inter/docs/index.html
Rasmus Andersson 745960e650 website
2019-02-24 11:08:55 -08:00

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---
layout: default
---
{%
assign release_version = site.data.fontinfo[0].version %}{%
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<link rel="stylesheet" href="index-var.css?v={{ index_var_css_v }}">
<input type="text" id="hidden-text-input">
<div class="row white"><div>
<h1>The Inter<br>typeface family</h1>
<grid columns=8>
<c span=2 span-s=row>
Inter is a typeface specially designed for computer screens.
</c>
<c span=3.. span-s=row>
The family features a tall x-height to aid in readability of mixed-case and
lower-case text. Several OpenType features are provided as well,
like contextual alternates that adjusts punctuation depending on the shape of
surrounding glyphs, slashed zero for when you need to disambiguate "0" from "o",
tabular numbers, etc.
</c>
<c class="spacer"></c>
<c span=2 span-s=row class="only-large-screen">
<h3>Inter Regular<br>Sample</h3>
</c>
<c span=3.. span-s=row>
<a href="samples/" class="plain"><img src="samples/img/a-z-regular.svg" width="100%"></a>
</c>
<c class="spacer"></c>
<c span=3.. span-s=row>
<a href="samples/" class="plain"><img src="samples/img/subway.svg" width="100%"></a>
</c>
<c class="spacer"></c>
<c span=2 span-s=row class="only-large-screen">
<h3>Inter Bold<br>Sample</h3>
</c>
<c span=3.. span-s=row>
<a href="samples/" class="plain"><img src="samples/img/lineup-bold-black.svg" width="100%"></a>
</c>
<c class="spacer"></c>
<c span=3.. span-s=row>
<a href="samples/" class="plain"><img src="samples/img/regular-text.png" srcset="samples/img/regular-text@2x.png 2x" width="100%"></a>
</c>
<c class="spacer"></c>
<c span=2 span-s=row>
<h3><a id="usage" href="#usage">Using</a></h3>
</c>
<c span=3.. span-s=row>
<p>
Using Inter is as easy as
<a class="download-link" href="{{download_url}}">downloading &amp; installing</a>
the font files. If you're making a web thing, you can simply use this CSS:
</p>
<pre>@import url('https://rsms.me/inter/inter.css');
html { font-family: 'Inter', sans-serif; }
@supports (font-variation-settings: normal) {
html { font-family: 'Inter var', sans-serif; }
}</pre>
</c>
<c class="spacer"></c>
<c span=2 span-s=row>
<h3 id="dynamic-metrics"><a href="dynmetrics/">Dynamic Metrics</a></h3>
</c>
<c span=3.. span-s=row>
<p class="dynmet-calc">
Size
<input id="dynmet-font-size" type="number" value="16" min="4" max="99" autocomplete="off" spellcheck="false"
><span title='Display points — "px" in CSS, "pt" on iOS, "sp" on Android, and "pt" (1/72 of an inch) in print'>dp</span>
<span class="arrow">=</span>
<span title='letter-spacing in CSS; also called "tracking" in some software.'>spacing
<input id="dynmet-tracking" type="number" value="0.008" autocomplete="off" spellcheck="false">
<span id="dynmet-unit">em</span>
</p>
<p>
There's of course no absolute right or wrong when it comes to expressing yourself with typography, but Inter <em>Dynamic Metrics</em> provides guidelines for good typography. You simply provide the optical font size, and the tracking and leading is calculated for you to produce the best results.
</p>
<p>
<a href="dynmetrics/" class="plain">Explore dynamic metrics &rarr;</a>
</p>
</c>
<c class="spacer"></c>
<c span=2 span-s=row>
<h3><a id="free" href="#free">Free &amp; <br class="only-large-screen">Open source</a></h3>
</c>
<c span=3.. span-s=row>
<p>
Inter is a <a href="https://github.com/rsms/inter">free and open source</a> font family.<br>
You are free to use this font in almost any way imaginable.<br>
Refer to the <a href="https://choosealicense.com/licenses/ofl-1.1/">SIL Open Font License 1.1</a> for exact details on what the conditions and restrictions are.
