is also not ideal for web design or digital media, as it may not render well on low-resolution screens or devices.
Times New Roman Font Generator
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Font Information
| Name | Times New Roman |
| Style | Serif |
| Author | Victor Lardent and Stanley Morison |
| File Format | TTF |
| Font Licence | Free for personal use. |
| Type | Regular |
Download
Free download of Times New Roman Font is available here. To download this popular font hit the download font button below and enjoy it.
Supported Language
Albanian, Armenian, Bislama, Breton, Bulgarian, Catalan; Valencian, Chamorro, Corsican, Croatian, Czech, Danish, English, French, Galician, Hungarian, Interlingua, Irish, Igbo, Ido, Italian, Kanuri, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, Polish, Romanian, Moldavian, Moldovan, Scottish Gaelic; Gaelic, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Tahitian, Ukrainian, Venda, Vietnamese, Walloon, Welsh, Yoruba.
Font Family
- Times New Roman® Regular
- Times New Roman® Italic
- Times New Roman® Medium
- Times New Roman® Medium Italic
- Times New Roman® Semi Bold
- Times New Roman® Semi Bold Italic
- Times New Roman® Bold
- Times New Roman® Bold Italic
- Times New Roman® Extra Bold
- Times New Roman® Condensed
- Times New Roman® Condensed Italic
- Times New Roman® Condensed Bold
Similar to Times New Roman
- Roboto Slab
- Lora
- Times Ten
- Photina
- EF Life
License Information
Before using Times New Roman font, keep in mind that it is for personal use only. If you want to make money through this font, that is, you want to use it for commercial purposes, then click here to buy a license.
Conclusion
Times New Roman is a timeless font used for almost a century. It is a symbol of quality journalism and academic excellence. It is also a font that many people know and like. Whether you love it or hate it, you cannot deny its impact and influence on typography and culture.
In addition, if you would like to download similar style fonts, you can try our other font offerings, like Crispy Tofu, Mamma Mia, Mardi Gras, and Cinzel font now!
Thank you for reading!
Font FAQs
What type of font is Times New Roman?
Ans: Times New Roman is a Serif typeface font commissioned by the British newspaper “The Times”.
Is Times New Roman Font safe to download and use in My PC and MAC?
Ans: Yes, It is 100% safe to download for both PC and MAC.
Is there any font similar to Times New Roman in Google Fonts?
Ans: Yes, It has. Among Google fonts, Playfair Display font looks like the Times New Roman font.
Is it OK to use this on an online platform?
Ans: Yes, you can use the Times New Roman font on the online platform.