Times Replacements

In the early days of digital type, one found a number of typefaces billed as ‘Times replacements,’ some free, some not. A few were simply clones of the ubiquitous Times New Roman, such as the Nimbus Roman made free by URW++. As good a choice as any if one feels an actual need for Times NR.

Then there were those that had no relationship to Times, but whose designers hoped would unseat it as the go-to font. Adobe’s Utopia was an excellent (and free) alternative, but did not catch on widely—though I personally am quite fond of it! Times NR, as most know, is better suited to newspapers (originally designed for the Times of London) yet continues to be used in ways that are not really ideal.

And since it is a standard of sorts, we have a third group of replacements: typefaces that are metrically identical to Times, that will fill the same space on a page, when used at the same size and weight. At the same time, they should ideally look better, without the cramped appearance one can get with Times New Roman, especially on wider pages. Three early offerings that have held up are Linux Libertine, Gentium, and Liberation Serif (aka Tinos). All three of these are free and more-or-less open license (you can definitely use them in your printed book).

None look much like Times. Liberation is close to being a ‘humanist’ slab serif. I can not say I’m fond of its somewhat squared-off forms (which may have taken some inspiration from Zapf’s Melior). It looks okay and is pretty legible, maybe working better on line than in print and certainly an improvement on Times in most applications. Liberation Serif is included in the LibreOffice suite and with various flavors of the Linux OS. Use it on a web site? Sure. Write a book draft with it? It could work. Print a book? Not my first (nor even second) choice. Maybe for something nonfiction or an instruction manual. You might even get away with subbing it for Times in that term paper! :)

The award-winning Gentium has been one of SIL’s premiere free, open license fonts for some time. Unlike Liberation, it is very much intended for print use. To my eyes, it has something of a Goudy-esque appearance. That’s not from any careful analysis of the letter shapes, just how it looks to me. Gentium is sometimes described as ‘calligraphic.’ It is not an ostentatious typeface but has a charm to it, and could certainly work in a book. It does set rather closely, however, so make sure to give it some room. Readabilty is quite good but not quite on, say, a Garamond level. Nor does it have the legibility of something like Century Schoolbook—or the Liberation mentioned above. I have never printed a novel in Gentium but have used it for a couple books of poetry. The Plus version has loads of opentype features available—always desirable—as well as multiple language applicability.

Much of what I said of Gentium is also true of Linux Libertine. Libertine is a bit more stolid, closer to typical book text. The design is akin to such mid-20th Century neo-humanist typefaces as Palatino and Berling and especially Minion—definitely suitable for setting the text in a novel. Aesthetic opinions are a tad divided on the design. Some, I think are simply biased against any free font! I would say it is every bit as good as many issued by major foundries. And, of course, there is no ‘best’ typeface, even for a specific use. Libertine is readable enough and fairly ‘invisible,’ making it a good all-around choice. I’ll admit it is what I use to read ebooks. The latest version also offers most of the opentype features we might desire, adding to its versatility.

Keep in mind, these three typefaces follow the metrics of Times NR, which means a bit narrow and closely set. Gentium or Libertine might suit a double-column layout in a magazine quite nicely, where another font could appear ‘loose.’ Also keep in mind that you don’t need that Times compatibility most of the time. But these are now time-tested typefaces and one can’t really go wrong (well, too wrong) using them.