</p>
</c>
</grid>
</div></div>
<div class="row"><div>
<h2><a id="weights" href="#weights">Weights & Styles</a></h2>
<p>
There are nine weights, each with italic counterparts,
making a total of 18 styles.
</p>
<img src="res/weights-and-styles.svg" style="opacity:0.88;width:100%;display:block;margin:3em 0 3em 0">
</div></div>
<div class="row white variable"><div>
<h2><a id="variable" href="#variable">Variable</a></h2>
<p>
Inter is offered as both traditional constant font files
(one per style, e.g. Bold Italic, Medium, etc.) as well as a
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variable_fonts">Variable Font</a>
file which contains all styles in a much smaller file size.
Additionally, a variable font is ...variable! You can mix and match weight
and italic angle as you please, forming theoretically infinite variations.
</p>
<div class="unsupported-message">
<p>Variable Fonts not supported by this web browser</p>
</div>
<div class="ctrl">
<div class="ctrlrow">
<label title="Weight in the range of 100 to 900">
<span class="label var">Weight:</span>
<input type="range" value="400" min="100" max="900" name="weight">
</label>
<label title="Slant angle in the range of 0° to 10°">
<span class="label var">Slant:</span>
<input type="range" value="0" min="0" max="10" step="0.01" name="slant">
</label>
<label class="tight">
<input type="checkbox" name="animate"> Animate weight &amp; slant
</label>
<label class="tight">
<input type="checkbox" name="invert"> Negative
</label>
</div>
<div class="ctrlrow">
<label title="Font size">
<span class="label">Size:</span>
<input type="range" value="96" min="11" max="400" name="size">
</label>
<label title="Space between letters">
<span class="label">Tracking:</span>
<input type="range" value="0" min="-0.1" max="0.1" step="0.001" name="letterSpacing">
</label>
<label>
<span class="label">Line height:</span>
<input type="range" value="1.2" min="0.7" max="2" step="0.01" name="lineHeight">
</label>
</div>
</div>
</div></div>
<div class="row white variable-sample-row">
<div class="variable-sample" contenteditable spellcheck="false">
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz1234567890
?!()[]{}&*^%$#@~
</div>
</div>
<script src="index-var.js?v={{ index_var_js_v }}"></script>
<div class="row white"><div>
<p>
Variable fonts is a new technology and support is somewhat in flux at
the time of writing this (fall 2018.)
<a href="var-test.html">This test</a> can be used to discover
what a web browser is capable of.
</p>
</div></div>
<div class="row features"><div>
<h2><a id="features" href="#features">Features</a></h2>
<p>
Inter comes with many OpenType features that can be used to
tailor functionality and aesthetics to your specific needs.
Some of these features can be combined to form a great number of
alternative variations.
</p>
<boxes class="features">
{% for f in site.data.feature_samples %}
<box>
<h3>{{f.title}} <q title='OpenType feature ID'>{{f.tag}}</q></h3>
{%
if f.description %}
<p>{{f.description}}</p>
{% endif %}{%
assign feat_tag = f.tag %}{%
assign has_feature_col = false %}{%
for s in f.samples %}{%
if s.feat %}{%
assign has_feature_col = true %}{%
break %}{%
endif %}{%
endfor
%}
{% if has_feature_col %}
<grid columns=8>
<c span=1 class="low-contrast ">Feature</c>
<c span=3 class="low-contrast">Disabled</c>
<c span=1 class="low-contrast center-text"></c>
<c span=3 class="low-contrast">Enabled</c>
{% else %}
<grid columns=9>
<c span=4 class="low-contrast">Disabled</c>
<c span=1 class="low-contrast center-text"></c>
<c span=4 class="low-contrast">Enabled</c>
{% endif %}
{% for s in f.samples %}
{%
if has_feature_col %}{%
assign sample = s.sample %}{%
assign feat_tag = s.feat %}{%
else %}{%
assign sample = s %}{%
endif %}{%
assign sample_in = sample | replace: "", "<em>" | replace: "", "</em>" %}{%
assign sample_out = sample | remove: "" | remove: ""
%} {% if has_feature_col %}
<c span=1 class="">{{feat_tag}}</c>
<c span=3 class="sample ff-none">{{sample_in}}</c>
<c span=1 class="low-contrast center-text"></c>
