Palatino

Palatino is the name of an old-style serif typeface designed by Hermann Zapf, initially released in 1948 by the Linotype foundry.

Named after 16th century Italian master of calligraphy Giambattista Palatino, Palatino is based on the humanist fonts of the Italian Renaissance, which mirror the letters formed by a broad nib pen; this gives a calligraphic grace. But where the Renaissance faces tend to use smaller letters with longer vertical lines (ascenders and descenders) with lighter strokes, Palatino has larger proportions, and is considered to be a much easier to read typeface. It is one of several related typefaces by Zapf, each showing influence of the Italian Renaissance letter forms. The group includes Palatine, Sistina, Michaelangelo Titling, and Aldus, which takes inspiration from printing types cut by Francesco Griffo c. 1495 in the print shop of Aldus Manutius.

Palatino was particularly intended as a design for headings, but became popular for body text, overshadowing Aldus, which Zapf had expected to be used for this role. It remains one of the most widely used (and copied) text typefaces, and has been cited as one of the ten most used serif typefaces. Its incorporation into the PostScript digital printing technology as a system font guaranteed its importance in digital and desktop publishing. As with many popular fonts, knockoff designs and rereleases under different names are common, some created by Zapf himself.

Palatino (disambiguation)

Palatino is the Italian-language version of Palatine, whose various meanings are discussed at Palatine (disambiguation).

It may also be found in the English language, in its Italian form, in the following senses:

Footnotes