Best Font For Typed Letters?

[Retro-user]

I recently had to send a personal letter to an acquaintance and felt it would be best to type it on the computer. I used semi-block format and a Bookman font. What are your favorite computer fonts for correspondence?

[sciumbasci]

Verdana 10pts, for maximum legibility

[dcwaites]

A serifed font, perhaps one of the versions of Palatino

probably 14 pt, you don't want your reader to squint, and paper is cheap

not justified for a personal letter

 

Anything but Comic Sans or Times

[qvxb]

Arial 12 pt or Times New Roman 14 pt. Aerial is the more informal font.

[OCArt]

+1. Palatino is a lovely font, I often use 13 pt type, just a little friendlier on the eyes without calling any attention to itself.

A serifed font, perhaps one of the versions of Palatino

probably 14 pt, you don't want your reader to squint, and paper is cheap

not justified for a personal letter

 

Anything but Comic Sans or Times

[TennesseeTrash]

I like Hoefler,

 

If I’m writing to someone I know is elderly then I’ll use Century Schoolbook at a little bit larger size than I would normally use. It’s extremely legible and I’ve had several people thank me for using it.

[inkstainedruth]

I use Palatino for pretty much everything (I've liked it since college) unless I'm doing spreadsheets (those tend to get Ariel Narrow, as the skinniest font I've got) or doing "fancy" stuff like labels.

My posts here are (when I remember, or some old ones posted from the iPad where I couldn't change stuff) invariably in Georgia, which is the closest to Palatino as FPN has....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[penmanila]

Palatino, yes, but you can also try New York, Georgia, and Cambria for that look of easily readable elegance.

[Astronymus]

As a former media designer I can tell you there is no "best font for typed letters". There is only the best font for your correspondence purpose and your personal taste.

 

I for my part use ITC Legacy Serif and/or ITC Legacy Sans for my personal correspondence. I want to keep it simple (more technical now), easy to read but elegant.

 

Rule Nº1: Never ever use more than 3 fonts in one script.

 

Better just two.

[Conan the Grammarian]

Wingdings!

[Dragonmaster Lou]

Computer Modern Roman.

[dcwaites]

[bob_hayden]

Times and Century Schoolbook were designed to be readable. Palatino is elegant at high resolution but suffers badly from copying or a cheap printer. That's practically speaking. If you want to know what is most beautiful or impressive don't ask a former engineer;-)

[Sasha Royale]

I prefer to write by hand, but my computer is set for Ariel. It is simple, and easy to read. Also, I am told that optical scanners are partial to "san serif" fonts. In any case, keep it simple, especially to a foreign reader. Personally, I am not impressed by elaborate computer script fonts. I find them difficult to read, and therefore, annoying. The curmudgeons might not reply.

Edited September 30, 2017 by Sasha Royale

[Dickkooty2]

Verdana 18 point for easy reading.

 

But the font may depend on the message content and the feeling you have toward the reader(s).

 

Fonts are designed from many points of view and choice of expression.

A very nice source for gaining some over view of type: https://www.p22.com/

 

The chances are good that if you find a font/face you like, you can find it for free as a down-load by googling.

 

 

Back in the day - mid-60s - Cooper Black was the headline font of choice. Very few words with a period. Succinctly stating the positioning boldly.

 

[dadbar]

As someone who used to set lead type by hand, I would go for Century Schooldook.

[Dickkooty2]

As someone who used to set lead type by hand, I would go for Century Schooldook.

 

Ahhh, the days with the stick in my left hand, picking type with my right from the California job case, and then locking the type and hoping the spacing was right so the it didn't all fall out. Such was the eighth grade. Ninth grade ... metal shop!

[stuck-in-time]

I'm actually surprised at the minimal support of sans-serif fonts on this thread

 

While I do agree with there being no "best font" in this case, I myself much prefer a slightly humanist sans-serif, like, perhaps Myriad.

[Astronymus]

Myriad is also a good choice. Very ballanced.

[ParramattaPaul]

Cambria is what I use for technical reports and research papers as well as correspondence. It really is a matter of personal preference.