First digit describes weight, the second digit describes width. The center is 55, which is the Roman face (i.e., regular).

Basically, the prefix shows the weight and the suffix shows the character width.

Wikipedia explains it : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Univers

Weight:

3… = Thin weight
4… = Light weight
5… = Normal weight
6… = Bold weight
7… = Black weight
8… = Extra Black weight

Width:

…3 = Expanded width
…5 = Normal width
…6 = Normal Oblique width
…7 = Condensed width
…8 = Condensed Oblique width
…9 = Ultra Condensed width

So:

39 is Thin Ultra Condensed
45 is Light
46 is Light Oblique
47 is Light Condensed
48 is Light Oblque Condensed
49 is Light Ultra Condensed
53 is Expanded
55 is Roman
56 is Oblique
57 is Condensed
58 is Condensed Oblique
59 is Ultra Condensed
63 is Bold Expanded
65 is Bold
66 is Bold Oblique
67 is Bold Condensed
68 is Bold Condensed Oblique
69 is Bold Ultra Condensed
etc…

Get it?

Removing my redundant post.

Thanks a lot, this is a great help!

So what’s going on with the Platinum collection?
Goes – weight_width_roman or oblique
http://www.linotype.com/53226/linotypeunivers-family.html

Tim

That is a new system. The Platinum Collection's "Linotype Univers" has many more weights than the original "Univers" that Frutiger created with Deberny & Peignot in the 1950s. Linotype Univers has a much bigger matrix, so to speak, so the number system was re-done.

>First digit describes weight, the second digit describes width. The center is 55, which is the Roman face (i.e., regular).

You don't have to be Swiss or German to understand it, but it helps.

Hey Si! Even I understand it and I am neither--I am old an bald though. (Old enogh to remember when Univers was rel;eased and thrilled with the numbering system. We had Univers ATF handset in our type shop. Lugging job cases was harder than sorting pulldown menus so I was happy for the clarity and the short name that fit on the handle tag. :-)

ChrisL

>That is a new system

I had assumed it was to avoid confusion, it isn’t as elegant, Frutiger’s numbering system could have coped.

Tim

>Even I understand it and I am neither

This theory may be cuckoo or full of holes, but maybe you have a bit of Swiss in you?

Dan, I liked the old Univers. Am I going to burn for saying that out loud? ;^)

>You don’t have to be Swiss or German to understand it, but it helps.

I should note that Adrian Frutiger, although Swiss himself, designed Univers for a French type foundry. They released it, and must have though the numbering system pretty hot. If I recall correctly, it was only in England were the numbering system met with stiff resistance.

>Dan, I liked the old Univers. Am I going to burn for saying that out loud? ;^)

Of course not! The "old" version is available for licensing, too. Just like Helvetica vs. Neue Helvetica, there is Univers and Linotype Univers to choose from. Just remember that Linotype Univers was made at Frutiger's own behest (and he participated in its development), as he wasn't happy with Univers' transition to digital ;-)

I may have missed this in scanning through, but you can also tell italics (obliques,actually), as they are even numbers while the romans are odd.

Yes, that was part of the system Don.

ChrisL

"This theory may be cuckoo or full of holes, but maybe you have a bit of Swiss in you?"

Pretty cheesy answer Si :-)

ChrisL

>I should note that Adrian Frutiger, although Swiss himself, designed Univers for a French type foundry.

Maybe everyone knows this article, but the last chapter goes over the basic history... http://ellie.rit.edu:1213/dphist1.htm

>If I recall correctly, it was only in England were the numbering system met with stiff resistance.

True the UK didn't go metric until 1969.

If Chris is calling you "cheesy" you know you've gone too far.

Stewf, Si was just wishing me a fond due :-)

ChrisL

Sorry guys about the Swiss puns - I just can't Alp it.

There they go again! They're all nuts, nuts I tell ya! Get me out of this madhouse!

Yves, We are too Yung to be nuts.

ChrisL

Tiff, did you mean are you going to Bern?

Why are Chris and my posts in Emmentalics?

True the UK didn’t go metric until 1969.

Yeah we kind of started then, did the currency in 1971, changed a few other things every so often, weights and mesures finally switched over a couple of years ago, but we're still suspcious of these European notions.

It's OK, everything is back to neue-mal.

Not anymore. There was a colon instead of a slash in my italic end tag (forgot to press Shift). Fixed it.

"back to neue-mal."

LOL!

ChrisL

Ahahaha. Had to think about that for a sec, Nick. Nice one.

Yeah we kind of started then, did the currency in 1971, changed a few other things every so often, weights and mesures finally switched over a couple of years ago, but we’re still suspcious of these European notions.

That's because it's all a prelude to then 10-day week.