Arial

Arial
CategorySans-serif
ClassificationNeo-grotesque
Designer(s)
  • Robin Nicholas
  • Patricia Saunders[1]
FoundryMonotype Corporation
Date released1982[1]
LicenseProprietary
Design based on
VariationsArial Unicode MS
Metrically compatible with

Arial (also called Arial MT) is a sans-serif typeface and set of computer fonts in the neo-grotesque style. Fonts from the Arial family are included with all versions of Microsoft Windows after Windows 3.1, as well as in other Microsoft programs,[2] Apple's macOS,[3] and many PostScript 3 printers.[4]

The typeface was designed in 1982 by Robin Nicholas and Patricia Saunders, for Monotype Typography.[5]

Each of its characters has the same width as that character in the popular typeface Helvetica; the purpose of this design is to allow a document designed in Helvetica to be displayed and printed with the intended line-breaks and page-breaks without a Helvetica license. Because of their similar appearance, both Arial and Helvetica are commonly mistaken for each other.

The most widely used and bundled Arial fonts are Arial Regular, Italic, Bold, and Bold Italic; the same styles of Arial Narrow; and Arial Black. More recently, Arial Rounded has also been widely bundled.

In Office 2007, Arial was replaced by Calibri as the default typeface in PowerPoint, Excel, and Outlook.

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference visual was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ mijacobs. "Arial font family - Typography". Microsoft Docs. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  3. ^ "System Fonts - Fonts - Apple Developer". Apple Developer. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  4. ^ "Adobe PostScript 3 fonts" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 4 May 2011.
  5. ^ Nicholas, Robin. "Two minutes with Robin Nicholas". YouTube. Retrieved 11 May 2010.

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