<c span=3 class="sample ff-{{feat_tag}}">{{sample_out}}</c>
{% else %}
<c span=4 class="sample ff-none">{{sample_in}}</c>
<c span=1 class="low-contrast center-text"></c>
<c span=4 class="sample ff-{{feat_tag}}">{{sample_out}}</c>
{% endif %}
{% endfor %}
</grid>
<p class="example" title="CSS code">
{% if feat_tag == "calt" %}
<tt>/* calt is enabled by default */</tt>
{% else %}
<tt>font-feature-settings: '{{feat_tag}}' 1</tt>
{% endif %}
</p>
{% if f.footer %}
<p>{{f.footer}}</p>
{% endif %}
</box>
{% endfor %}
</boxes>
<p>
Additional features, not highlighted above:
<q title='OpenType feature ID'>locl</q>,
<q title='OpenType feature ID'>salt</q>,
<q title='OpenType feature ID'>aalt</q>,
<q title='OpenType feature ID'>ccmp</q>,
<q title='OpenType feature ID'>cpsp</q> and
<q title='OpenType feature ID'>ordn</q>.
<br>
You can explore features in the <a href="lab/">interactive lab</a>.
</p>
</div></div>
<div class="row white"><div>
<h2><a id="story" href="#story">The story behind Inter</a></h2>
<flow columns=2 columns-s=1>
<p>
Inter started out in late 2016 as an experiment to build a perfectly
pixel-fitting font at a specific small size (11px.) The idea was that
by crafting a font in a particular way, with a particular coordinate system
(Units Per EM), and for a particular target rasterization size (11), it would
be possible to get the best of both sharpness and readability.
</p>
<p>
However after a few months of using an early version of Inter, it dawned
on everyone exposed to the test that this approach had some serious real-world
problems. Most notably that it was really hard to read longer text. Because of
the pixel-aligning nature of that approach, the font took an almost
<a href="https://www.figma.com/file/HPqDViSCB8fAWuxaV2ousFMv">mono-spaced appearance</a>,
making it really easy to read numbers, punctuation and very short
words, but eye-straining to read anything longer.
</p>
<p>
The project was rebooted with a different approach, sticking with the
specific UPM, but crafting glyphs and kerning in a way that made for
more variation in the rhythm and smoother vertical and horizontal stems.
As Inter was being developed, it was tested on an internal version of
<a href="https://www.figma.com/">Figma</a>—where the author of Inter works as a designer—and slowly improved upon based on experience and feedback.
</p>
</flow>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h2><a id="faq" href="#faq">FAQ</a></h2>
<grid columns=2 columns-s=1 class="faq">
<c>
<h4 id="faq-using-features"><a href="#faq-using-features">
How do I enable and disable font features?
</a></h4>
In web browsers you'll want to use
<a href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/font-feature-settings"><q>font-feature-settings</q></a>.
In Figma you can access features via the
<a href="https://help.figma.com/article/250-working-with-fonts#opentype">Advanced Type panel.</a>
In Illustrator, Photoshop and friends, you can access features via the
<a href="https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/using/special-characters.html#opentype_panel_overview">Characters and OpenType panels.</a>
Sketch doesn't provide a UI for configuring font features, but there's
<a href="https://sketchtalk.io/discussion/comment/1478/#Comment_1478">a workaround using macOS's native font UI.</a>
</c>
<c>
<h4 id="faq-unhinted-vs-hinted"><a href="#faq-unhinted-vs-hinted">
What is the difference between hinted and unhinted fonts?
</a></h4>
The font files in the "hinted" folders have additional data in them
for assisting
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ClearType">ClearType</a>,
the text rasterizer used by Microsoft Windows (and some Linux distributions.)
You want to use the "hinted" fonts only if you are targeting Windows users
<em>and</em> prefer the different look of these "hinted" fonts.
Additionally, hinting data makes the font files larger, so if you are
using Inter on websites, the extra size of these files is another
consideration to make.
