 | |
| Category | Sans-serif |
|---|---|
| Classification | Neo-grotesque |
| Designer | URW Studio |
| Foundry | URW++ |
| Date released | 1999 |
| Design based on | Helvetica |
| Variations | URW Heisei Gothic |
Nimbus Sans is a sans-serif typeface created by URW++, based on Helvetica.
| | |
| Category | Sans-serif |
|---|---|
| Classification | Neo-grotesque |
| Designer | URW Studio |
| Foundry | URW++ |
| Date released | 1999 |
| Design based on | Helvetica |
| Variations | URW Heisei Gothic |
Nimbus Sans is a sans-serif typeface created by URW++, based on Helvetica.
It is a version using URW++ font source. The family supports Western Europe, East Europe, Turkish, Baltic, and Romanian languages.
The font names ending with (D) have slightly lighter font weights and tighter spacing.
| Weight | condensed | medium | extended |
|---|---|---|---|
| Black | roman | roman, italic | roman |
| Bold | roman | roman, italic | roman |
| Regular | roman | roman, italic | roman |
| Light | - | roman, italic | roman |
| (D) fonts | |||
| Weight | condensed | medium | extended |
| Black | roman, italic | roman, italic | roman, outline |
| Bold | roman, italic | roman, italic, outline | roman |
| Regular | roman, italic | roman, italic | roman |
| Light | roman, italic | roman, italic | roman |
| Ultra Light | - | roman | - |
It is a version of Nimbus Sans with even tighter spacing than the Nimbus Sans (D) fonts. Other changes include alternate designs for currency symbols.
| Weight | condensed | medium |
|---|---|---|
| Black | roman, italic | roman, italic |
| Bold | roman, italic | roman, italic |
| Regular | roman, italic | roman, italic |
| Light | roman, italic | roman, italic |
| Ultra Light | - | roman |
It is a version with more right lean than Nimbus Sans italic fonts. The family currently only includes 1 font, in Black weight in medium width.
It is a monospaced variant of Nimbus Sans. The family currently only includes 1 font, in Regular weight in medium width.
Nimbus Sans has multiple language-specific versions, supporting Arabic and Hebrew, [1] Chinese, [2] Japanese, [3] and Thai. [4]
There is also Nimbus Sans Global, which covers all the above languages in addition to Korean and Vietnamese. [5]
Created in 1987, Nimbus Sans L is a version of Nimbus Sans using Adobe font sources. The family includes 17 fonts in 5 weights and 2 widths, with Nimbus Sans L Extra Black only available in condensed roman format.
A subset of Nimbus Sans L, which includes regular and bold weight fonts in all widths and styles, were released under the GPL and AFPL in Type 1 format in 1996 [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] and LPPL in 2009, [12] making it one of several freely licensed fonts offered by URW++. Nimbus Sans L is part of the Ghostscript free font collection, a set of free alternatives to the 35 basic PostScript fonts (which include Helvetica). [13] [14] [15] [16] The Ghostscript version was updated as recently as in 2020 [17] and was extended to include support for Greek and Cyrillic characters.
Nimbus Sans L has metrics similar to Helvetica and Arial, and is a standard typeface in many Linux distributions. [18] It was used as default font in OpenOffice.org Calc and Impress, but its successor LibreOffice used Liberation Sans as the default sans-serif font.
A derivative of Nimbus Sans L created for TeX environments and also in the OpenType format. [19] It includes limited support for Greek characters with a provisional design. [20]
As part of the GNU FreeFont superfamilies, FreeSans extends Nimbus Sans L to cover a wide range of Unicode characters. [21] [22]
It is a version using Linotype's Stempel Studio source, based on Neue Helvetica, but without the extended width. Some versions have support for Greek and Cyrillic characters. [23]
While the design of the characters is based on Neue Helvetica, the two typefaces differ metrically: Nimbus Sans Novus has smaller x-height and is narrower at the same font size (but not at the same x-height).
The weight systems of the two typefaces also drastically differ. For instance, the Regular weight of Nimbus Sans Novus resembles the Light weight of Neue Helvetica, while the Medium weight of Nimbus Sans Novus resembles the Regular Neue Helvetica design. Nimbus Sans Novus has a Semibold weight, but Neue Helvetica does not.
The font names ending with (D) have tighter letter spacing.
| Weight | condensed | medium | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ultra | roman, italic | - | |
| Black | roman, italic | roman, italic | |
| Heavy | roman, italic | roman, italic | |
| Bold | roman, italic | roman, italic, outline | |
| Semi Bold | roman, italic | roman, italic | |
| Medium | roman, italic | roman, italic | |
| Regular | roman, italic | roman, italic | |
| Light | roman, italic | roman, italic | |
| Ultra Light | roman, italic | roman, italic | |
| (D) fonts | |||
| Weight | condensed | medium | |
| Ultra | roman | - | |
| Black | roman | roman, outline | |
| Heavy | roman | roman | |
| Bold | roman | roman | |
| Semi Bold | roman | roman | |
| Medium | roman | roman | |
| Regular | roman | roman | |
| Light | roman | roman | |
| Ultra Light | roman | roman | |
| Software and libraries | |
|---|---|
| Licenses | |
| Operating system, corporate and professional |
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| Government typefaces | |
| Other typefaces | |
| Groups and people | |
