Libre Caslon Text
Pablo ImpallariSphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Serif · Variable · 4 weights · OFL · Türkçe
Free Caslon alternatives
William Caslon, London, 1720s. “When in doubt, use Caslon” is the oldest piece of advice in English typography.
Why people look for a Caslon alternative
The old printer's advice was to use Caslon when in doubt, and the reason it survived is that its irregularity is comfortable to read for a long time. Every digital Caslon is somebody's licensed interpretation, and they differ sharply — some are faithful to worn metal, others are cleaned up until the character is gone.
What a Caslon substitute has to get right
The irregularity is the design. Caslon’s letters do not quite agree with each other, and a version that has been smoothed into consistency has removed the thing that makes a page of it readable.
The 2 in this archive
Listed only where the substitution would survive a designer looking at both — a flattering near-match is worse than a short list.
Libre Caslon Display
Pablo ImpallariSphinx of black quartz, judge my vow
Serif · 1 weight · OFL · Türkçe
Caslon and its free alternatives, at a glance
- How you get it
- Bought from a foundry under a commercial licence
- Pass it on, embed it or self-host it
- Only as the licence you bought allows
- On a website
- Usually a separate web licence on top
Caslon
| Property | Libre Caslon Text | Libre Caslon Display |
|---|---|---|
| Licence | OFL-1.1 — free, commercial use allowed | OFL-1.1 — free, commercial use allowed |
| Weights | 400, 500, 600, 700 | 400 |
| Variable | Yes | No |
| Italic | Yes | No |
| Türkçe | Yes | Yes |
| Other alphabets | Latin only | Latin only |
| Glyphs | 548 | 551 |
| Web font | 61 KB | 37 KB |
Questions
- What is the best free alternative to Caslon?
- Libre Caslon Text — it is the closest match in this archive, and the page above says which shapes the substitution turns on. 2 faces are listed in total, and which of them is right depends on the size you are setting and the mood you want; set your own words in each before choosing.
- Are these Caslon alternatives free for commercial use?
- Yes. Every font on this site is under a licence that permits commercial use with no fee and no attribution requirement, mostly the SIL Open Font License. That covers paid client work, products you sell, self-hosting on a website, and embedding in an application. The licence file is inside every download.
- Can I use a Caslon alternative in a logo?
- Yes. An open font licence covers the font software rather than the shapes you set with it, so a logo made with one of these can be trademarked like any other. What you cannot do is claim rights over the typeface itself.
- Will a Caslon substitute keep my layout the same?
- Only if it is metrically compatible — drawn so every character occupies the same width as the original, which makes a document reflow identically. Very few faces are, and where one is, this site says so on its page. Everything else will look similar and set differently, so a layout built to the original's widths needs checking rather than assuming.