What to look for
- A moderate x-height lets ascenders and descenders give words their shapes.
- Spacing is set for body text at 14 to 20 pixels.
- Bold weights keep their counters open, so emphasized words stay legible.
- The font has real small capitals and old-style figures where the design calls for them.
Katagami Text
A katagami is a paper stencil for dyeing cloth.
Katagami Text has an x-height of 0.71 of its cap height. It is set 4 percent smaller and tighter, and its bold is drawn lighter. Weight 700 sits at 640 on the design axis. The Katagami Text page has the full specifications.
Katagami Serif
A katagami is a paper stencil for dyeing cloth.
Katagami Serif is Katagami Text with rectangular serifs and a light contrast. It is for text that should read as a serif. The Katagami Serif page has the full specifications.
| Font | License | Weights | Variable axes | Notable features |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Katagami Text | SIL Open Font License 1.1 | 100 to 900 | wght | Lower x-height, tighter spacing, lighter bold |
| Katagami Serif | SIL Open Font License 1.1 | 100 to 900 | wght | Rectangular serifs, light contrast |
| Source Serif 4 | SIL Open Font License 1.1 | 200 to 900 | wght 200 to 900, opsz 8 to 60 | Five optical sizes, small caps, made to pair with Source Sans |
| IBM Plex Serif | SIL Open Font License 1.1 | 100 to 700 | wght 100 to 700 (variable release, 2026) | Transitional design with rectangular serifs, alternates for a, g and 0 |
| NewsSerif | Character Type End User License Agreement (paid licenses) | Hairline to Black | Weight and optical size (axis tags not published) | Text, Large and Huge optical subfamilies, wedge-shaped serifs, small caps, oldstyle and tabular figures |
| Signifier | Klim Type Foundry licences (paid desktop, web and app licences) | Thin to Black (100 to 900) | wght 100 to 900, with the full family purchase | Rectangular baseline serifs, triangular head serifs and chopped terminals; oldstyle and tabular figures, small caps, alternate zero and one, fractions, superiors and inferiors |