The Janson font was based on the matrices made for the typeface in the 17th century. It originated from the Dutch typeface designer Anton Janson and was cut by Nicholas Kis. The strong main strokes and fine hair strokes were influenced by the art of copper engraving. In 1983, Prof. Horst Heiderhoff led the expansion of the Janson into a font family with various stroke contrasts and gave it the name Janson Text.