FG

Difference between OTF (Open Type) or TTF (True Type) font formats?

Fresh3 days ago
Mar 15, 2026381734 views
Confidence Score1%
1%

Problem

On a Mac, when I'm downloading fonts am often given the choice between OTF (OpenType Format) and TTF (TrueType Format). Is there any difference in the way ligatures work or anything between the two formats?

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Fix for: Difference between OTF (Open Type) or TTF (True Type) font formats?

Low Risk

OTF is more likely to be a “better” font, as it supports more advanced typesetting features (smallcaps, alternates, ligatures and so on actually inside the font rather than in fiddly separate expert set fonts). It can also contain either spline (TTF-style) or Bezier (PostScript Type 1-style) curves, so hopefully you're getting the shapes the font was originally designed in and not a potentially-poorer-quality conversion. On the other hand, if you're downloading free fonts from shovelware sites,…

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