Bitstream Vera

Vera Sans

Category	Sans-serif
Classification	Humanist
Designer(s)	Jim Lyles
Foundry	Bitstream Inc.
Date created	2002
Design based on	Verdana
Also known as	Bera
Website	www.gnome.org/fonts/

Vera is a group typeface (font) with a liberal license. It was designed by Jim Lyles from Bitstream, and it is closely based on Bitstream Prima, for which Lyles was also responsible. It is a TrueType font with full hinting instructions, which improve its rendering quality on low-resolution devices such as computer monitors. The font has also been repackaged as a Type 1 PostScript font, called Bera, for LaTeX users.

Vera consists of serif, sans-serif, and monospace fonts. The Bitstream Vera Sans Mono typeface in particular is suitable for technical work, as it clearly distinguishes 'l' (lowercase L) from '1' (one) and 'I' (uppercase i), and '0' (zero) from 'O'.

Unicode coverage

Bitstream Vera itself covers only common punctuation and the Latin alphabet with some diacritics. It comprises only 300 glyphs. Because of its liberal license, the DejaVu fonts project is expanding it with additional glyphs and styles, which it releases into the public domain.

With over 80% installation base, the DejaVu fonts have been gaining on the role as sans-serif default fonts in GNU/Linux. On Windows and Macintosh systems, DejaVu is practically unknown, whereas Bitstream Vera Sans has installation bases of 25% and 20%, and 79% on Unix, according to a survey.

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  Variants of Bitstream Vera

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  Comparison between Helvetica, Arial, and Bitstream Vera, three common sans-serif typefaces

See also

• DejaVu fonts
• Bitstream Cyberbit
• TITUS Cyberbit Basic
• List of typefaces

External links

• Official website
• Bitstream Vera derivatives at DejaVu fonts