<a href="https://www.typotheque.com/articles/hinting">
This article explains hinting at a greater length.</a>
</c>
<c>
<h4 id="faq-cdn"><a href="#faq-cdn">
How reliable are the fonts served from rsms.me/inter?
</a></h4>
rsms.me/inter is backed by GitHub's server network and distributed
globally on the CloudFlare CDN, making usage of
<q>https://rsms.me/inter/inter.css</q> and associated font
files very reliable and fast throughout the world.
</c>
<c>
<h4 id="faq-contribute"><a href="#faq-contribute">
Can I help with improving Inter?
</a></h4>
Yes you can! Inter is an open-source project, meaning the source
code—or "source design" if you will—that is used to build the font files
<a href="https://github.com/rsms/inter">are freely available</a> to improve upon.
Font making requires a fair bit of technical work and
depending on what you'd like to do, some things might be more fun
depending on your technical skills.
The <a href="https://github.com/rsms/inter/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md">"Contributing" document</a> is a great place to start. The document outlines where
you can have the biggest impact, how things are setup and how to get
started.
</c>
<c>
<h4 id="faq-start-date"><a href="#faq-start-date">
This website claims work started in 2016, but the git repository's log says it started later?
</a></h4>
Inter was developed in an a private, internal git repository
starting in November 2016, prior to being published on August 22, 2017.
Between November 2016 and August 2017, there were
<num>2&#x2006;990&#x2006;150</num> line edits made across 247 versions.
The reason the public GitHub repository does not reflect this is the
fact that the project was initially only internal at the company where
the author works and had some sensitive information "checked in",
like AWS server details and internal author identity in
all commit messages. Maybe one day we can write an elaborate git
filter-branch program and convert the filter the old repository to make
it public, but what would be the point of that?&nbsp; :—)
</c>
<c>
<h4 id="faq-contact"><a href="#faq-contact">
I've made a cool thing that uses Inter, can I share it with you?<br>
or, I have a different question.
</a></h4>
Reach out on <a href="https://twitter.com/rsms">Twitter (@rsms)</a> or over <a href="mailto:rasmus@notion.se">email</a>
</c>
</grid>
</div></div>
<div class="row white"><div>
<a href="https://twitter.com/rsms" class="plain">@rsms</a>
</div></div>
<script>
// FAQ anchors
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// dynamic metrics calculator
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var hiddenTextInput = $('#hidden-text-input')
var fontSizeEl = $('#dynmet-font-size')
var trackingEl = $('#dynmet-tracking')
var unitEl = $('#dynmet-unit')
var unitFormatters = [
['em', 'em', function(fontSize, tracking) {
return tracking.toFixed(3).replace(/(?:\.000|0+)$/, '')
}],
['px', 'px', function(fontSize, tracking) {
return (fontSize * tracking).toFixed(2).replace(/(?:\.00|0+)$/, '')
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['%', 'percent', function(fontSize, tracking) {
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trackingEl.classList.add(u[1])
unitFormatter = u[2]
unitEl.innerText = unit
updateTracking()
}
function onPointerdownUnit(ev) {
toggleUnit()
if (ev) {
ev.preventDefault()
ev.stopPropagation()
}
}
function onPointerdownTracking(ev) {
if (ev) {
ev.preventDefault()
ev.stopPropagation()
}
hiddenTextInput.value = trackingEl.value + unitEl.innerText
hiddenTextInput.select()
document.execCommand("copy")
trackingEl.select()
HUDNotification.show('Copied to clipboard')
}
var passiveListener = { passive: true, capture: false }
var activeListener = { capture: true }
fontSizeEl.addEventListener('input', updateTracking, passiveListener)
fontSizeEl.addEventListener('change', updateTracking, passiveListener)
unitEl.addEventListener('pointerdown', onPointerdownUnit, activeListener)
unitEl.addEventListener('mousedown', onPointerdownUnit, activeListener)
trackingEl.addEventListener('pointerdown', onPointerdownTracking, activeListener)
trackingEl.addEventListener('mousedown', onPointerdownTracking, activeListener)
updateTracking()
})();</script>