Linotype Zapf Essentials is the modernized version of Zapf Dingbats and was also designed by Hermann Zapf himself. Over 372 characters and symbols are included within six fonts and make life a little more communicative, a little more informative, and a lot more interesting. The fonts contain symbols for both professional and everyday uses. With their markers, ornaments and arrows they are informative as well as versatile, timeless and lively. An interesting note to the story of Zapf Essentials: in 1977, Hermann Zapf created about 1000 sketches of signs and symbols. ITC chose those which became known around the world as Zapf Dingbats. For a typesetter, dingbats are the characters in the corner of the type box which can be used for just about anything. The last decade has seen the appearance of new symbols for e-mail, fax, mobile phones and other developments. These are now part of Linotype Zapf Essentials, just as they are now a part of everyday life. For a quick overview of the different Linotype Essentials variations, see the keyboard layout PDF in the Gallery section. It shows the keyboard layout of each font. A helpful hint from Hermann Zapf: Linotype Zapf Essentials should be used sparingly so that the characters retain their emphasis.

Based in Manuel Corradine's handwriting, Zape is a very spontaneous font. It could be used in almost any informal project.

Zapped is a grungy font with a sort of extruded look. I was working on a poster for the punk band MAXILLA (they are hot check'm out). It looks like it came out of a war zone. Abuse it!

ZAP is an all-caps monospaced and (almost) monolined typeface family. ZAP comes along in square and round shape, 2 widths (ZAP 360 and ZAP 500), and 8 weights. ZAP also offers Slant and BAckslant styles. ZAP covers multiple languages with Extended Latin. Even complete Greek alphabets are part of the ZAP keymap.

The Bitstream version of Melior, a twentieth century modern face commissioned by Stempel and designed by Hermann Zapf in 1952. It is based on Zapf’s thoughts about the squared-off circle known as a super-ellipse. The type was originally intended as a newspaper text face by Linotype. Hermann Zapf’s Melior exhibits a robust character through classic and objective forms. Versatile and extremely legible, it can be used for a variety of texts and point sizes. Cyrillic version was developed by Natalya Vasilyeva and licensed by ParaType in 2002.

The Zapf Dingbats originally had been a selection of 360 symbols, ornaments and typographic elements from over 1200 designs. (For the first time a lady's hand is shown for the index symbol, the fist). The exisiting Zapf Dingbats offers a small selection out of this great offer. Therefore Hermann Zapf created new symbols for the set of the Zapf Dingbats, which are available today from Linotype as "Zapf Essentials?" 6 fonts with new and fresh symbols like fax, cell phone and internet symbols.

Zapf International font is the work of German designer Hermann Zapf, formal enough for widespread use yet tempered with calligraphic warmth. Vigor in the italics is achieved more from design than from slant. One of the distinguishing characteristics of Zapf International is its graduation of weights. Light and medium are relatively close and equally eloquent for text. Demi is a full two steps heavier than medium and heavy several steps beyond demi.

Zapf Chancery font is a work of German designer Hermann Zapf. It was named after a typeface used in Anglo-Saxon lands during the Renaissance as well as inspired by such scripts. This font makes it possible to give printed items an individual character. The handwriting of the designer can be seen in the forms of this classic, elegant font.

Zapf Book font is the work of German designer Hermann Zapf, a blend of the characteristics of Walbaum, Melior and the contrasting weights of Bodoni. It is a typical Zapf font, distinction without eccentricity and superb sensitivity and letterfit, and clearly demonstrates his concern that an alphabet work not just as a collection of single letters, but also have a sense of unity in itself.

The Zapf Renaissance Antiqua type family was designed by Hermann Zapf for the German Scangraphic Dr. Böger GmbH in Hamburg, from 1984–1986. The typefaces were engineered for use in digital CRT phototypesetting. This version was based on Scangraphic SH version (For Display use) and not on the SB version (for text use).

Since the release of these fonts most typefaces in the Scangraphic Type Collection appear in two versions. One is designed specifically for headline typesetting (SH: Scangraphic Headline Types) and one specifically for text typesetting (SB Scangraphic Bodytypes). The most obvious differentiation can be found in the spacing. That of the Bodytypes is adjusted for readability. That of the Headline Types is decidedly more narrow in order to do justice to the requirements of headline typesetting. The kerning tables, as well, have been individualized for each of these type varieties. In addition to the adjustment of spacing, there are also adjustments in the design. For the Bodytypes, fine spaces were created which prevented the smear effect on acute angles in small typesizes. For a number of Bodytypes, hairlines and serifs were thickened or the whole typeface was adjusted to meet the optical requirements for setting type in small sizes. For the German lower-case diacritical marks, all Headline Types complements contain alternative integrated accents which allow the compact setting of lower-case headlines.

