Last updated August 9, 2007
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Chinese Fonts

Chinese fonts are sometimes a bit difficult to find so this page aims to help!

First of all, Windows users: to install fonts, you just need to copy the font file into your Windows "Fonts" folder.  Most of the download links on this page are in the form of zipped archives, so you will need some kind of "unzip" program too.  There are many free programs that will do this,  just search Google.

If you a beginner, the different styles of script can sometimes cause confusion as stylised fonts can make it difficult to see how the strokes are supposed to be written.  For this reason I recommend downloading the free AR PL ShanHeiSun Uni font (links below)  and installing it on your system.

Once you have this font you can also choose to use it when you print out the Flashcards.

 
Here is an example of the difference between a stylised "computerised" font such as MingLiu compared to
a "script" type font.
The left-hand characters are in a modern style which is very easy to read on a computer screen.  The right-hand characters are in a handwriting style, which makes it much easier to see how the strokes are written.
For more examples of different styles of font please look at the Compound Words pages.
 

The site dictionary also shows the artistic AR PL ZenKai Uni font at the top of each entry.  For example, if you visit this page and have the correct fonts installed, you should see the following:

DB Character view example

Recommended Traditional Chinese Fonts

Please note, we are not responsible for external links, they may work, they may not.

MingLiu - This is my recommended font for viewing the Revision Sheets, as it is very clear to read "no nonsense" font.  Unfortunately, the only way of legally obtaining it now appears to be by enabling Traditional Chinese support in Windows.  Microsoft used to offer it for download but seem to have stopped being so generous... 
If you can't find it, never mind, use the freely available UMing font on this page instead.

AR PL ZenKai Uni (UKai.TTF) - a newly updated version of the old classic, AR PL KaitiM Big5 font - an excellent font which uses correct brush strokes - good for the Flashcards but not so good for the main Revision Sheets.  Apart from containing many missing glyphs, this new version also has both simplified and traditional characters contained within the one file.  Please see this thread for more details.
- Official FTP Download Link : ttf-arphic-ukai_0.0.20050501-1.tar.gz (9.77Mb)
- Our HTTP Mirror : ttf-arphic-ukai_0.0.20050501-1.tar.gz (9.77Mb)

AR PL ShanHeiSun Uni (UMing.TTF) - a freely available alternative to the somewhat hard to find Microsoft MingLiu font. Please see this thread for more details.
- Official FTP Download Link : ttf-arphic-uming_0.0.20050501-1.tar.gz (10.3Mb)
- Our HTTP Mirror : ttf-arphic-uming_0.0.20050501-1.tar.gz (10.3Mb)

Bitstream Cyberbit Font - I haven't used this, I think it is quite old.

AR PL KaitiM Big5 (OBSOLETE, use ZenKai Uni above)
- Official Download Link - this is the zip file directly from the Arphic website.

Hong Kong Supplementary Character set - Microsoft HKSCS download links.  Separate download for Win9x and Win2K/ WinXP.

Free Chinese Fonts - a small but nice collection of fonts

Chinese Computing - excellent technical resource for using Chinese on your computer.

 

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