FreeSerif for Arabic alongside serif Latin text

FreeSerif combines modulated Arabic lettering with serif Latin in the GNU FreeFont collection. This download selects the official May 3, 2012 Regular and Bold files. It is a candidate for bilingual documents that benefit from using one family across Arabic text and Latin references.

The Arabic selection has two upright weights

FreeSerif.ttf supplies weight 400 and FreeSerifBold.ttf supplies 700. The Italic and Bold Italic files in the same GNU release do not contain Arabic, so they are not included as Arabic styles here. The word Serif describes the Latin family; it should not be read as a claim that the Arabic uses Latin-style serifs.

Compare a real page with Amiri and Noto Naskh Arabic. Within the Naskh collection, judge stroke modulation, joining, and line rhythm at comparable apparent sizes. Include a bold heading and a small footnote before choosing. Changing the working font can alter both line breaks and page depth.

What the supplied files establish

Both selected fonts contain Arabic, Basic Latin, common Persian letters, and Arabic vowel marks. Shaping checks produced contextual forms and lam-alef in the tested samples. They do not establish every specialist language or mark combination. Proof the actual vocabulary and fully marked words in the software that will export your document.

For Arabic and Latin work, start with the built-in Latin. Source Serif 4 is another pairing to test for a separate English section, with size and paragraph density adjusted visually. GNU FreeFont credits a collective of contributors, including Arabic work associated with Omega and Abbas Izad; those notices accompany the download.

GPL licensing with a document exception

The files use GPL 3 or later with an exception for embedding the unmodified font in documents. The ZIP preserves the original TTFs, notices, corresponding sources, and preview-processing script. Prepare a sample with the Arabic keyboard and follow the installation guide. Redistribution of the font files remains subject to the included license.