typography

# Typography (fonts · Font Manager · FontForge) ## Toolkit on this machine | Tool | Use it for | Launch / CLI | |---|---|---| | **Font Manager** | Browse, compare, enable/disable fonts; install Google Fonts directly | `font-manager` | | **GNOME Fonts** | Quick preview / install a single font file | `gnome-font-viewer` | | **FontForge** | Edit glyphs, create fonts, convert formats | `fontforge` · scripted `fontforge -lang=py -script` | | **fontconfig** | List and match installed fonts | `fc-list`, `fc-match` | ### Installed families worth knowing | Role | Families | |---|---| | UI / product sans | **Inter** (variable), **IBM Plex Sans**, Roboto, Open Sans, Source Sans 3 | | Editorial serif | **Source Serif 4**, IBM Plex Serif, Noto Serif | | Monospace / code | **JetBrains Mono**, Fira Code, IBM Plex Mono, Source Code Pro | | Coverage / fallback | Noto Sans/Serif (+ CJK, Emoji, Extra), DejaVu, Liberation (metric-compatible with Arial/Times/Courier) | ## Scripts | Script | What it does | |---|---| | `check.sh` | Verifies font tools and the key families; reports total font count | | `font-inventory.sh [filter]` | Lists installed families (optionally filtered), with style count and file location | | `font-specimen.sh "Family A" "Family B" … [-t "sample text"] [-o out.png]` | Renders a side-by-side specimen PNG to compare/pair fonts | | `webfont.sh <font.ttf\|otf…> [outdir]` | Converts fonts to WOFF2 (+ WOFF) and writes an `@font-face` CSS file | ## Guides - `references/pairing-and-hierarchy.md` — proven pairings from the installed set, type scale, readability rules. - `references/installing-fonts.md` — user vs system install, Google Fonts via Font Manager, AUR font packages, licensing. ## Rules of thumb 1. Two families max per project (one sans + one serif **or** mono). Use weights for hierarchy. 2. Body text 16 px+ on screen, line-height 1.5, 60–75 characters per line. 3. Check the license before shipping a font on the web or in a product (OFL = free to embed). 4. For web, self-host WOFF2 (`webfont.sh`) or use `next/font` — never hotlink random font CDNs.