With all those distressed type-writer fonts out there, why wouldn't you license an existing one?

Is there a copyright issue if you commission a font based on an existing font family, for example, Courier, in the above example?
“Based on” is very relative. If you’re thinking about modifying some letters, I’d talk to the foundry or type designer in question. On the other hand, creating something brand new in the same vein as a previous design is what type designers do all day. I wouldn’t worry about that.

If you want people to write with it, a distressed face might be a bad choice.

Courier is a public domain design, but expect to pay between $350 and $24,250 per weight for a custom (designed from scratch) distressed typewriter font. Price will be dependent on designer, their research, character set and number of iterations. Price does not include hinting, or expenses (such as purchasing old typewriters or trips to the International Typewriter Museum in Oakland, CA.)

>If you want people to write with it, a distressed face might be a bad choice.

Not to mention if you want people to read with it. ;)

No where in the question did Pat2 say he was looking for a distressed font... Just one that could have been used on an old typewriter, but to me, that doesn't mean 'stressed. After all, "back in the day" they new typewriters?

>With all those distressed type-writer fonts out there, why wouldn't you license an existing one?

When screenplays were written with typewriters (roughly similar to 12pt Courier font) in "Hollywood" format, each page of play was roughly equivalent to 1 minute of action, which is why Courier (or Courier Final Draft) is still the default font for writing screenplays in this format. I think FreeMono would be a pretty good free alternative, but at some point we might want to commission a font called Courier X for product X that competes with Final Draft to match the competition. I'm just wandering how much that would cost?

To get estimates, you’ll probably need to contact foundries directly. You’ll also need some more details: technical level, timeframe, character set, weights, styles, level of exclusivity etc. OEM licensens are often priced as a percentage of the end product retail price. An exclusive design might mean a higher one time fee upfront, but on the other hand no running expenses. You could also deviate in style within the same widths and metrics as Courier, giving your product X a unique voice.

Pat2, if you are legitimately developing something related to fonts for screenwriting, contact me offliné, please.

Pat2, I've been told that if your screenplay is not in Courier, those in the movie and TV business won't even look at it. So I think you are stuck with something that doesn't look much different. One thing one could do—or I could do—is make it more a robust weight than Courier New, without artificial roughness. You might ask Nick Shinn whether he could whip you up a monospace version of Bodoni Egyptian, which might look fresh and still pass.

Monospaced types should be designed from scratch to address the particular constraints involved. Retrofitting a proportional type is a compromise.

Matthew Butterick's Alix and Mark Van Bronkhorst's Fantabular are a couple of excellent recent monospace designs, with huge functionality.

Looking at all these again, and in light of Nick's comment, it might be that the only thing that will pass muster with those in the industry is something closer to Courier than any of these new monospace designs, or a monospace Bodoni Egyptian. But you will know better what will be accepted by script readers in the industry.

> I think FreeMono would be a pretty good free alternative....

You're wasting your time (and time is money).

You need Courier/Courier New — one style/weight; no italic; the basic character set. That's it!

Everything is based on page count: production calculations / cost estimates / schedules. Page count is more serious than serious. Don't try something new. Only Courier/Courier New. If any "writer" is going to try something new.... then there's the big trash bin . People don't care about opentype, a robust weight than Courier New.... huge functionality — sorry Bill & Nick no room for creative solutions.

David, I know he can't change Courier noticeably. But being more robust can be done without changing how it sets or page count. Since it's monospaced, it's not exactly rocket science to get it to space *exactly* the same: just set all the characters to the same number as Courier. I'm not saying it's a feat of creativity, but it might look a little nicer and still be Courier.

Just checking: I see that with my copy of Movie Magic's Screenwriter program there came a special "screenwriter" version of Courier, which is substantially heavier than New Courier, and with higher x-height, and almost the same monospace width—1233 instead of 1227 (they are both true type fonts.)

So it seems that my original suggestion was exactly on target. Movie Magic's Screenwriter and Final Draft, which are the two most widely used programs for screen play writing I would guess have done similar things in producing their own versions of Courier. I could do the same for Pat2, who started this thread.

And yes, I've written a screen play. Just ask me about it :)

Bill,

Don't be too scientific :) People don't care about the x-height, why the monospace width is 1233 instead of 1227. No one is going to talk about that. No one is going to think that this font "...might look a little nicer".... This is not important.

We have here 4 options. That's Enough.

> And yes, I've written a screen play. Just ask me about it :)

But first...don't have spaces where there shouldn't be spaces -- "screen play".

@david h - FreeMono is a Courier clone, probably based on Nimbus Mono.

Incidentally, folks, if you have a Linux distro lying around, snoop around the Xwindows font packages. It's possible that IBM Courier is still there.

David, height of the caps are not that different, between Courier New and Courier Screenwriter, but if you do the same exercise for the lower case, it is a lot different, as well as noticeably darker. I think the difference anyone will notice when they are side by side.

Your example of Courier Final Draft looks darker in the screen capture in FontLab, but for some reason not in your sample. I don't have your "Courier" with no other identity on my machine, so I can't check the lower case of that or the Final Draft one.

The point of my giving the numbers is that the set width is almost identical, but the lower case looks a lot bigger and darker. So it is OK as far as the 1 page per minute rule. But it looks a lot different on the page, and I think the darker and bigger look of Courier Screenwriter is better for use in a screenplay.

My understanding is that Pat2 has a new screenwriting program and wants to have his own proprietary version of Courier for it, rather than buying one from a competitor. So it can't be too different and meet the needs, but it can be a little different, and better in small ways, and certainly as good as the versions in Final Draft or Movie Magic Screenwriter.

>...the screen capture in FontLab

just a quick note about the screen capture... Movie Magic Screenwriter - right, Final Draft - left