Bitstream Charter is a glyphic serif typeface designed by Matthew Carter in 1987 for Bitstream Inc., a digital type foundry. It was optimized for printing on the low-resolution 300 dpi laser printers of the 1980s, but is suitable for printing on both modern high-resolution laser printers and lower resolution inexpensive inkjet printers.
In 1992 Bitstream donated the Charter font, along with its version of Courier, to the X Consortium under terms that allowed modified versions of the font to be redistributed. The copyright Bitstream used to donate Charter is as follows:
- © Copyright 1989–1992, Bitstream Inc., Cambridge, MA.
- You are hereby granted permission under all Bitstream propriety rights to use, copy, modify, sublicense, sell, and redistribute the 4 Bitstream Charter (r) Type 1 outline fonts and the 4 Courier Type 1 outline fonts for any purpose and without restriction; provided, that this notice is left intact on all copies of such fonts and that Bitstream's trademark is acknowledged as shown below on all unmodified copies of the 4 Charter Type 1 fonts.
- BITSTREAM CHARTER is a registered trademark of Bitstream Inc.
This has resulted in derivatives of Bitstream Charter becoming available, including Charis SIL.
The Bitstream Charter typeface is licensed through Bitstream's online interface MyFonts. A new version of the face was released in 2004 with an expanded character set including additional symbols, ranging figures (old-style) and small capitals.
Famous quotes containing the word charter:
“The recent attempt to secure a charter from the State of North Dakota for a lottery company, the pending effort to obtain from the State of Louisiana a renewal of the charter of the Louisiana State Lottery, and the establishment of one or more lottery companies at Mexican towns near our border, have served the good purpose of calling public attention to an evil of vast proportions.”
—Benjamin Harrison (1833–1901)