Marvel fonts and sizes

[MacG]

So, back in the day, there was this wonderful STICKY on .net from Clan Aratak that had a picture with a listing of the fonts and sizes on each part of the card. I don't think it's accurate, but it was enough to get me into the ballpark and then I developed my own style from there.
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e195/Leprejuan/FontGuideS.jpg
I notice that the Marvelscape cards are different. My old customs have my own style that is nothing like the new ones

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e195/Leprejuan/HS%20Marvel%20Cnv/Daredevil.jpg

I just downloaded a MESS o' blanks from Allskulls and IamBatman. You other graphically-oriented guys must know exactly how to approximate the Marvel cards fonts. Without search (grumble, grumble), I can't find it listed here.

A) Could someone tell me, preferably with a diagram? (I am old and slow.)

B) Might we sticky that information?

[ninthdoc]

I must say the standard Hersocape blanks that ReqMan has in the download section absolutely rock. They are .zips that open to .psds. This is extremely easy to use and they are of extremely high quality and resolution.

I love the cards that allskulls and IAmBatman uploaded, but if someone (ReqMan) would graciously incorporate these designs for the comic book superheroes, I would be eternally indebted.

:pray: Please? :pray:

[GreyOwl]

The fonts used on the official cards are Hevetica Neue. This is a set of fonts that have normal, light, condensed, and light condensed version and come in different weights. The main text uses light condensed 47. I'm not sure on the size, but it's between 5-7 point. The other headings use a heavier weight (like 67 or more). The font isn't free, but you may have access to it at work. I think it's in the $20-25 range, or you can get it as part of a collection called LinoType Gold 1.7.

All my customs use this font, but unfortunately when I make JPEGs of them, it doesn't come out looking too good, so it's hard for you to see. But in MS Publisher (where I make my cards) and when I print them out, they look exactly like the official cards. MarvelScape looks like it's using the same font, just at different weights, sizes, kerning, etc.. Maybe I should post one in a higher resolution as a .PNG file so you can see what it looks like. You do have to tweak the kerning and spread of each portion to get it to be like the official cards, though. They don't use the default settings.

[Fallen Templar]

The fonts used on the official cards are Hevetica Neue. This is a set of fonts that have normal, light, condensed, and light condensed version and come in different weights. The main text uses light condensed 47. I'm not sure on the size, but it's between 5-7 point. The other headings use a heavier weight (like 67 or more). The font isn't free, but you may have access to it at work. I think it's in the $20-25 range, No.

1 Hevectia Neue is extremely expensive it's not in $20-25, Try $80-85. Free on the Mac{I hate apple :?}

2 Official Layout. 2 Fonts used from are Helvectia Neue

Condensed Bold 77 ( Unit Name[size 18 or 16]. Species, Personality type designation(size 12). Ability Titles[Size 12]. Stat Numbers[ Size 24 classic, Size 36 marvel]

57 Condensed: Abilities themselves

[GreyOwl]

My bad. I saw the $24 price on this website: http://www.myfonts.com/fonts/linotype/neue-helvetica/, but it turns out it's $24 per style, not for the whole set. So the 47, 57, 67, etc. are purchased separately. :( I don't have a Mac, but I did have these through work, fortunately.


Official Layout. 2 Fonts used from are Helvectia Neue

Condensed Bold 77 ( Unit Name[size 18 or 16]. Species, Personality type designation(size 12). Ability Titles[Size 12]. Stat Numbers[ Size 24 classic, Size 36 marvel]

57 Condensed: Abilities themselves

I think some of your sizes may be off, though. I did the below mockup (ignore the ugly borders on the card). My font set doesn't have Condensed Bold 77, so I used 67 instead. Based on the samples on the LinoType site, they are very close, though obviously not exactly the same. So based on that, here are the sizes used below:

Figure Name: HelveticaNeue LT 67 MdCn, Bold, 10 pt.
Race, Class, Personality, etc.: HelveticaNeue LT 67 MdCn, Bold, 7 pt.
Size: HelveticaNeue LT 67 MdCn, Bold, 8 pt.
Height: HelveticaNeue LT 67 MdCn, 18 pt.
Ability Names: HelveticaNeue LT 67 MdCn, Bold, 6 pt.
Ability Text: HelveticaNeue LT 57 Cn, 6 pt.
Stats: HelveticaNeue LT 67 MdCn, Bold, 16 pt.
Life: HelveticaNeue LT 67 MdCn, 14 pt.
Points: HelveticaNeue LT 67 MdCn, 14 pt.

