Calibri features subtly rounded stems and corners that are visible at larger sizes.[8] Its sloped form is a"true italic" with handwriting influences,[9] which are seen in many modern sans-serif typefaces.
The typeface includes characters from Latin,Latin extended,Greek,Cyrillic andHebrew scripts. Calibri makes extensive use of sophisticatedOpenType formatting; it features a range ofligatures as well as lining andtext figures, indices (numbers enclosed by circles) up to 20, and analternativef andg (shown in sample) accessible by enabling the fourth and fifth stylistic sets.[10][11] Some features in Calibri remain unsupported by Office, including truesmall caps, all-caps spacing, superscript and subscript glyphs and the ability to create arbitrary fractions; these may be accessed using programs such asAdobe InDesign.
One potential source of confusion in Calibri is a visiblehomoglyph, a pair of easily confused characters: the lowercase letter L and the uppercase letter i (l and I) of theLatin script are effectively indistinguishable. This is also true of many other common fonts likeArial,Open Sans,Segoe andHelvetica.
The design has similarities to de Groot's much more extensiveTheSans family (ahumanist font) and shares similarities withhumanist fonts, although TheSans has straight ends rather than rounding.[12]
De Groot has also said in 2016 that he would like if possible to addBulgarian alphabet variant letterforms at a later date.[13]
Because of the longdevelopment of Windows Vista, Calibri's development – from 2002 to 2005 – occurred several years before the release of that OS.[1][3] It was first presented in a 2005 beta of Windows Vista, then codenamed Longhorn,[citation needed] and first became available for use with the Beta 2 version of Office 2007, released on 23 May 2006.[14] Calibri and the rest of the ClearType Font Collection were finally released to the general public on 30 January 2007, since when it has been released with most Microsoft software environments.[citation needed]
In 2013,Google released afreely-licensed font calledCarlito, which ismetric-compatible to Calibri, as part ofChromeOS.[20] Carlito's metric-compatibility ensures ChromeOS users can correctly display and print a document designed in Calibri without disrupting its layout. Carlito's glyph shapes are based on the prior open-source typefaceLato.[21]
On 13 July 2023, Microsoft announced that they would switch the default Microsoft 365 font from Calibri to their new font,Aptos.[22][23]
Calibri won the TDC2 2005 award from theType Directors Club under the Type System category.[24] The Arabic typeface of Calibri won the 2nd Award of GRANSHAN 2016.[25]
Because of Calibri's position as the default font in Office, several cases have been reported in which documents presented in Calibri were shown to beforged thanks to a purported creation date before 2006, when Calibri was made available to the general public:
In 2017, the font came to public attention as evidence in the Pakistani government-related"Panama Papers" case (also known as Fontgate),[26] in which a document provided byMaryam Nawaz (daughter of ex-PMNawaz Sharif) supposedly signed in February 2006 was found to be typed up in Calibri.[27][28][29][30] Inventor De Groot said that there was "really zero chance" that the document was genuine.[31]
In 2009, a letter attributed toBob Hayes, an American footballer and sprinter who died in 2002, was found to be a forgery as it was typed out in Calibri.[32]
In 2012, the Turkish government charged approximately 300 people with conspiracy to commit acoup. The incriminating evidence was a document alleged to have been written in 2003. The document, however, was written in Calibri, which was not available in 2003.[33]
In 2017, Gerald McGoey, former CEO ofLook Communications, filed forpersonal bankruptcy. He produced documents ostensibly showing he had transferred parts of his estate to be held in trust for his children. One of the documents, which had a date of 2004, was typed out in Calibri.[34][35]
In 2023, Probate Judge Sandra A. Harrison of Macomb County dismissed a man’s claims against his parents forbreach of contract andunjust enrichment after the defense counsel discovered that a business record, purported to have been signed on 13 December 2000, was typed out in Calibri.[36]
Media related toCalibri at Wikimedia Commons