The term "computer Roman font" most commonly refers to Computer Modern Roman (CM Roman), which is the default typeface family used by the LaTeX typesetting system. It was designed by Donald Knuth for his TeX computer typesetting system. More recently, New Computer Modern Roman has emerged as a significant evolution, offering an expanded set of characters while maintaining stylistic compatibility.
Origins and Characteristics of Computer Modern Roman
Computer Modern Roman is an iconic typeface, instantly recognizable in scientific papers, academic texts, and books typeset with LaTeX.
- Designed by Donald Knuth: The font was meticulously designed by computer scientist Donald Knuth as part of his Metafont system, which allows for programmatic font generation. This unique approach meant that the fonts could be generated at any resolution, ensuring crisp output on various devices.
- Distinctive Aesthetic: CM Roman is known for its classical, elegant appearance, often described as having a "modernized old-style" look. It features serifs, which are the small decorative strokes at the ends of letter strokes, contributing to its high readability in long texts.
- Mathematical Prowess: A core strength of Computer Modern, including its Roman variant, is its extensive support for mathematical symbols, making it an indispensable choice for scientific and technical documentation.
- Open Source: The Computer Modern fonts are open-source, which has contributed significantly to their widespread adoption and continued development within the academic and open-source communities.
The Evolution: New Computer Modern Roman
While Computer Modern Roman remains fundamental, New Computer Modern Roman represents a modern reassembly and extension of these classic fonts. It's designed to be stylistically consistent with the original Computer Modern while significantly broadening its character coverage.
New Computer Modern Roman is a first release of a new assembly of Computer Modern fonts. It also includes additional glyphs for non-Latin alphabets, which are considered compatible in style to the original CM fonts. This expansion makes it highly versatile for international use, supporting a broader range of languages and academic disciplines.
Key features of New Computer Modern Roman include:
- Extended Latin Support: Comprehensive coverage of Latin and accented Latin letters, along with their various combinations, essential for European languages.
- Multilingual Glyph Sets: Inclusion of complete glyph sets for:
- Greek: Both monotonic and polytonic Greek, catering to modern and classical Greek texts.
- Cyrillic: Full support for Cyrillic alphabets used in languages like Russian, Ukrainian, and Bulgarian.
- Style Compatibility: Crucially, New Computer Modern Roman is designed to blend seamlessly with existing documents that use Computer Modern, ensuring a consistent visual appearance while offering enhanced functionality.
Key Features of Computer Roman Fonts
The "computer Roman fonts" (Computer Modern and its derivatives) share several important characteristics that contribute to their popularity, especially in academic and scientific publishing.
- Readability: Designed for optimal readability in print, making them suitable for long-form content.
- Comprehensive Character Sets: Especially with New Computer Modern Roman, these fonts offer extensive support for various languages and mathematical symbols.
- Vector Format: Typically available as TrueType (TTF) or OpenType (OTF) fonts, ensuring scalability and high-quality rendering at any size.
- Open Source and Free: Their open-source nature means they are freely available for use, modification, and distribution.
Usage and Applications
Computer Roman fonts are primarily associated with the TeX and LaTeX typesetting systems, but their use extends beyond.
- Academic and Scientific Publishing: The de facto standard for journals, conferences, theses, and dissertations due to their professional appearance and robust mathematical symbol support.
- Book Publishing: Used for typesetting books, especially those with technical or mathematical content.
- PDF Documents: Widely embedded in PDF documents generated by LaTeX, ensuring consistent rendering across different platforms.
| Feature | Computer Modern Roman (CM Roman) | New Computer Modern Roman (NCM Roman) |
|---|---|---|
| Origin | Original design by Donald Knuth for TeX | New assembly, re-release, and extension of CM fonts |
| Core Character Set | Primarily Latin alphabet, extensive math symbols | Latin (including accented), Greek (mono/polytonic), Cyrillic, etc. |
| Style Compatibility | Basis for style | Designed to be stylistically compatible with original CM |
| Purpose | Default for LaTeX, core scientific typesetting | Modern assembly for broader language support, extended glyphs |
Computer Modern Roman and its modern variants like New Computer Modern Roman continue to be foundational typefaces in digital publishing, especially within the academic and technical domains.
