Google’s beautiful new free font covers 800+ languages

Dopedangel · 10-07-2016, 01:51 AM

http://thenextweb.com/dd/2016/10/07/...800-languages/

In an effort to make it easier for people from all over the world to create and share information in their language of choice, Google has created Noto, a massive open source font family that spans more than 800 languages and 110,000 characters.

That covers every single symbol in the Unicode standard today. The project, which Google took up to make Android and ChromeOS more accessible, took five years to complete and saw the involvement of typography and font design experts from Monotype and Adobe.....

HarryT · 10-07-2016, 03:26 AM

It seems a little contradictory. First the article says that the purpose of the font is to eliminate the problem of "this glyph isn't in the font" squares being displayed when you're reading something, but then later on it says that you can download different versions of the font containing different subsets of glyphs

. If you download a version that doesn't contain a glyph used in a text you're reading, the result will be precisely the problem that the font claims to be eliminating.

kacir · 10-07-2016, 04:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

It seems a little contradictory. First the article says that the purpose of the font is to eliminate the problem of "this glyph isn't in the font" squares being displayed when you're reading something, but then later on it says that you can download different versions of the font containing different subsets of glyphs

. If you download a version that doesn't contain a glyph used in a text you're reading, the result will be precisely the problem that the font claims to be eliminating.

Different versions are for people that aren't comfortable with downloading the entire 475MB package.
If you know you aren't going to need Balinese or Urdu or old runes characters, you can cherry pick what you really need.

By the way, Noto Serif alone supports 581 languages, 237 regions.

DuckieTigger · 10-07-2016, 05:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

It seems a little contradictory. First the article says that the purpose of the font is to eliminate the problem of "this glyph isn't in the font" squares being displayed when you're reading something, but then later on it says that you can download different versions of the font containing different subsets of glyphs

. If you download a version that doesn't contain a glyph used in a text you're reading, the result will be precisely the problem that the font claims to be eliminating.

Not everybody can read all glyphs. Not everybody needs them. But if you use NOTO then there is no excuse for anybody to complain that they have missing chracters. Maybe you kindly ignored the part with the size of the font (472 mb)? That is insane to embed, for example, in an ebook. With different versions it will be possible to have the font download only on demand, or load into memory only on demand as needed.

ETA: and what kacir said already.

JSWolf · 10-07-2016, 05:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

Not everybody can read all glyphs. Not everybody needs them. But if you use NOTO then there is no excuse for anybody to complain that they have missing chracters. Maybe you kindly ignored the part with the size of the font (472 mb)? That is insane to embed, for example, in an ebook. With different versions it will be possible to have the font download only on demand, or load into memory only on demand as needed.

ETA: and what kacir said already.

But if you subset, the font will end up being smaller.

DuckieTigger · 10-07-2016, 05:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But if you subset, the font will end up being smaller.

Doh!

That is why there is subsets already premade. So you don't have to waste your own resources to subset.

GERGE · 10-07-2016, 07:11 AM

Subsets are better, that is great for filling the missing parts of your OS or embedding in a book or webpage. macOS doesn't really have that many missing languages, but I can't speak for Windows. And Linux definitely have them.

But, what the article is saying isn't really correct. Noto was always intended to cover everything and it is old not new, but it isn't really there yet. Only sans serif is almost complete. Moreover, and this is really the important bit, they are all designed by different designers, there is no uniformity of design.

But, all in all, this is good. It has extensive coverage. Install the sans serif and serif versions to your machines, if might help sometimes.

Here, I added some weight (15 with Fontforge) to Noto Serif for eInk: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bw...lY2SW1PV2JBTjg

Nothing else is needed as the font is already nice and unhinted. I would not call it beautiful, but it is very readable and just erases its presence. That is a beauty of its own when it comes to typography.

DuckieTigger · 10-07-2016, 07:17 AM

@GERGE: I thought the news was not that it is new, but that they changed the license on it?

GERGE · 10-07-2016, 07:25 AM

It was Apache, now it is OFL. There isn't really any practical differences.

DuckieTigger · 10-07-2016, 07:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GERGE

It was Apache, now it is OFL. There isn't really any practical differences.

Strange then why it is news on multiple sites all of the sudden.

HarryT · 10-07-2016, 09:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

Doh!

That is why there is subsets already premade. So you don't have to waste your own resources to subset.