Since the release of these fonts most typefaces in the Scangraphic Type Collection appear in two versions. One is designed specifically for headline typesetting (SH: Scangraphic Headline Types) and one specifically for text typesetting (SB Scangraphic Bodytypes). The most obvious differentiation can be found in the spacing. That of the Bodytypes is adjusted for readability. That of the Headline Types is decidedly more narrow in order to do justice to the requirements of headline typesetting. The kerning tables, as well, have been individualized for each of these type varieties. In addition to the adjustment of spacing, there are also adjustments in the design. For the Bodytypes, fine spaces were created which prevented the smear effect on acute angles in small typesizes. For a number of Bodytypes, hairlines and serifs were thickened or the whole typeface was adjusted to meet the optical requirements for setting type in small sizes. For the German lower-case diacritical marks, all Headline Types complements contain alternative integrated accents which allow the compact setting of lower-case headlines.

In 2007-8, Carolyn Puzzovio developed this OpenType typeface: Lagoon which is based on an Armenian model from the Mechitarist monastery, Venice, 1810. This project was supported by a grant from the AHRC (Arts & Humanities Research Council, UK) and won a first prize in the Granshan 08 type design competition. Oſten, Armenian digital types are designed to match the forms of Latin type characters and ‘Latinized’, by uprighting the forms; truncating ascenders and descenders and raising the x-height – but in this case the Latin characters in the OpenType font have been designed to blend in with the traditional Armenian proportions which are based on cursive forms – also incorporating some of the quirky shapes from the original model. Faithfully following the original created difficulties of ‘clashing’ characters, particularly those with long descenders, so the font contains over 100 alternative characters in the Armenian part, which will normally substitute automatically where necessary. The sloping lower case characters and upright capitals are traditional in Armenian – capitals are used less in the Armenian language. Three new characters for the Armenian unicode range are included: the Armenian dram (currency) symbol; the eternity symbol; and the index number symbol. This font which will be one of the first OpenType fonts to incorporate these newly unicoded characters.

Aldus was designed by Hermann Zapf and appeared with the font foundry D. Stempel AG in Frankfurt am Main in 1954. Zapf named this font after the famous Venetian printer Aldus Manutius, whose work is among the most important of the Renaissance period as well as Zapf’s inspiration for Aldus. Linotype Aldus was introduced by Linotype Library as a text font lighter than Palatino. Zapf’s goal with his Palatino and Aldus was to create a new form of Old Face typeface. This font gives text the feeling of elegance which was typical of the Renaissance.

Hermann Zapf made his first scetches for Orion in 1963. Zapf's aim was to create a neutral textface which can be ideally used as a newspaper face. Its strokethickness and open letterforms also fits well for book and magazine production. The final two weights of Orion were released in 1974 for the Linofilm photocomposing machine.

URW Grotesk was designed exclusively for URW by Prof. Hermann Zapf in 1985. At the same time, Zapf designed URW Antiqua to go with URW Grotesk. At that time, we were working with a large German publishing house (Axel Springer) on type design solutions to replace certain of their newspaper fonts. Test pages of large German newspapers (e.g. Bildzeitung) were printed with URW Grotesk and URW Antiqua font families. For reasons not disclosed to us, the project was dropped and Springer never used URW Grotesk and URW Antiqua for that purpose. Anyway, Zapf finished his designs and URW produced both families. Zapf’s intention for the two typefaces was to design two highly legible, open and classical fonts that could be used for any kind of typography, especially books, newspapers, magazines, etc. However, we realized later on, that URW Grotesk is very well suited for multi media applications on screen.

URW Grotesk was designed exclusively for URW by Prof. Hermann Zapf in 1985. At the same time, Zapf designed URW Antiqua to go with URW Grotesk. At that time, we were working with a large German publishing house (Axel Springer) on type design solutions to replace certain of their newspaper fonts. Test pages of large German newspapers (e.g. Bildzeitung) were printed with URW Grotesk and URW Antiqua font families. For reasons not disclosed to us, the project was dropped and Springer never used URW Grotesk and URW Antiqua for that purpose. Anyway, Zapf finished his designs and URW produced both families. Zapf's intention for the two typefaces was to design two highly legible, open and classical fonts that could be used for any kind of typography, especially books, newspapers, magazines, etc. However, we realized later on, that URW Grotesk is very well suited for multi media applications on screen.

Michelangelo was designed by Hermann Zapf in 1950.

A personal calligraphic series commissioned by Bitstream from Gudrun Zapf von Hesse. Although Carmina BT is a neutral design, optimized for use in digital publishing, Zapf von Hesse’s unique calligraphic spirit is still quite visible in the family’s letterforms. This is not surprising, as all of Zapf von Hesse’s typefaces are calligraphic in nature. Yet Carmina BT is suitable for almost any conceivable digital text application, from book design up through signage use.

Palatino is the work of Hermann Zapf and became available in the late 1950s from D. Stempel AG in Frankfurt am Main. Zapf optimized Palatino’s design for legibility, producing a typeface which remained legible even on the inferior paper of the post World War II period. Zapf named the font after Giambattista Palatino, a master of scripts from the time of Leonardo da Vinci. Palatino is an Old Face font which proves that classic forms can still be used to create new typefaces.

