Palatino

Name of a font created by Hermann Zapf in 1948. Full of grace and strength, Palatino is nearly universally admired. It has been adapted to virtually every font technology, and is probably the most pirated and copied font in existence.

Linotype and Adobe sell authentic versions of Palatino; Palatino Linotype is authorized by Zapf as the definitive Palatino.

Microsoft's knockoff, Book Antiqua, is a pirated imitation, and should not be used. (However, Microsoft now honestly distribute Palatino Linotype in Windows 2000 and XP.)

Palatino's design is based on the humanist fonts of the Italian Renaissance, which mirror the letters formed by a broadnib pen; this gives a calligraphic grace. But where the Renaissance faces tend to use smaller letters with longer vertical lines (ascenders and descenders) with lighter strokes, Palatino has larger proportions, and is considered much easier to read.