Subsetting the complete font is beneficial in situations where you are using a small number of obscure glyphs in a book. Eg if I had a book in English which contained Egyptian hieroglyphs.

Quote:

Maybe you kindly ignored the part with the size of the font (472 mb)?

I certainly didn't ignore it, but downloading a subset of the font which contains the languages that the user commonly uses will be pretty pointless, because they're already going to have fonts on their device which contains those glyphs.

JSWolf · 10-07-2016, 10:01 AM

I would like a complete font set that has ALL the glyphs. I can do the subsetting.

HarryT · 10-07-2016, 10:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I would like a complete font set that has ALL the glyphs. I can do the subsetting.

You can download one. What's preventing you from doing so?

GERGE · 10-07-2016, 10:11 AM

You can't, that big download is just all the subsets. But you can combine them with an editor if that is what you want.

HarryT · 10-07-2016, 10:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GERGE

You can't, that big download is just all the subsets. But you can combine them with an editor if that is what you want.

Thanks - I must have misread it.

10-07-2016, 01:51 AM	#1
Dopedangel Wizard Posts: 1,793 Karma: 30548723 Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Singapore Device: Boyue	Google’s beautiful new free font covers 800+ languages http://thenextweb.com/dd/2016/10/07/...800-languages/ In an effort to make it easier for people from all over the world to create and share information in their language of choice, Google has created Noto, a massive open source font family that spans more than 800 languages and 110,000 characters. That covers every single symbol in the Unicode standard today. The project, which Google took up to make Android and ChromeOS more accessible, took five years to complete and saw the involvement of typography and font design experts from Monotype and Adobe.....

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Free (nook/Kindle/iTunes/DRM-free) A Beautiful Fall [Xtian Family Career Drama Novel]	ATDrake	Deals and Resources (No Self-Promotion or Affiliate Links)	0	09-18-2015 12:39 PM
Google books preview covers	Dopedangel	Plugins	3	02-22-2012 09:26 PM
Free Book (Kindle) - My Beautiful Disaster	koland	Deals and Resources (No Self-Promotion or Affiliate Links)	0	07-12-2010 06:19 PM
cyrillic font and all languages options	PJ45	Sony Reader	5	06-26-2009 09:34 AM

10-07-2016, 03:26 AM	#2
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	It seems a little contradictory. First the article says that the purpose of the font is to eliminate the problem of "this glyph isn't in the font" squares being displayed when you're reading something, but then later on it says that you can download different versions of the font containing different subsets of glyphs . If you download a version that doesn't contain a glyph used in a text you're reading, the result will be precisely the problem that the font claims to be eliminating.

10-07-2016, 07:11 AM	#7
GERGE Guru Posts: 733 Karma: 5797160 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Istanbul Device: Kobo Libra	Subsets are better, that is great for filling the missing parts of your OS or embedding in a book or webpage. macOS doesn't really have that many missing languages, but I can't speak for Windows. And Linux definitely have them. But, what the article is saying isn't really correct. Noto was always intended to cover everything and it is old not new, but it isn't really there yet. Only sans serif is almost complete. Moreover, and this is really the important bit, they are all designed by different designers, there is no uniformity of design. But, all in all, this is good. It has extensive coverage. Install the sans serif and serif versions to your machines, if might help sometimes. Here, I added some weight (15 with Fontforge) to Noto Serif for eInk: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bw...lY2SW1PV2JBTjg Nothing else is needed as the font is already nice and unhinted. I would not call it beautiful, but it is very readable and just erases its presence. That is a beauty of its own when it comes to typography.

10-07-2016, 07:17 AM	#8
DuckieTigger Wizard Posts: 4,763 Karma: 246906703 Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: USA Device: Oasis 3, Oasis 2, PW3, PW1, KT	@GERGE: I thought the news was not that it is new, but that they changed the license on it?

10-07-2016, 07:25 AM	#9
GERGE Guru Posts: 733 Karma: 5797160 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Istanbul Device: Kobo Libra	It was Apache, now it is OFL. There isn't really any practical differences.

10-07-2016, 10:01 AM	#12
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 79,756 Karma: 145864619 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	I would like a complete font set that has ALL the glyphs. I can do the subsetting.

10-07-2016, 10:11 AM	#14
GERGE Guru Posts: 733 Karma: 5797160 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Istanbul Device: Kobo Libra	You can't, that big download is just all the subsets. But you can combine them with an editor if that is what you want.