Times New Roman alternatives – follow-up

I thought I was done with my inadvertent deep-dive into Times New Roman alternatives, but then I talked about all this on social media and got some interesting responses. So here’s a quick follow-up for completeness’ sake.

Before I go forward, though, I need to go back for a quick sec…

Alternatives I’d recommended

What I use

In my earlier post I’d talked about the two typefaces I use instead of Times New Roman. This is for when I’m writing reports, articles, letters, etc that require a non-nonsense, neutral serif typeface that’s suitable for both screen and print [1].

The typefaces I use are:

Neither looks like Times New Roman and neither is a drop-in replacement for Times New Roman, but both are excellent typefaces [2].

Graphic showing two short text blocks that are set in Source Serif 4 and Mercury. There are comments written under each heading. Under Source Serif 4 the comment reads, “Friendlier, wider, larger”. Under Mercury the comment reads, “More modern, larger, darker text”.

Drop-in replacements I recommend

I recommended two drop-in replacements for Times New Roman as well, both of which are also excellent typefaces:

Graphic showing two short text blocks that are set in PT Astra Serif and Equity Text A. There are comments written under each heading. Under PT Astra Serif the comment reads, “Friendlier (less sharp)”. Under Equity Text A the comment reads, “More readable (less sharp, darker text)”.

Drop-in replacements I didn’t recommend

There are, of course, a few drop-in replacements I didn’t recommend, like:

Tinos is nice (though I like PT Astra Serif better) but the others are too much like Times New Roman for me to recommend as superior alternatives.

Graphic showing two text blocks, one set in Times New Roman and the other set in Tinos. The text block in Tinos is easier to read because the characters are wider and larger than the ones set in Times New Roman.

What others recommended

This brings me to the two main suggestions I got from folks on social media.

One suggestion was Linux Libertine which, again, is too much like Times New Roman for me to recommend.

But the other was Spectral, which is actually quite good.

Graphic titled ‘Spectral’ with the word ‘Wintermute’ shown in large letters in the middle. A few features of this typeface are called-out: lower stroke contrast, angled brackets, angled terminals, wedge serifs, more open apertures, relatively wider letterspacing.

Spectral is not a drop-in replacement for Times New Roman (it is more widely spaced) but it does look like Times New Roman. If you made Times New Roman slightly thicker and replaced its curves with angles (compare the lowercase ‘t’ and ‘r’ below) you would get Spectral.

Graphic showing the word ‘Wintermute’ in large text in Times New Roman and Spectral. The two typefaces are similar to each other, though the word is wider when set in Spectral.

These design choices make sense, since Spectral was commissioned by Google for use in Google Docs and Sheets, both of which are screen-first products with less of a focus on creating printable materials. Times New Roman, on the other hand, was designed for high-speed printing in space-constrained newspapers and so it is crisp, narrow, and tightly letterspaced.

When you compare the two typefaces in blocks of text on a screen, Spectral is therefore the more readable of the two.

Graphic showing two text blocks, one set in Times New Roman and the other set in Spectral. The text in Spectral is wider, larger, and easier to read because it was designed to be read on the screen.

So does learning about Spectral change any of my recommendations? Actually, no.

If we are not aiming for a drop-in replacement for Times New Roman, then think Source Serif 4 is still the better, more versatile alternative typeface.

Graphic showing two text blocks, one set in Source Serif 4 and the other set in Spectral. The text block in Source Serif 4 is easier to read because the spacing between the letters is smaller.

But there is another contender…

That said, Production Type – the same type foundry that created Spectral (2017) – was commissioned by Google again to create another serif typeface: Newsreader (2020). And Newsreader does give Times New Roman a run for its money.

Graphic titled ‘Newsreader Text’ with the word ‘Wintermute’ shown in large letters in the middle. A few features of this typeface are called-out: lower stroke contrast, straight brackets, rounded terminals, wedge serifs, more open apertures, slightly less condensed letterspacing.

What I like about Newsreader is that, while it is a screen-first typeface, it works just as well in print. And what’s particularly cool about it is that it comes in three optical sizes: Display, Text, and Caption.

So if you are going to be creating, say, a report or a website with large-sized headings of various sizes, normal-sized body text, and small-sized image/table captions, then you can make the most of the different typeface variations of Newsreader that were designed specifically to be used at those optical sizes.

Graphic showing the word ‘Wintermute’ in large text in Times New Roman, Newsreader Display, Newsreader Text, and Newsreader Caption. The word is about the same width in Times New Roman and Newsreader Text. The word is darker and thicker in Newsreader Display and much chunkier and wider in Newsreader Caption.

You can see how much of a difference this makes in the text-block comparison below. Large-sized Times New Roman Bold makes for an insipid heading and small-sized Times New Roman Regular makes for a mostly-unreadable caption. Newsreader Display and Newsreader Caption, on the other hand, are up to the task.

Meanwhile Newsreader Text, despite having wider letterforms, is so well letterspaced that is actually takes up slightly less space on the page than Times New Roman does!

Graphic showing two text blocks, one set in Times New Roman and the other set in Newsreader Display, Text, and Caption. The text block in Newsreader is easier to read, partly because of the wider letter spacing in Newsreader Text and Caption.

Updating my recommendations

This then does change my recommendations. But instead of removing a recommended typeface, I’m going to add one.

For the average user

Writing a report, article, or letter that needs a typeface like Times New Roman?

Use PT Astra Serif which is a like-for-like replacement.

Installing and then swapping one typeface for another is something the average user can easily do and should totally do.

For the typography enthusiast

Writing a report or article that needs a typeface like Times New Roman, but your document has lots of headings and captions and you want to be a little ~*extra*~?

Use Newsreader Text for a like-for-like body text replacement and then use Newsreader Display and Newsreader Caption to create better titles/headings and captions.

This is something that folks who care about typography and design should do.

For the professional

Writing reports, articles, or letters professionally that need a typeface like Times New Roman?

Purchase Equity Text and use that as a like-for-like body text replacement. You can even pick between two shade grades – Equity Text A, which is darker, and Equity Text B, which is lighter – based on which one looks better when you print it out. And if you use all-capital letters anywhere (which lawyers use all the time, for example) then use the included Equity Small Caps variation instead because that looks significantly better.

An average user won’t pay for a typeface, but that is something a professional who wants to stand out from the crowd definitely should do.

Graphic showing four text blocks that are set in Times New Roman, PT Astra Serif, Newsreader, and Equity Text A. The text blocks all take up about the same amount of space, but the text set in Times New Roman is the least readable on screen.

Concluding thoughts

For a typeface I haven’t used in sixteen years, I’ve sure written a lot about Times New Roman recently! Hopefully this is all I’ll have to say on the matter for a while.

All I can say to conclude this chapter in my life is: please don’t use Times New Roman. There are several superior options available these days. Get with the program.

[1] If I didn’t need to use a no-nonsense, neutral serif typeface, there are many other typefaces I would pick instead (over and above Source Serif 4 and Mercury, of course). Typefaces like Chaparral (beautiful, friendly), Charter (solid, friendly), Crimson Pro (beautiful, warm), Merriweather (solid, friendly), Sabon Next (classic, neutral), Stempel Garamond LT (classic, neutral), and TT Jenevers (friendly, warm) to name a few.

[2] If I need to send someone a Word version of my document I always use Source Serif 4, but if I’m able to send a PDF then I’m more inclined to use Mercury.