Marconi was created by Hermann Zapf in 1973. According to Gerard Unger, it was the world's first digital typeface. Zapf’s design was developed as a text face for books and magazines. The round forms of the Marconi follow the principle of the superellipse. The lowercase letters are enlarged as the result of reading tests, while the capital letters are slightly reduced. The 8-point size — normally used for newspapers — looks more like 9 1/2 points. Marconi is a legible typeface with its large and open lowercase letters. It is ideal for long text blocks in newspaper, book, and magazine production.

Palatino Arabic is a collaboration between Lebanese designer Nadine Chahine and Prof. Hermann Zapf. The design is based on the Al-Ahram typeface designed by Zapf in 1956 but reworked and modified to fit the Palatino nova family. The design is Naskh in style but with a strong influence of the Thuluth style as well. This is evident in the swash-like finials and the wide proportions of the letterforms. It is designed for use in print in both large and small sizes. The counters are wide open to allow for better readability in small sizes as well as to maintain an open and friendly appearance. The font has 1091 glyphs and includes a large number of extra ligatures and stylistic alternates as well as the basic Latin part of Palatino nova and support for Arabic, Persian, and Urdu. It also includes proportional and tabular numerals for the supported languages. Palatino Arabic wins Type Directors Club award. Each year, the New York-based Type Directors Club judges typeface designs from all over the world in their TDC2 contest. Linotype is pleased to announce that a very new typeface of its own is among 2008’s winners: Palatino Arabic. A collaboration between Nadine Chahine and Prof. Hermann Zapf, this face is an extension of Zapf’s Al-Ahram Arabic type from 1956 recreated to join the Palatino nova family.

Diotima was designed by Gudrun Zapf von Hesse in 1948, the italic even earlier, in 1939. Diotima is a festive font particularly well-suited to invitations, programs and poems. The delicate italic draws attention to text which should be emphasized. Zapf von Hesse’s Ariadne Initials and Smaragd are perfect complements to Diotima.

Colombine is based on the handwriting of Gudrun Zapf von Hesse. The dynamic forms of Gudrun Zapf von Hesse's Colombine express the dance, the lightheartedness and the liveliness of Commedia dell'Arte. The type is an excellent choice for artistic as well as festive applications. The different weights make Colombine perfect for certificates and other celebratory texts.

Drawn by master German calligrapher Hermann Zapf in the 1970s, Noris Script captures the magic of the irregularities of pen strokes. The idea behind Noris Script was to bring the spontaneity of a quick handwritten script using a broad-edged pen into the modern typesetting environment. Noris is the Latin name for the German city of Nuremberg, where Hermann Zapf was born and raised. Nuremberg has something special about it, aside from Hermann Zapf, it has a great tradition of writing masters, such as Johann Neudörffer (1497-1563), Wolfgang Fugger (1515-1568), and Rudolf Koch (1876-1934).

Virtuosa Classicis the 21st century OpenType re-release of a classic Hermann Zapf design, his very first script typeface, Virtuosa. Based on the same sketches that would inspire Zapfino 50 years later, Hermann Zapf developed Virtuosa in 1948-49. It was originally released in metal in 1952. Virtuosa nova is an English copperplate script with character. The font includes two form variants for each capital letter, and there are a number of lowercase alternates and ligatures, too.

Sistina, designed by Hermann Zapf in 1950 was first named Aurelia Titling. It is a heavy supplement to the Michelangelo Titling based on studies of inscriptions in Rome. First release in hotmetal at D. Stempel AG, Frankfurt in 1951. Sistina was originally an all caps font. The digital version from Linotype contains small caps. Hermann Zapf together with Akira Kobayashi, type director from Linotype had made a new revised version of Sistina now named as Palatino Imperial" in the Palatino nova type family, a Platinum Collection product from Linotype."

Venture Script reflects Hermann Zapf's handwriting. It was originally written with a Japanese feltpen. And like with Zapf's typeface Noris Script he wanted to preserve the rough outline of the handwritten form in the final drawings.

Vario is a bold brush-based design. Created by the renowned type designer and calligrapher, Hermann Zapf, Vario offers superb emphasis for use in headlines and displays. It is availble in both regular and italic styles. Vario was first produced in 1982.

Smaragd is a light and gracious font especially appropriate for titles and cards. It is Gudrun Zapf von Hesse’s interpretation of Baroque adornment engravings. Smaragd is clear and festive, well-suited to titles and headings, initials and private printed materials, such as cards and stationery.

ITC Slimbach font is the work of California calligrapher and type designer Robert Slimbach. Inspired in part by German fonts and the work of Hermann Zapf, Slimbach created a "contemporary text font with a progressive look", combining clean serif shapes with the warmth of calligraphic forms.

Gudrun Zapf von Hesse designed the first sketches of Alcuin in 1986. The namesake of this typeface was an advisor of Charlemagne and was responsible for the writing reform of the Carolingian era. Alcuin was born in 735 in England, became an abbot in Tours and died there in 804. It was the idea of Zapf von Hesse to develop a modern text type based on the forms of the Carolingian minuscule. To create a text type that is excellent for a wide variety of applications, typical handwritten elements had to be discarded while still retaining the flow and character of handwriting. Alcuin with its strong calligraphic expression may be used in books, magazines, and also in the area of printed office communication.