Permissive[1] for original version; proprietary for "Charter BT" version
Bitstream Charter is a serif typeface designed by Matthew Carter in 1987 for Bitstream Inc.[2] Charter is based on Pierre-Simon Fournier’s characters, originating from the 18th century.[3] Classified by Bitstream as a transitional-serif typeface (Bitstream Transitional 801), it also has features of a slab-serif typeface and is often classified as such.[4][5]
Charter was originally optimized for printing on the low-resolution 300 dpi laser printers of the 1980s, and remains suitable for printing on both modern high-resolution laser printers and inexpensive lower resolution inkjet printers due to its strong, legible design. Its structure was optimised for low-memory computers and printers. In a 2013 interview, Carter explained that it used "a very simplified structure and a minimum number of curves, more straight-line segments... very economical compared to, say, Times New Roman," but noted that rapid development of printers made this unnecessary even before he had finished the design.[6] In its simplification of serif forms, it foreshadowed Carter's later landmark design, Georgia for Microsoft.
In 1992 Bitstream donated a version of Charter, along with its version of Courier, to the X Consortium under terms that allowed the font to be modified and redistributed. This has resulted in open source derivatives of Bitstream Charter, including Charis SIL.[7] Typographer Matthew Butterick considers Bitstream Charter to be one of the best free fonts available.[8]
Because of its popularity, a new Charter Pro release of the typeface was released in 2004, with an expanded character set including additional symbols, ranging figures (old-style) and small capitals.[9] This version was later added as a system font on OS X.[citation needed]
Carter was later asked by Monotype to consider releasing a sans-serif companion to Charter. Finding his attempts unsatisfying, he scrapped the idea for a more radical, less directly complementary design, Carter Sans.
^"Bitstream Charter".
^"Typedia: Charter". Typedia. Archived from the original on 11 August 2015. Retrieved 24 September 2014.
^Miñoza, Nicole (20 May 2014). "Introducing Source Serif: A new open source typeface from Adobe". Adobe Typekit Blog. Adobe Systems Incorporated. Retrieved 27 June 2014.
^"Charter Postscript Font Metrics". Comprehensive TeX Archive Network (open source:one of many sources). Retrieved 29 September 2014.
^Sharpe, Michael (July 2014). "Recent Additions to TeX'sFont Repertoire" (PDF). Presentation to TUG, Portland. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2014-09-29.
^Middendorp, Jan. "Matthew Carter interview". MyFonts. Monotype. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
^Stephen Gildea (March 29, 1992). "Bitstream contributes Type1 outlines for Charter and Courier fonts". Newsgroup: comp.archives. Usenet: r3j0kINNa64@agate.berkeley.edu. Retrieved August 1, 2013.
^Butterick, Matthew (2013). "Charter". Butterick’s Practical Typography. Retrieved August 1, 2013.
^"Charter Pro". MyFonts. Monotype. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
BitstreamCharter is a serif typeface designed by Matthew Carter in 1987 for Bitstream Inc. Charter is based on Pierre-Simon Fournier’s characters, originating...
Set. The fonts are derived from Bitstream Vera (sans-serif) and BitstreamCharter (serif), two fonts released by Bitstream under a free license that allowed...
is a slab serif typeface developed by SIL International based on BitstreamCharter, one of the first fonts designed for laser printers. The font offers...
for this set The following sample is for a 75-dpi, 12-point, Charter font: -bitstream-charter-medium-r-normal--12-120-75-75-p-68-iso8859-1[65 70 80_90] (which...
his role at Bitstream, Carter designed typefaces, such as Charter, and commissioned others such as Iowan Old Style from John Downer. Bitstream would ultimately...
For temporal bitstream scalability (i.e., the presence of a sub-bitstream with a smaller temporal sampling rate than the main bitstream), complete access...
history and technique of lettering. New York: Dover Publications. ISBN 9780486204277. OCLC 654540. Published by the Bitstream type foundry in 1970. v t e...
Local Color". The New York Times. p. 1. https://repositorio.ucv.edu.pe/bitstream/handle/20.500.12692/420/arce_ss.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y#page=11 [bare...
of Georgetown University]. https://repository.library.georgetown.edu/bitstream/handle/10822/558570/Mehen_georgetown_0076M_12119.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y...
in the First Modi ministry. He is a Chartered Accountant by profession and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI). From 1996...
supported, allowing for a video to be encoded into a base layer HEVC bitstream that is half the frame rate of the input video frame rate, and an enhancement...
(Anuthin Wongsunkakon; previously used as a system font for iOS 7.0) Bitstream Symbols Trattatello (James Grieshaber) At least the following system fonts...
Portugal: Círculo de Leitores, pp. 150–177 https://dspace.ist.utl.pt/bitstream/2295/809092/1/Dissertacao.pdf[permanent dead link] http://www.igespar...
Africa, Department of Information, 1979, page 952 https://open.uct.ac.za/bitstream/handle/11427/15830/thesis_hum_1989_behrens_gerd.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y...
The Draft Communications Data Bill (nicknamed the Snoopers' Charter or Snooper's Charter) was draft legislation proposed by then Home Secretary Theresa...
org. 27 December 1866. Retrieved 16 January 2024. http://ri.uaemex.mx/bitstream/handle/20.500.11799/57983/CAP+2+EL+RETRATO.pdf;jsessionid=3B5A4D62F07...
of Design and Crafts (HDK), Gothenburg. 2008, https://gupea.ub.gu.se/bitstream/2077/17941/3/gupea_2077_17941_3.pdf. Catherine Valenti (1 May 2012). "Designers...
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