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Typeface	Palatino
Category	Serif
Designer(s)	Hermann Zapf
Foundry	Linotype
Variations	Palatino Nova Palatino Sans

A comparison of Linotype Palatino, Monotype Book Antiqua, and Unternehmensberatung Rubow Weber (URW) Palladio L.

Palatino is an old style serif typeface designed by Hermann Zapf at the German branch of Linotype. It was released in 1948 by the Linotype foundry. It remains one of the most widely-used (and copied) text typefaces, has been adapted to virtually every type of technology, and is one of the ten most used serif typefaces. It is one of several related typefaces by Zapf, each showing influence of the Italian Renaissance letter forms. The group includes Palatine, Sistina, Michaelangelo titling, and Aldus, which takes inspiration from printing types cut by Francesco Griffo c. 1495 in the print shop of Aldus Manutius.

Named after 16th century Italian master of calligraphy Giambattista Palatino, Palatino is based on the humanist fonts of the Italian Renaissance, which mirror the letters formed by a broadnib pen; this gives a calligraphic grace. But where the Renaissance faces tend to use smaller letters with longer vertical lines (ascenders and descenders) with lighter strokes, Palatino has larger proportions, and is considered much easier to read. See the "typeface" article for more on classification.

The digital type foundries Linotype and Adobe Systems sell authentic versions of Palatino; Palatino Linotype is authorized by Zapf as the definitive Palatino. However, certain hot metal versions of Palatino, of smaller x-height, are considered both more legible and elegant to many people. In the Bitstream font collection, Palatino is called Zapf Calligraphic.

Zapf also designed Aldus, which appeared in the D. Stempel AG catalog in 1954. Both Aldus and Palatino were Zapf’s new form of old style typefaces inspired by the Renaissance.

Recently (2006?) Linotype has announced the forthcoming addition of Palatino Sans and Palatino Sans Informal to the Palatino family. The specimens made available with the preannouncement resemble Optima in but have a softer, more organic feel.

Microsoft distributes a similar typeface, Book Antiqua (originally by Monotype), which is considered by many to be an imitation. Book Antiqua was designed as an alternative to licensing the fonts mandated by Adobe's PostScript standard. Both Book Antiqua and Arial share the original typefaces' character width, spacing and kerning properties. However, Book Antiqua resembles Palatino much more than Arial does Helvetica; indeed, the two are quite difficult to tell apart. One difference is in the width of the C and the S; the Book Antiqua versions do not look quite "correct" to some readers.

In 1993, Zapf resigned from l'Association Typographique Internationale (ATypI) over what he viewed as its hypocritical attitude toward unauthorized copying by prominent ATypI members.

Although Book Antiqua is not a direct copy, Microsoft has since licensed and distributes a version of Zapf's original design called Palatino Linotype in Windows 2000, XP and Vista.

URW Palladio L, another similar typeface is available, this time by URW (Unternehmensberatung Rubow Weber — from the founders' names^[1] now retitled URW++) and under the GNU General Public License. Zapf actually did work with URW on this typeface, but Linotype retains the license to the name Palatino.

1. ^ MyFonts.com - URW

• Blackwell, Lewis. 20th Century Type. Yale University Press: 2004. ISBN 0-300-10073-6.
• Fiedl, Frederich, Nicholas Ott and Bernard Stein. Typography: An Encyclopedic Survey of Type Design and Techniques Through History. Black Dog & Leventhal: 1998. ISBN 1-57912-023-7.
• Jaspert, W. Pincus, W. Turner Berry and A.F. Johnson. The Encyclopedia of Type Faces. Blandford Press Lts.: 1953, 1983. ISBN 0-7137-1347-X.
• Lawson, Alexander S., Anatomy of a Typeface. Godine: 1990. ISBN 978-0879233334.
• Macmillan, Neil. An A–Z of Type Designers. Yale University Press: 2006. ISBN 0-300-11151-7.
• Zapf, Hermann. Manuale Typographicum. The MIT Press: 19534, 1970. ISBN 0-262-24011-4.

• Typowiki: Palatino
• John Butler has compiled this Palatino FAQ.
• Luc Devroye
  • More on the Palatino Story
  • The quality of Linotype palatino
• Hermann Zapf wrote a life history for Linotype Library, available Here
• Palatino Linotype font information (Microsoft typography)