: Origin of numerical font weight descriptions in typography The CSS specification (among several others) establish that, when selecting a font, the font-weight may be described using numerical descriptors
The CSS specification (among several others) establish that, when selecting a font, the font-weight may be described using numerical descriptors ranging from 100 to 900 at 100 increments, where 400 is reserved for the "regular" weight and 700 for "bold" (this article contains an example of a mapping).
Are these numbers assigned merely conventionally or is there some sort of (at least theoretical) numerical relation between, say, stem thickness and advance width which controls the numerical descriptor that a font "ought" to receive (regardless of whether that relation is respected in any particular font)?
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Linotype made it to CSS over Panose system partly because of licensing concerns. See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PANOSE. The Panose number is used in TrueType, OpenType and SVG fonts and contains infromation about weight, proportion, contrast etc.
The Panose weight number is more or less the same system as the Linotype/CSS. From very light to extra black. See the quote below.
Fontforge can caluclate the Panose number. fontforge.org/fontinfo.html#Panose
So Fontforge uses some sort of (at least theoretical) numerical relation to calculate weight.
UPDATE
... the calculations for weight are among the easiest to compute.
There are specific letters used for measuring weight: CapH is the
Height of the capital H. WStemE is width of the stem of the capital E.
WeightRatio = CapH / WStem(E)
2_0 = Any (Don't use.)
2_1 = No Fit (Don't Use)
2_2-Very Light....................WeightRat ≥ 35 (35 or greater)
2-3-Light....................18 ≤ WeightRat < 35 (18 or greater, less than 35)
2_4 Thin.....................10 ≤ WeightRat < 18
2_5-Book....................7.5 ≤ WeightRat < 10
2_6-Medium..................5.5 ≤ WeightRat < 7.5
2_7-Demi....................4.5 ≤ WeightRat < 5.5
2_8-Bold....................3.5 ≤ WeightRat < 4.5
2_9-Heavy...................2.5 ≤ WeightRat < 3.5
2_A-Black...................2.0 ≤ WeightRat < 2.5
2_B-Extra Black...................WeightRat < 2
See: forum.high-logic.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=941
The CSS font-weight is influenced by Linotype numbering system. As you can learn from the wiki, every digit in the number describes different characteristic of the typeface and from this point CSS adopted Lynotype in part... The 100 to 900 system works for some fonts, but fails for other, thus you should always check this in advance before using particular values in the CSS code.
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