View source for Bitstream Vera

{{Short description|Typeface series from Bitstream}}
{{Infobox typeface
| name             = Vera Sans
| familyname       = 
| image            = VeraSansSpecimen.svg
| style            = [[Sans-serif]]
| classifications  = [[Sans-serif#Humanist|Humanist]]
| creator          = Jim Lyles
| commissioned_by  = 
| foundry          = [[Bitstream Inc.]]
| foundries        = 
| creationdate     = 2001
| releasedate      = 
| trademark        = 
| metrically_compatible_with = [[Verdana]]
| aka              = Bera
| variations       =
| sample           = 
| shown_here       = 
| sample_fullimage = 
| arabic           =
| cyrillic         =
| devangari        =
| greek            =
| hebrew           =
| ipa              =
| latin            =
| license = Commercial; [[open-source software|open-source]]
}}

'''Vera''' is a digital [[typeface]] ([[computer font]]) [[Font superfamily|superfamily]] with a liberal [[license]]. It was designed by Jim Lyles from the now-defunct [[Bitstream Inc.]] type foundry, and it is closely based on Bitstream Prima, for which Lyles was also responsible. It is a [[TrueType]] font with full [[TrueType#Hinting language|hinting instructions]], which improve its rendering quality on low-resolution devices such as computer monitors. The font has also been repackaged as a [[PostScript fonts#Type 1|Type 1 PostScript font]], called ''Bera'', for [[LaTeX]] users.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/fonts/bera/ |title="Bera" font pack for LaTeX |date=2004-09-30 |author1=Rosenau, M |author2=Schmidt, W. }}</ref>

Vera consists of [[serif]], [[sans-serif]], and [[monospaced font|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" (uppercase o), in similar fashion as [[Verdana]] and [[Tahoma (typeface)|Tahoma]] fonts. 

Bitstream Vera Sans is also the default font used by the [[Python (programming language)|Python]] library [[Matplotlib]] to produce plots.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://matplotlib.org/users/dflt_style_changes.html#fonts |title=Matplotlib fonts |date=2017-03-14}}</ref>

== Unicode coverage ==
Bitstream Vera itself covers [[Basic Latin (Unicode block)|Basic Latin]] and [[Latin-1 Supplement|Latin 1-Supplement]] letters. It comprises only 300 [[glyph]]s.

==Licensing and expansion==
Bitstream Vera was released in 2003 with generous licensing terms and minimal restrictions that are nearly identical to those found in the [[SIL Open Font License|Open Font License]], which was not formalized until two years later. The main restrictions were a prohibition on reselling the fonts as a standalone product (though selling as part of a software package is acceptable), and that any [[derivative work|derivative fonts]] not be distributed under the name "Vera" or use the Bitstream trademark.

The [[DejaVu fonts]] are a prominent expansion of the Bitstream Vera fonts.

<gallery mode="packed" heights="180px">
File:BitstreamVera.svg|Variants of Bitstream Vera
File:Helvarial.svg|Comparison between [[Helvetica]], [[Arial]], and Bitstream Vera, three common [[sans-serif]] typefaces
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[Bitstream Cyberbit]]
* [[Bitstream Speedo Fonts]]
* [[DejaVu fonts]]
* [[List of typefaces]]
* [[Menlo (typeface)]]
* [[TITUS Cyberbit Basic]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Bitstream Vera}}
* {{Official website|https://web.archive.org/web/20210314185159/https://www.gnome.org/fonts/}} (Previously hosted at gnome.org -- but page no longer exists.)
* [https://download.gnome.org/sources/ttf-bitstream-vera/1.10/ Official download page]
* [https://dejavu-fonts.github.io/ Bitstream Vera derivatives] at [https://web.archive.org/web/20180427195004/http://dejavu-fonts.org/ DejaVu fonts]
* [https://sourcefoundry.org/hack/ Hack] is a derivative of Bitstream Vera Mono

{{Free and open-source typography}}

[[Category:Typefaces and fonts introduced in 2002]]
[[Category:Humanist sans-serif typefaces]]
[[Category:Monospaced typefaces]]
[[Category:Open-source typefaces]]
[[Category:Typefaces designed by Jim Lyles]]
[[Category:Unified serif and sans-serif typeface families]]


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