Inter Typeface

Inter's OpenType features are stored as individual .fea files within the src/features directory. Each file represents a specific feature (e.g., cv07.fea).

Note that these files do not contain the feature { ... } wrapper themselves; instead, they contain raw feature code. During the font compilation process, each file is automatically wrapped in a feature { ... } block based on its filename.

Important for font designers/contributors: The definitive order of features is managed in the .glyphs file, not by the file order in this directory. Some features are maintained directly within the .glyphs application.

// Example content of cv07.fea
sub germandbls by germandbls.1;

// Resulting compiled code:
feature cv07 {
  sub germandbls by germandbls.1;
}

Inter is licensed under the SIL Open Font License 1.1.

Key usage rules:

• Commercial Use: You can use Inter commercially (e.g., bundled with a product or service).
• Restrictions: You are NOT allowed to sell Inter itself or its derivatives.
• Derivatives: You can create derivative fonts, but they must also be released under the same SIL Open Font License 1.1.
• Reserved Name: "Inter" is a Reserved Font Name by Rasmus Andersson. Derivative works must not use this name.
• Documents: The license requirements do not apply to documents created using the font.

The Inter source files consist of the following components:

• Inter-Roman.glyphspackage: Contains the non-italic designs in the Glyphs format.
• Inter-Italic.glyphspackage: Contains the italic designs in the Glyphs format.
• features/: Contains hand-written OpenType feature code. Note that many other features are automatically generated by Glyphs and are embedded directly within the .glyphspackage directories.

The kerndiff.sh tool generates a unified diff showing the differences in kerning pairs between two font files. It supports OTF, TTF, and UFO font formats.

Usage: Run the script from your terminal, providing the paths to the two font files you wish to compare as arguments.

kerndiff.sh <font1> <font2>

# Example usage:
kerndiff.sh Inter-Regular-v2.4.otf src/Inter-Regular.ufo

Run the fontsample executable followed by the path to a font file that macOS can read. By default, it generates a PDF file named <fontfile>.pdf containing the text "Rags78 A" at size 96.

./fontsample <fontfile>

Inter is available through several package managers and distributions. Note that these may not always be as up-to-date as the official GitHub releases.

• NPM: inter-ui package
• Homebrew: font-inter cask
• Ubuntu: fonts-inter package
• Linux: Various versions available via Repology
• Google Fonts: Available as a web font (Note: The README advises against using Google Fonts unless necessary, as it may be outdated and lacks italics).

Inter is distributed as a variable font and also as a set of traditional distinct font files. The following table maps the Roman (upright) and Italic names to their respective weights:

Use the following flags to customize the output of fontsample:

• -z, -size <size>: Set the font size to render (defaults to 96).
• -t, -text <text>: Set the specific text line to render (defaults to "Rags78 **A**").
• -o <file>: Specify the output filename.
  • If the filename ends in .png, a PNG image is generated instead of a PDF.
  • If no output file is specified, it defaults to <fontfile>.pdf.

# Example: Render 'Hello World' at size 72 to a PNG file
./fontsample -t "Hello World" -z 72 -o sample.png myfont.ttf