Euro
The Euro is the single currency of the European Monetary Union (EMU) and was implemented by its member states on January 1, 1999. With its name drawn from the word
“Europe,” and its graphic symbol inspired by the Greek letter epsilon, the Euro brings a sense of common history, despite its recent inception.
Eurofont Free for Download
To help designers and publishers include this new symbol, we are now offering Eurofont free for download. Eurofont includes different variations of the Euro symbol to
work with a wide range of existing typefaces.
Postscript versions of the Euro for Windows and Macintosh are available in the column to the right.
Accessing the Euro Symbol
Euro Currency Symbol characters are accessed by typing the following keys:
Windows – Alt+0164
Macintosh – Shift+Option+2
(Option+2 under Mac OS X)
The Euro character is now regarded as part of the standard character set. This character has a PostScript name of “Euro”, and has the Unicode value of “20ac”.
In TrueType the Euro was fully supported at system level from Windows 98 onwards. Apple replaced the “currency” with the Euro from OS 8.5 onwards. Microsoft created font design characters, whereas Apple put the generic style Euro in their system fonts. At the same time Apple added the generic Euro to the “Symbol” font, and engineered the LaserWriter printer driver to default to this character when the Euro was keyed using standard PostScript fonts.
Monotype Imaging implement the Euro in TrueType with the Unicode value “20ac”, from this the Euro can be keyed in applications using the Euro defined keystroke, to both display and print the character. The user should not experience any problems with this process. In PostScript we add the “Euro” to the character set, it is our experience that fonts installed with ATM 4 onwards or direct into Windows 2000 will display this character when keyed with the Euro defined keystroke in applications. However the success of printing this character may be variable, this process does not appear fully mature as yet. To ensure the user will be able to print a Euro in PostScript fonts we therefore also put the Euro outline in the “currency” position. For the PC user this allows them to display and print this character from the “Alt+0164” key combination. The Mac situation is ambiguous because as said earlier Apple replaced the “currency” with the Euro at system level. It is advisable for users to have access to an Adobe printer driver, and determine in applications using either the LaserWriter or PS (Adobe) driver as to what gives the desired display and printing output.