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Ligature

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 Related Terms
• Expert Characters
• Diphthong
 
 
Definition: Two or more letters combined into one character make a ligature. In typography some ligatures represent specific sounds or words such as the capital AE diphthong ligature or used primarily to make type more attractive on the page such as the fl and fi ligatures. In most cases, a ligature is only available in extended characters sets or special expert sets of fonts.

Common Misspellings: legature

Related Resources:

Typography and Expert Characters
The use (or abuse) of ligatures, small caps, old style figures, and other fine typographical features. Learn the proper use of accent marks and expert character sets.

OpenType
Unlike the PostScript Type 1 font limit of around 256 glyphs, OpenType fonts may contain thousands of glyphs — eliminating the need for separate fonts for ligatures, small caps, different language character sets, and other Expert Character sets — it's all in one font file.

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