What Are the Differences Between OpenType Font Varieties Such as Std, Pro, and Com?

Most fonts are available in the OpenType format. You may have noticed that are available in various OpenType configurations. The differences between each are reflected in the amount of language support and font features offered. Which one is right for you? Let’s look at each format:

OpenType Std (Standard)

This is the most “basic” of OpenType formats. Fonts in the OpenType Std category contain an extended Latin character set, which supports 21 languages. (Afrikaans, Basque, Breton, Catalan, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, Gaelic (Irish, Scots), German, Icelandic, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Saami (Southern), Spanish, Swahili, Swedish). In some cases, additional non-Latin languages and typographical character variants may be included in these fonts. Please note that while most OpenType STD fonts will support these languages, coverage may vary. It's best to double check that the language you intend to use is supported, regardless of format designation.

OpenType Pro

The OpenType Pro category contains all the language support found in the OpenType Std format, and includes additional characters that support Central European and other Latin-based written languages. (Afrikaans, Basque, Breton, Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, Gaelic (Irish, Scots), German, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Saami [Southern], Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Turkish).

OpenType Com

OpenType Com fonts are ideal for use in international communications. Included is the Linotype Extended European Character set (LEEC), which has a minimum of 387 characters and guarantees that 56 languages can be supported by every OpenType Com font. (Afrikaans, Albanian, Basque, Bosnian, Breton, Catalan, Cornish, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Faroese, Finnish, French, Frisian, Friulian, Gaelic [Irish, Scots], Gagauz [Latin], Galician, German, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Karelian, Ladin, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Moldavian [Latin], Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Rhaeto-Romanic, Romanian, Saami [Southern], Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Sorbian, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Turkish, Turkmen [Latin]).

OpenType W1G Fonts (WGL4)

OpenType W1G ( also known as WGL4) fonts have an extended character set that supports many languages based on the Latin alphabet, as well as several languages based on the Cyrillic alphabet and monotonic Greek. Drawing from more than 600 characters, OpenType W1G (WGL4) includes support for at least 89 languages:

Latin: Afrikaans, Albanian, Alsatian, Arumanian, Asturian, Basque, Bosnian, Breton, Catalan, Cebuano, Chichewa, Cornish, Corsican, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Esperanto, Estonian, Faroese, Filipino, Finnish, French, Frisian, Friulian, Gaelic, Gagauz (Latin), Galician, German, Greenlandic, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Karelian, Ladin, Latin (Lingua Latina), Latvian, Lithuanian, Luba, Maltese, Moldavian (Latin), Norwegian, Occitan, Polish, Portuguese, Rheto-Romance, Romanian, Sámi (Lule), Sámi (Northern), Sámi (Southern), Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Sorbian, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Turkish, Turkmen (Latin), Vepsian, Welsh, Wolof, Zulu.

Cyrillic: Agul, Avar, Balkar, Belarusian, Bulgarian, Chechen, Erzya, Gagauz, Ingush, Karachay, Khvarshi, Komi, Komi-Permyak, Lezgian, Macedonian, Moldavian, Nenets Tundra, Ossetian, Russian, Rutul, Serbian, Ukrainian.

Greek