Free alternatives to Arial
Arial is not an open font. These open fonts come closest by measured letter widths, the property that decides whether text keeps its line breaks when the font is swapped. Arimo Regular has identical widths.
Closest open fonts to Arial
Measured on every printable character both fonts contain. A smaller difference means the same words take the same space, so lines break in the same places.
- Arimo Regularidentical letter widths (0 units)
- Arimo Mediumvery close widths (8.4 units)
- Arimo SemiBoldsimilar widths (16.8 units)
- Archivo Lightsimilar widths (18.9 units)
- Archivo Regularsimilar widths (19.3 units)
- Archivo Mediumsimilar widths (24 units)
- Archivo ExtraLightsimilar widths (24.4 units)
- Arimo Boldsimilar widths (25.1 units)
- Ramabhadra Regularsimilar widths (25.3 units)
- Archivo Thinsimilar widths (28.6 units)
Arial measured
| Average lowercase letter width | 489.6 units per 1000 em |
|---|---|
| Average capital letter width | 677.4 units per 1000 em |
| Word space | 277.8 units per 1000 em |
| Digits | tabular (every digit is 556.2 units wide, so columns of numbers line up) |
| Spacing | proportional |
| Width of i compared with m | 27% |
| Printable ASCII characters covered | 94 of 94 |
Editing a PDF that uses Arial
Most PDFs embed only the letters they already use. Type a new letter and many editors either refuse or swap in a different font. Arial is not freely available, so MythosPDF first uses every letter already embedded in your PDF. If a new letter is missing, it asks before using the closest open font listed here, and tells you which one it used.
Questions people ask
+What is the best free alternative to Arial?
By measured letter widths, Arimo Regular: identical letter widths (0 units per 1000 em). Identical widths mean a document keeps exactly the same line breaks.
+Can I edit a PDF that uses Arial without having it installed?
Yes. Where a PDF lacks a letter, MythosPDF can use a font with identical widths, so the layout does not move, and it tells you it did.
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