Now I'm not saying these are exactly the way it should be, but it was the closest I got. But if I use some of the sizes you listed, like 24 or 26 pt., it is WAY too big.


http://www.hiddendragon.com/hs_customs/fontsample.png

[ninthdoc]

GreyOwl, That is a great looking card. It's kind of unfortunate that she's got a gun in the picture and is a range on on the care.

[IAmBatman]

I'd say the font looks darn good just about everywhere there except the Left Box and the Life box (which looks just a tad too small).
The "Medium" in particular is far too small. I usually use "Arial Black" for mine, which isn't perfect, but comes close.
The font on the special abilities and her name, in particular, look dead on.
Also, man, didn't realize Black Widow was smoking hot like that!

[GreyOwl]

GreyOwl, That is a great looking card. It's kind of unfortunate that she's got a gun in the picture and is a range on on the care.
Well, the card isn't complete. Actually while I was posting that, I was thinking "she should have a range more thans 1". So I'll probably change that.


I'd say the font looks darn good just about everywhere there except the Left Box and the Life box (which looks just a tad too small).
The "Medium" in particular is far too small. I usually use "Arial Black" for mine, which isn't perfect, but comes close.
The font on the special abilities and her name, in particular, look dead on.
Also, man, didn't realize Black Widow was smoking hot like that!

I'll try to make those changes to see how it looks. And yeah, she's hot. :)

EDIT: Okay, I updated the post above with the new image (you may need to hit "Refresh" in case it's cached). I also updated the same post with the new font size information. How is it now?

I love how everyone on this forum give useful suggestions. I learn a lot and my customs get better! :D :D

So since we're improving fonts, here's a sample of a classic HS custom:

Figure Name: HelveticaNeue LT 67 MdCn, 9 pt.
Faction: HelveticaNeue LT 67 MdCn, 6 pt.
Species, Class, Personality, etc.: HelveticaNeue LT 67 MdCn, 7 pt.
Size and Height: HelveticaNeue LT 67 MdCn, 10 pt.
Ability Names: HelveticaNeue LT 67 MdCn, Bold, 6 pt.
Ability Text: HelveticaNeue LT 57 Cn, 6 pt.
Stats: HelveticaNeue LT 67 MdCn, Bold, 11 pt.
Life: HelveticaNeue LT 67 MdCn, 12 pt.
Points: HelveticaNeue LT 67 MdCn, 11 pt.

http://www.hiddendragon.com/hs_customs/fontsampleclassic.png
http://www.hiddendragon.com/hs_customs/fontsampleclassic-back.png

[IAmBatman]

The other stuff in the left box on Black Widow's card look much better - everything except the Medium, which should be larger than the rest of it.

[GreyOwl]

The other stuff in the left box on Black Widow's card look much better - everything except the Medium, which should be larger than the rest of it.

Okay, how about now? It's at an 8 pt. font now. If I go to 9 pt., the word "medium" doesn't fit in the red area anymore.

I just checked the Red Skull card. It seems like the size is not bigger, but in bold while the other stuff in the left box is not. I'll give that a try and see how it looks.

EDIT: Here is the alternate version. Compare it to the one above.
This one is different for these areas:
Species, Class, Personality, etc.: HelveticaNeue LT 67 MdCn, 7 pt.
Size.: HelveticaNeue LT 67 MdCn, Bold, 7 pt.
Height: HelveticaNeue LT 67 MdCn, Bold, 16 pt.


http://www.hiddendragon.com/hs_customs/fontsample_alternate.png

[whitestuff]

I wanted to see how closely the HelveticaNeue would fit on my card when compared to originals.

I recreated a special ability on my card then superimposed the original over the top so I could see which size (67 or 77) I needed to use when I discovered that the text doesn't match up 100%.

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb279/bwhit89/kerning.jpg

Does Hasbro mess with the kerning of the words as well?

[GreyOwl]

I wanted to see how closely the HelveticaNeue would fit on my card when compared to originals.

I recreated a special ability on my card then superimposed the original over the top so I could see which size (67 or 77) I needed to use when I discovered that the text doesn't match up 100%.

