Bitstream Charter
Bitstream · Matthew Carter · 1987
Matthew Carter's 1987 text serif, engineered for early laser printers and later released as open source — a foundational digital type design.
About
Bitstream Charter was designed by Matthew Carter in 1987 specifically for the 300 dpi laser printers of the era, using simplified structure and fewer curves to conserve memory. Bitstream donated a version to the X Consortium in 1992, spawning derivatives including Charis SIL. The Pro version followed in 2004 with small caps and ranging figures, and Apple later integrated it as a macOS system font. Typographer Matthew Butterick ranks it among the finest freely available typefaces.
Classification
Bitstream categorises Charter as transitional serif, though it also exhibits slab serif characteristics. Designed for 300 dpi laser printers with simplified structure and minimal curves. Donated to X Consortium in 1992. A Pro version arrived in 2004 with small caps, ranging figures and expanded character sets. Apple adopted Charter as a system font in macOS High Sierra.