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Does anyone know a font that looks like Georgia, but where in the numbers are a consistent height and don't drip down oddly as in Georgia?

Better yet, is there anywhere I can get a .ttf or a .otf where in the numbers are adjusted?

I can't just manually adjust the font because I need it for font-face.

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  • 2
    I would recommend exploring Google Web Fonts for a font-face alternative first.
    – user4362
    May 4, 2012 at 21:56
  • 7
    "don't drip down oddly" = Text Figures = en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Text_figures
    – DA01
    May 4, 2012 at 22:07
  • Thanks for the link about Text Figures. Very interesting. May 6, 2012 at 13:57
  • Proper typography has some digits “dripping down oddly.” Using digits that don’t go below the baseline is actually bad typography. May 6, 2023 at 2:59

12 Answers 12

17

Taking a look at the Wikipedia entry for Georgia, they mention that it is influenced by Clarendon typefaces.

Here's Georgia:

Georgia

Here's URW Clarendon:

URW Clarendon

Update

Not knowing your exact purpose, you might also want to consider simply using numbers from a more commonly available similar font. Times New Roman, for example, isn't too different, and mixing the numerals from Times with those of Georgia doesn't look too bad.

Here's an example:

enter image description here

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  • 1
    Georgia with Times numbers looks like the ticket I think. I doubt I'd notice it if I hadn't read the entire post. May 6, 2012 at 14:00
12

Bitstream Charter has three things in common with Georgia: (1) it's about the same size; (2) its upper-case letters are less tall than lower-case ascenders; (3) it was designed by Matthew Carter. But Bitstream Charter has lined (non-descending) numerals.

Unfortunately I have no experience with @font-face, so I can't help you with that part of the problem.

Bitstream Charter

9

For those who are still struggling with this. Georgia version 5.57 (not sure if in previous versions) has support for Lining Number Forms. This can be accessed in Microsoft Word by going to Character → Advanced → Number Forms → Lining.

It can be accessed in Adobe InDesign in the Paragraph Style Options → OpenType Features → Figure Style → Proportional (or Tabular) Lining.

I recently installed Windows 10 + Office 2013 and that version of Georgia had support for Lining Number Forms.

I just checked on my Mac (El Capitan), it is Georgia version 5.00x-4. It does NOT support the Lining Number Forms. Of course, I copied and installed the fonts from my Win 10 to my Mac and now my Mac has a version which supports them :). If that's illegal, lock me up now! I have the latest Office 365 on my Mac. I should have the latest version of Georgia too darn it!

Hope this helps someone.

8

Here are some similar fonts to Georgia with lining numerals:

Ingeborg

enter image description here

News 706

enter image description here

Escrow

enter image description here

Just look around in web fonts services, these are just 3 of the many examples yu can find in http://www.identifont.com

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  • That similarity finder is extremely useful. Thanks for the heads up. May 4, 2012 at 23:07
4

Georgia Pro is by far the best for numbers for Georgia, and all the text can be set to Georgia Pro (with caveat, read on). Times New Roman, Bitstream Charter, Clarendon, numbers with Georgia don't look as good as Georgia Pro numbers to me.

Only I only downloaded Georgia Pro - which was only 1-font style download, so therefore bolding doesn't work, then I downloaded Georgia Pro Bold - so it started to become a pain the arse real quick switching between Georgia for body text, then Georgia Pro for unbolded numbers, and Georgia Pro Bold for bolded numbers.

So now I'm getting all styles (condensed/bold/italic etc etc.) here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/georgia-pro/9n9dzg1xt2mb?activetab=pivot:overviewtab

3

I also wanted this and decided to use Georgia for most chars but take digits from another font.

I ended up using Charter digits, as a webfont. You can test the combo at https://www.mathdown.net/?doc=georgia-replaced-digits (feel free to edit).

See https://github.com/cben/mathdown/issues/95 for all my experiments (most screenshots are Chrome on Ubuntu with Georgia installed, look for crossbrowsertesting links for cross-platform screenshots)

There are 2 easy ways to do this in a website:

  1. @font-face with limited unicode-range. Clean and effecient — the replacement font can reference system fonts or webfonts (which some browsers will skip loading if no characters use them).