Does Hasbro mess with the kerning of the words as well?

Yes, I believe they do. Not only kerning, but spread and probably other settings as well. If you happen to figure out what they are, please share. :) So which font worked best? I thought the ability text was 57, but I never superimposed it like you did.

[whitestuff]

I wanted to see how closely the HelveticaNeue would fit on my card when compared to originals.

I recreated a special ability on my card then superimposed the original over the top so I could see which size (67 or 77) I needed to use when I discovered that the text doesn't match up 100%.

Does Hasbro mess with the kerning of the words as well?

Yes, I believe they do. Not only kerning, but spread and probably other settings as well. If you happen to figure out what they are, please share. :) So which font worked best? I thought the ability text was 57, but I never superimposed it like you did.
The text in the pic that I used was 77 for the heading and 57 for the ability description.
As for the kerning, well to make it fit exactly the first line in the ability needs to be +10 but the second line needs to be -5. The third line needs to be about 21 but the word 'roll' still doesn't fit. The fourth line is 26 and the last is 20. I have no idea why this is so all over the place. :(
The vert spacing fits best with 37 instead of auto.
Using those whacked out settings, it looks like this,
http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb279/bwhit89/heroscape/k1.jpg

You can see the fuzzy edges of the original card poking it head out (the original card is upsized due to the fact that the size I normally use for customs is quite large)
Beats me how they do it consistently.

:)

[GreyOwl]

That sounds like kerning may not be setting they're changing, since I doubt they make it different per line. You might try the spread or maybe one of the other fonts 47, 67, etc. to see any of them line up better.

[GreyOwl]

Okay, I did some research using whitestuff's method of superimposing text over the scanned image and trying to get it to line up. For the most, it worked pretty well although it isn't 100% correct. But is close enough that a printout doesn't look any different and the text typed from official card wraps in the same place and fits.

The general conclusion is that not all cards are the same. The font size changes depending on which card you're talking about, in some areas. Other areas are consistently the same. For my example, I used "Raelin the Kyrie Warrior" and "Nakita Agents". I'll do Marvel cards once I get the set and get high-resolution scans.


What's the Same
Figure name (both sides of card)
HelveticaNeue LT 67 MdCn, 10.5 pt kerning expand 0.4 pt, line spacing at 0.75

Faction/General Name
HelveticaNeue LT 67 MdCn, 6.5 pt, kerning condense 0.1 pt

Left Box (Species, Class, Personality, Unique/Common, Hero/Squad)
HelveticaNeue LT 67 MdCn, 7 pt, kerning expand 0.05 pt

Size and Height
HelveticaNeue LT 67 MdCn, 10 pt, kerning expand 0.1 pt

Move, Range, Attack, Defense
HelveticaNeue LT 67 MdCn, 11.5 pt, Bold

Points
HelveticaNeue LT 67 MdCn, 12 pt, Bold, kerning expand 0.1 pt

Realm/Planet Name
HelveticaNeue LT 67 MdCn, 8 pt, kerning expand 0.2 pt

Wave Name
HelveticaNeue LT 57 Cn, 8 pt, kerning 0, line spacing 0 pt before

Figure Number(s)
HelveticaNeue LT 57 Cn, 8 pt, kerning condense 0.15 pt, line spacing 0 pt before

Copyright
HelveticaNeue LT 57 Cn, 6 pt, kerning expand 0.1 pt


What's Different
Life
HelveticaNeue LT 97 BlackCn, 14 pt (Raelin)
HelveticaNeue LT 97 BlackCn, 15 pt (Nakita Agents)

Special Ability Name
HelveticaNeue LT 67 MdCn, 8 pt, kerning expand 0.05 pt, 10 pt line spacing before all but the first (Raelin)
HelveticaNeue LT 67 MdCn, 7 pt, kerning expand 0.05 pt, 6 pt line spacing before all but the first (Nakita Agents)

Special Ability Text
HelveticaNeue LT 57 Cn, 8 pt, kerning expand 0.05 pt, line spacing 1.11 (Raelin)
HelveticaNeue LT 57 Cn, 7 pt, kerning condense 0.01 pt, line spacing 0.93 (Nakita Agents)

So what I'm thinking for the ones that are different is that they're using some sort of "autofit", where the font size, line spacing, and kerning are automatically adjust to fit the text in a standard size box. There is also probably a maximum (most like the settings for Raelin) so that card with little info don't get a huge font. I don't know what tools most people use for their customs, so this feature may or may not be available. I use MS Publisher and it has an autofit, but I'm not sure if you can specific a max size or not.

