Re: Choosing among Versions of Sabon

Hello Gabriel,

> Dear typography enthusiasts on this list,
> 
> I have a question that is related to Samples of LilyPond Output with Sabon
> Typeface
> <https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/lilypond-user/2026-06/msg00136.html>
> but separate.
> 
> In this article (Sabon - Wikipedia <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabon>),
> I read about many digital versions of Sabon, including:
 
>    1. https://www.myfonts.com/collections/sabon-font-linotype

digitization of the original sabon font

>    2. https://www.myfonts.com/collections/sabon-paneuropean-font-linotype

including extended characters like greek and cyrillic

>    3. https://www.myfonts.com/collections/sabon-next-font-linotype

not the original sabon font, but one based on it. Has more different cuts and 
many nice additional glyphs, but only lating alphabet support (so no greek or 
cyrillic cuts). The idea is to kind of get rid of the compromises made back in 
the day.

>    4. https://www.myfonts.com/collections/sabon-etext-font-linotype

A modification of Sabon for screen usage. This is not what you want for print, 
unless you want the same score to be used on screen as well.

>    5. https://www.myfonts.com/collections/sabon-font-monotype-imaging

The monotype digitalization of the original font. Lighter and less complete 
than the Linotype noe.

>    6. https://www.fontspring.com/fonts/fontsite/savoy

Seems to be a cheaper copy of Sabon?

Now, let’s get to the main point: Why Sabon? Sabon was designed specifically to 
work on both Linotype and Monotype machines — which is why it took a few 
compromises. Essentially it is a Garamond modified for these systems. Of course 
nowadays these compromises do not matter anymore. So Sabon Next exists, which 
tries to undo these changes — effectively turning this into yet another 
Garamond.

Now, there is other Garamond families out there. The Queen of Garamonds is 
nowadays probably the Adobe Garamond Premier Pro, covering a total of 2747 
glyphs in 34 cuts.

But there is others.

Anyway. I’d suggest to you think about if Sabon is really what you want, or if 
maybe one of the many Garamonds out there are what you are after. I have used 
Garamonds in Music, and they are quite nice, especially because they tend to 
run quite narrow, which means you need less space in lyrics and stuff.

The OFL licensed EB Garamond is probably the most narrow one (note that 
although this is an incredible font giving whopping 3218 glyphs it is not 
professional grade — which means I’d not use it to professionally typeset a 
large book or something).

Find attached some example (begin of Winterreise) given in default font, 
different optical sizes of Garamond Premier Pro and a combination of EB Garamond 
and Cormorant Garamond for headings.

You should hopefully see how using Garamond fonts reduce the space the lyrics 
take, having them affect spacing less (requiring less breaks).

Cheers,
Tina

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