# What is this font called? [duplicate]

What is the font in this figure and how to produce it using latex?

The font is surrounded by red circles.

• Excuse me, but how I am supposed to find the font in this link? @HenriMenke – drzbir Jun 25 '15 at 21:33
• The document is not well typeset, as it mixes math in Computer Modern with Times New Roman. I guess that the letters you want have been obtained by \mathsf{supp}. – egreg Jun 25 '15 at 21:35
• @5.r.a - You don't have a pdf or ps file from the figure above by chance? – Arash Esbati Jun 25 '15 at 21:36
• @5.r.a The link is not intended to point you to the correct font, but rather to teach you how to look it up. This question might also help you: How do I find out what fonts are used in a document/picture? – Henri Menke Jun 25 '15 at 21:44
• @5.r.a - The circled fonts looks like Computer Modern Sans Serif. – Hbar Jun 25 '15 at 21:44

The font is Computer Modern Sans. The document is not particularly well typeset, as it mixes Computer Modern math with Times New Roman for text, which should never be done.

I can reproduce the output with the following input, apart from the line length:

\documentclass[a4paper]{article}
\usepackage{times}

\begin{document}

A $k\times n$ matrix $G$ is said to \emph{fit} another $k\times n$ matrix $M$
if $\mathsf{supp}(G_i)\subseteq\mathsf{supp}(M_i)$ for all $i\in[k]$. Moreover
if $M$ is a binary matrix and $\mathsf{supp}(G_i)=\mathsf{supp}(M_i)$ for all
$i\in[k]$ then $M$ is called the \emph{support matrix} of $G$, denoted
$\mathsf{supp}(G)$.

\end{document}


So the font is the one obtained with \mathsf and, since \usepackage{times} doesn't change the math fonts, it's Computer Modern Sans.

You get better results if you do \usepackage{mathptmx}:

\documentclass[a4paper]{article}
\usepackage{mathptmx}
\usepackage{amsmath}

\DeclareMathOperator{\supp}{\mathsf{supp}}

\begin{document}

A $k\times n$ matrix $G$ is said to \emph{fit} another $k\times n$ matrix $M$
if $\supp(G_i)\subseteq\supp(M_i)$ for all $i\in[k]$. Moreover
if $M$ is a binary matrix and $\mathsf{supp}(G_i)=\supp(M_i)$ for all
$i\in[k]$ then $M$ is called the \emph{support matrix} of $G$, denoted
$\supp(G)$.

\end{document}


Better yet, if you do

\usepackage{newtxtext,newtxmath}


instead of \usepackage{mathptmx}:

However, in this case Helvetica is used.

### Requested comment

Computer Modern (Roman and Math) and Times New Roman are visually incompatible with each other: the main reasons are the thickness of strokes and the form of the serifs. In math, the incompatibility is even stronger, because the letters take very different shapes. Compare the “k” and “n” in the first picture with the same letters in the second one, but also look at the first picture from a certain distance: the letters in math formulas are clearly much thinner than in text, which spoils the greyness of the page.

On the other hand, Computer Modern Sans and Times are not “absolutely” incompatible: the mix between a serif and a sans serif typefaces is a question of personal taste, mainly.

• A good answer, but it would be help if you explained why Computer Modern math shouldn't be mixed with Times New Roman for text. Mind you, it's completely unrelated to the question (but since you started this...). – user10274 Jun 25 '15 at 22:16
• @MarcvanDongen Just look at the weight of the strokes and the shapes of letters. – egreg Jun 25 '15 at 22:16
• Then please write that in the answer:) – user10274 Jun 25 '15 at 22:18
• @MarcvanDongen But typography guidelines are generally off-topic here, aren't they? I think it's fair enough to mention that the document is quite poorly typeset as an aside, or a warning or something, but to discuss typography as part of an answer seems to be drifting off topic, wouldn't you say? – Au101 Jun 25 '15 at 22:33
• @Au101 My main reason for asking is that I don't think it helps if you write don't mix $X$ and $Y$ because remembering all the $X$s and $Y$s that don't mix is virtually impossible. Explaining the underlying principle is much better. No more, no less. – user10274 Jun 26 '15 at 1:01

The font is Computer Modern Sans Serif, the sans-serif variant of the default Computer Modern.

You can compare the characters for reference:

\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
\textsf{supp, gr, R, r}
\end{document}


It might be Latin Modern Sans Serif as well, a font derived from Computer Modern that I think is indistinguishable form Computer Modern in this case.

• I agree with this possibility. – Bernard Jun 25 '15 at 21:55