10 Major Differences Between TTF and OTF You Should Know
Difference between TTF and OTF: A font is a graphical representation of text characters in a specific style and size. It is the digital representation of a typeface. Learn about the TTF and OTF in this article and realize the distinguishing factors between them.
TTF and OTF
TTF stands for True Type Font, a relatively older font, while OTF stands for Open Type Font, which was based in part on the TrueType standard. Both are file extensions (.ttf, .otf) that are used to indicate that the file is a font, which can be used in formatting the documents for printing.
A significant difference between TTF and OTF is in their capabilities. TTF depends solely on glyph tables that define how each character looks while OTF is able to use glyphs along with CCF (Compact Font Format) tables.
The cubic Bezier splines used by CCF allow for fewer points to be used in defining how a character would look compared to the quadratic Bezier splines used by TTF fonts.
Open Type Fonts (OTF)
OTF was developed out of its TrueType Font counterpart in the late 1990s by Apple and Microsoft again. It can store up to 65 000 characters including special characters, letters, digits, and glyphs with extended typographic features. OTFs are useful when working at the same time with multiple languages that make them more expensive.
OTF also adds a few smart font features, on top of the ‘sfnt’ structure that is being used by TTF, to add additional language support to the fonts.
Although it may not have a very significant effect on your computer, it is also worthy to note that the use of CCF in OTF could lead to file sizes that are significantly smaller, given that no special features are used in the font.
True Type Fonts (TTF)
True Type Font was a joint effort by Apple and Microsoft in the early 1980s, several years after the release of the PostScript font format. Each company has made independent extensions to TrueType, which is used in both Windows and Macintosh Operating Systems.
It has long been the most common format for fonts on Mac and Windows operating systems. Moreover, almost all major browsers have supported it. Like Type 1, the TrueType format is available for the development of new fonts.
TrueType fonts contain both the screen and printer font data in a single component, making the fonts easier to install. For this reason, TrueType is a good choice for those who have limited experience working with and installing fonts.
True Type Fonts are clearly readable at any size. Because of that TTFs are good all-around files for both on-screen viewing and printing purposes.
Notable Distinctions Between TTF and OTF
1. TTF is the file extension for TrueType fonts while OTF is the extension for OpenType fonts.
2. True Type Font depends solely on a glyph table while OTF fonts can either have glyph tables or CCF.
3. True Type Font files are often much bigger compared to OTF font files.
4. TTF gives you very precise control of how a font will be rasterized, but strategies that work for monochrome displays may not work well for grayscale or RGB and vice versa.
5. True Type Fonts are still so much more popular than OTF fonts.
6. True Type Fonts are much easier to do than OTF fonts
7. TTF fonts are much easier to make compared to OTF fonts.
If you enjoyed this article, subscribe with your email for related materials. Thanks.
CSN Team.