I may draw up a diagram showing this info, for easy reference. But I'll wait on feedback from others before making it, just in case. :)

EDIT: I updated the sample Einar card above using all of these font settings.

[johnny139]

I have a file that I use. It's far from official, but it looks pretty good, if I do say so myself. :D

[whitestuff]

EDIT: I updated the sample Einar card above using all of these font settings.
Great work on the text sizes, spacing etc. :thumbsup:

The only problem with Einar card is that there are hyphen breaks in a couple of the words. None of the originals have hyphens do they? :?:

[GreyOwl]

Check Raelin's card. I thought the hyphens weren't there in the originals, too. But it turns they use them. That's why I turned that feature on. Oh, and MS Publisher does have a way to autosize the text but set a maximum size, so it's pretty easy to set up a template to do it the right way.

EDIT: Publisher lets you set how often it automatically hyphenates, when you choose do so. I'll set it to do it less often so it doesn't happen all the time. :) I changed the Einar card above so it shows the new settings, and also included the back of the card so you could see the fonts on that side as well.

[allskulls]

(Brought this over here to keep the TNT focused on the custom on trial.)

I've been meaning to ask, allskulls, what fonts and sizes do you use? I use arial/arial narrow, but yours look better.
Arial Narrow Bold / Arial Narrow :wink:

I am mostly reffering to the ability text. I use arial narrow size 10, but the text seems to come out a bit squished together. Yours seems to have the letters spaced a bit better.

My card:
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r253/Firemaster_M/Marvel%20Customs/CyclopsCard.jpg

Your card:
http://www.heroscapers.com/oldgallery/albums/userpics/Magneto.jpg

They actually look the same to me. I use the biggest size that will fit on the card nicely. Don't remember what this one is but the largest font size I have used for the ability text is 14.

[Firemaster]

14? Hmmm... do you input the text into a larger blank, and then resize it smaller after the text is done or something?

[GreyOwl]

The difference in spacing between the letters could possibly be due to how you convert your final image to a JPEG (or whatever format). I've noticed that if I convert using different programs (Photoshop, Publisher, etc.), the fonts look a little different. Also, different compression settings for JPEG will affect how text looks a lot more significantly than the rest of the image.

[allskulls]

14? Hmmm... do you input the text into a larger blank, and then resize it smaller after the text is done or something?
I work everything in Photoshop in a large file then flatten and resize the whole image together. That should not alter the font's relative size to the rest of the image though.

[whitestuff]

I work everything in Photoshop in a large file then flatten and resize the whole image together. That should not alter the font's relative size to the rest of the image though.
Ditto. You get to work with finer detail when the image is large. Resizing is easy enough. I always find the speed custom contests difficult due to the small size of the pics used for characters.

[GreyOwl]

Now that I have my Marvelscape cards, here is all the font info. I put the classic HS ones here, too, for easy reference. I'll also post the classic HS settings in their custom forum, since some of them may not read this section.

+/- refers to kerning. + means expand and - means contract. If this is missing, then the kerning is zero.

<-> refers to stretch. Usually it is less than 100%, which really means compress. This is horizontal only.

Autosized means the values given are the maximum. If the text doesn't fit, it is automatically scaled down to fit. You need a program that will let you autosize with maximum settings to do this right.



Classic Heroscape

Figure name (both sides of card)
HelveticaNeue LT 67 MdCn, 10.5 pt, +0.4 pt, line spacing at 0.8 pt

Faction/General Name
HelveticaNeue LT 67 MdCn, 6.5 pt, -0.1 pt

Left Box (Species, Class, Personality, Unique/Common, Hero/Squad)
HelveticaNeue LT 67 MdCn, 7 pt, +0.05 pt

