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| Category | Serif |
|---|---|
| Classification | Slab serif |
| Designer | SIL International |
| Date released | 2006 |
| License | SIL Open Font License |
| Design based on | Bitstream Charter |
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| Sample | |
| Website | software |
Charis (/ˈkɛərɪs/) orCharis SIL is aslab seriftypeface developed bySIL International based onBitstream Charter, one of the first fonts designed for laser printers. The font offers four family members: roman, bold, italic, and bold italic.
Its design goal is to "provide a singleUnicode-based font family that would contain a comprehensive inventory ofglyphs needed for almost any Roman- orCyrillic-based writing system, whether used for phonetic or orthographic needs."[1]
Charis SIL supportsGraphite,OpenType, andAAT technologies for advanced rendering features. Along withDoulos SIL andGentium, it is licensed under theSIL Open Font License (OFL),[2] and can be downloaded free of charge.[3]
Version 6.2 of the font, with over 3,800 glyphs,[4] was released on 1 February 2023.[5] Version 7 was released on 2 June 2025.[6]
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Variant forms of many characters can be chosen in the word-processor. For example, forsingle-story a andsingle-story g, appendss01=1 to the name of the font in the font-selection window.[7] (Features are appended with a colon and linked with an ampersand – see images at left.) Alternatively, customized versions of the fonts can be created withTypeTuner, prior to download, that have those forms preset.[8]
Features that may be chosen includesmall capitals, single-story 'a' and 'g', double-story 'a' in italic typeface, variant forms of capital 'Ŋ', largemodifier letter apostrophe andSaltillo, Vietnamese-style diacritics, Serbian-style italics (in Cyrillic), stavelesstone letters, and automatic fractions.[7]
PhoneticianJohn C. Wells has recommended Charis SIL as an excellent font for displayingIPA symbols.[9]
Since version 7, it is now simply called Charis.
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