Permissive[1] for original version; proprietary for "Charter BT" version
Bitstream Charter is a serif typeface designed by Matthew Carter in 1987 for Bitstream Inc.[2] Charter is based on Pierre-Simon Fournier’s characters, originating from the 18th century.[3] Classified by Bitstream as a transitional-serif typeface (Bitstream Transitional 801), it also has features of a slab-serif typeface and is often classified as such.[4][5]
Charter was originally optimized for printing on the low-resolution 300 dpi laser printers of the 1980s, and remains suitable for printing on both modern high-resolution laser printers and inexpensive lower resolution inkjet printers due to its strong, legible design. Its structure was optimised for low-memory computers and printers. In a 2013 interview, Carter explained that it used "a very simplified structure and a minimum number of curves, more straight-line segments... very economical compared to, say, Times New Roman," but noted that rapid development of printers made this unnecessary even before he had finished the design.[6] In its simplification of serif forms, it foreshadowed Carter's later landmark design, Georgia for Microsoft.
In 1992 Bitstream donated a version of Charter, along with its version of Courier, to the X Consortium under terms that allowed the font to be modified and redistributed. This has resulted in open source derivatives of Bitstream Charter, including Charis SIL.[7] Typographer Matthew Butterick considers Bitstream Charter to be one of the best free fonts available.[8]
Because of its popularity, a new Charter Pro release of the typeface was released in 2004, with an expanded character set including additional symbols, ranging figures (old-style) and small capitals.[9] This version was later added as a system font on OS X.[citation needed]
Carter was later asked by Monotype to consider releasing a sans-serif companion to Charter. Finding his attempts unsatisfying, he scrapped the idea for a more radical, less directly complementary design, Carter Sans.
History
Charter is based on the characters[3] of Pierre-Simon Fournier, a French 18th century punch-cutter, typefounder and typographic theoretician who invented the “point system”, a standardized measurement system for font sizes.
Type sample (Pierre Simon Fournier, Manuel Typographique, 1766)
