An ink trap is a feature of certain

typeface A typeface (or font family) is the design of lettering that can include variations in size, weight (e.g. bold), slope (e.g. italic), width (e.g. condensed), and so on. Each of these variations of the typeface is a font. There are thousands o ...

s designed for printing in small sizes. At an ink trap, the corners or details are removed from the letterforms. When the type is printed,

ink Ink is a gel, sol, or solution that contains at least one colorant, such as a dye or pigment, and is used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design. Ink is used for drawing or writing with a pen, brush, reed pen, or quill. Thicker ...

naturally spreads into the removed area. Without ink traps, the excess ink would soak outwards and ruin the crisp edge. Ink traps are only needed for small point sizes and are usually only found on typefaces designed for printing on newsprint. Fonts of this kind are applicable for

classifieds Classified advertising is a form of advertising, particularly common in newspapers, online and other periodicals, which may be sold or distributed free of charge. Classified advertisements are much cheaper than larger display advertisements used ...

or telephone books. Typefaces with ink traps may be offered in versions without them for display on screen or at larger sizes. Typefaces featuring ink traps include

Retina The retina (from la, rete "net") is the innermost, light-sensitive layer of tissue of the eye of most vertebrates and some molluscs. The optics of the eye create a focused two-dimensional image of the visual world on the retina, which then ...

, Bell Centennial, and Tang.

References

Typography {{typ-stub