    Code: http://codepen.io/cben/pen/BoZBga => Results on crossbrowsertesting
    (top is Palatino/Palladio digits, Georgia; bottom is pure Georgia)

    Unfortunately I never got it to work cross-browser. IE8 doesn't support it and shows only Georgia; that's OK. What's worse is Firefox which ignored unicode-range but didn't invalidate the whole @font-face, resulting in everything using the font I wanted only for digits. I also tried a "double sandwitch" of Georgia without digits, only digits, full Georgia — I hoped this will make Firefox at least use Georgia for everything — but it failed in weird ways.

    Also, I noticed that digit-letter kerning was too tight with most fonts and platforms, e.g.:

    kerning
    (this is Bitstream Charter, Chrome on Ubuntu)

    Note especially "0th" and "4rd" on the italic lines.

  2. A webfont subsetted to include only the characters 0-9. No unicode-range necessary. [Font Squirrel's generator is a quick way to extract a subset from any font. It even has an option to match x-height to Georgia.] The price is close to 10KB compressed.

    This solved all compatibility problems!

    Code: http://codepen.io/cben/pen/jbLPyo => Results on crossbrowsertesting
    (this is Bitstream Charter)

    => Replaced digits everywhere except IE8 (I only used WOFF format which is IE9+, probably could work with the right EOT incantation);
    didn't inhibit Georgia for other characters anywhere;
    looks fine on platforms lacking Georgia (android, ubuntu).

    And now kerning looks OK everywhere! (No idea why kerning is better — is it a different code path or just slightly different font — perhaps Font Squirrel did some magic?)

You should also consider what happens on systems that don't have Georgia (android and many linuxes) and/or don't have your replacement font (not a problem if it's a webfont). For example

So from what font to take the digits?

I considered system font stacks that are (approximately) cross-platform (there aren't many serif ones), and Georgia-resembling fonts with an open license (so subsetting is legally OK):

  • Times was not bad but narrower than Georgia (I didn't seriously test it cross-platform though).

  • Palatino/Palladio — also narrow and worse kerning.

  • URW Bookman L looked great, except that its digit 1 is extremely similar to Georgia's lowercase L:

    URW Bookman L

    For me this was a deal-breaker as my original motivation to replace Georgia's digits was that its 0 digit is extremely similar to lowercase O...

  • Charter, by the same designer as Georgia and somewhat similar in spirit. Note however that its 4, 6, 7, 9 have a hint of old-style dripping. This is the one I picked.

2

FYI, when the numerals "dip down" they're called "Old Style Figures" (especially in InDesign), so this may help your Googling in trying to find a way where Georgia itself can use alternates.

In some fonts, you can simply use "uppercase" numbers, that is, type in capitals, and it will automatically make the switch. This is especially useful for tables and infographics, where the Old Style may be distracting.

2

Georgia Pro has altered numbers all sharing the same baseline.

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Georgia Pro is free on Windows 10 as part of the optional add-on "Pan-European Supplemental Fonts":

https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/3xrvel/fyi_paneuropean_supplemental_fonts_are_back/

BUT some of the lined numerals are different designs than the unlined.

enter image description here

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I would recommend Source Serif Pro. It's free on Google Fonts:

enter image description here

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1

Georgia Font is awesome for emails and web pages. Specially when you face i,I,l,L. In my business there is "ILI" operation which stands for In Line Inspection and Arial font make confusion.

"CALISTO MT" is the name of font which is similar to Georgia font but with no dripping numbers. Numbers: 123456789.00

above text with Calisto MT font:

enter image description here

1

A bit late on this, but if it really must be similar to Georgia, you can try Georgia Pro by Linotype. It's a polished Georgia but with proportionally lined numbers.

1
  • It's already mentioned in another answer. Take the tour if you want to learn more about the site.
    – Luciano
    Jan 29, 2020 at 9:24

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