Size and Height
HelveticaNeue LT 67 MdCn, 10 pt, +0.1 pt

Move, Range, Attack, Defense
HelveticaNeue LT 67 MdCn, 11.5 pt, Bold

Points
HelveticaNeue LT 67 MdCn, 12 pt, Bold, +0.1 pt

Realm/Planet Name
HelveticaNeue LT 67 MdCn, 8 pt, +0.2 pt

Wave Name
HelveticaNeue LT 57 Cn, 8 pt, line spacing 0 pt before

Figure Number(s)
HelveticaNeue LT 57 Cn, 8 pt, -0.15 pt, line spacing 0 pt before

Copyright
HelveticaNeue LT 57 Cn, 6 pt, +0.1 pt

Life
HelveticaNeue LT 67 MdCn, 14 pt, Bold, <->110% (Autosized)

Special Ability Name
HelveticaNeue LT 67 MdCn, 8 pt, +0.05 pt, 10 pt line spacing before all but the first (Autosized)

Special Ability Text
HelveticaNeue LT 57 Cn, 8 pt, +0.05 pt, line spacing 1.11 (Autosized)



Marvel Heroscape

Figure name (both sides of card)
HelveticaNeue LT 67 MdCn, 10.5 pt, +0.4 pt, line spacing at 0.8 pt

Left Box (Species, Class, Personality, Unique/Common, Hero/Squad)
HelveticaNeue LT 67 MdCn, 8 pt, +0.04 pt, <-> 90%

Size
HelveticaNeue LT 67 MdCn, 8 pt, Bold, +0.15 pt, <-> 90%

Height
HelveticaNeue LT 67 MdCn, 20 pt, -0.1 pt, <-> 90%

Move, Range, Attack, Defense
HelveticaNeue LT 67 MdCn, 16.8 pt, Bold

Points
HelveticaNeue LT 67 MdCn, 15 pt, Bold, -0.4 pt, <-> 90%

Life
HelveticaNeue LT 67 MdCn, 17.5 pt, Bold, -0.4 pt, <->110% (Autosized)

Special Ability Name
HelveticaNeue LT 67 MdCn, 8 pt, +0.05 pt, 10 pt line spacing before all but the first (Autosized)

Special Ability Text
HelveticaNeue LT 57 Cn, 8 pt, +0.05 pt, line spacing 1.11 (Autosized)

Realm/Planet Name
HelveticaNeue LT 67 MdCn, 8 pt, +0.2 pt

Wave Name
HelveticaNeue LT 57 Cn, 7 pt, -0.1, line spacing 2 pt before

Figure Number(s)
HelveticaNeue LT 57 Cn, 7 pt, -0.1 pt, line spacing 2 pt before

Copyright
HelveticaNeue LT 57 Cn, 6 pt

[johnny139]

Hmm...

This is a bit of a thread necromance, but I have to ask - is there any alternative to HelveticaNeue? I ask because my computer doesn't have it, and it costs about $25 dollars... and to be honest, I don't really want to spend $25 on a font.

So, is there any close alternative?

[whitestuff]

Hmm...

This is a bit of a thread necromance, but I have to ask - is there any alternative to HelveticaNeue? I ask because my computer doesn't have it, and it costs about $25 dollars... and to be honest, I don't really want to spend $25 on a font.

So, is there any close alternative?I personally feel that Arial Narrow is pretty close.

[IAmBatman]

Arial narrow works well enough for me. But my cards are hardly identical to the official ones.

[allskulls]

Official smicial. Just make dem cards readable and pretty like :D

[IAmBatman]

Oh crap, and here I was going for balanced, representative, and fun to play! :P

[GreyOwl]

Oh crap, and here I was going for balanced, representative, and fun to play! :P

None of that matters, as long as they're pur-ty. Just like real life! :)

[Rocktroll]

I tried making my first card last night


Was doing each text seperately in PAINT , yes yes I know, I dont have Photoshop

I noticed that some parts like the abilities kinda looked like you could use Arial Narrow but other parts like the Figures Name, Numbers for stats, names of the abilities, all those would look wrong if you used that same font

Im trying to use the search feature to find out the correct size of the card in inches so I can print them out and the correct size of fonts for each section ( I know it depends on the size blank Im using) and what fonts I should use for each part to try get it to look per-dey

[GreyOwl]

The cards are 4.85 inches across. The font sizes vary for most things on the card. The official cards use autosizing so the spacing, kerning, font size, etc. is different on each card. The titles are usually the same size, but the ability text is not.