Cour Font

Cour is a sans serif font designed by Howard Kettler and published by Monotype Typography (1994). Simple, open letter shapes keep it easy to read at almost any size, from app buttons to big headlines. It's a free download, and you can try it with your own text in the preview above first.

In the notes inside the font file, Howard Kettler describes it like this: “Designed as a typewriter face for IBM, Courier was re drawn by Adrian Frutiger for IBM Selectric series. A typical fixed pitch design, monotone in weight and slab serif in concept.”

Cour Font Details

• Designer: Howard Kettler
• Publisher: Monotype Typography
• Year: 1994 (from the copyright line in the font)
• Category: Sans serif font
• Font styles: 1 (Regular)
• Weight: Regular (400)
• Monospaced: Yes, every character has the same width
• Glyphs: 1,318
• Characters: A–Z, a–z, 0–9 and basic punctuation
• Languages: English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese and Italian, plus Greek, Cyrillic and Arabic characters
• OpenType features: Ligatures and start and end letter forms
• Extra characters: 63 copy-and-paste alternates (Private Use Area)
• Kerning: None in the file
• Version: 2.90
• Download: Free ZIP (178.0 KB) with one TTF file

What You Can Type With Cour

With complete upper and lowercase letters and all ten digits, Cour is ready for real wording, not just a single headline. Everyday marks like &, !, ? and @ are there too. Thanks to its accented letters, it also works for Spanish, French, German, Portuguese and Italian, not just English. On top of that, it includes Greek, Cyrillic and Arabic characters.

How to Use the Alternate Letters in Cour

Its 63 alternates are stored as separate characters, so you can copy them from Character Map on Windows or Font Book on a Mac and paste them anywhere, including Cricut Design Space and Canva. Its ligatures switch on by themselves in most design apps: certain letter pairs join into one specially drawn shape. Every character takes the same width, so columns, tables and code line up perfectly.

Where Cour Works Best

Designers usually reach for fonts like Cour when they're making websites, app screens and clean logos. The file has no kerning data, so in logos and big titles check pairs like AV, To and Wa and tighten the spacing by hand. It works for headings and body text alike. If the download has several weights, use a heavier one for titles and a lighter one for paragraphs.

More Fonts by Howard Kettler

DafontStyle has one more font by Howard Kettler:

• Courier New Font

Cour Font FAQs

Is Cour font free to download?

Yes, Cour is a free download here (free ZIP (178.0 KB) with one TTF file), no sign-up needed. For commercial projects, read the license note on this page first, since that's set by the designer.

Who designed Cour font?

Cour was designed by Howard Kettler and published by Monotype Typography. The copyright line inside the font is dated 1994. You can find one more font by Howard Kettler on DafontStyle, linked above.

How do I install Cour on Windows or Mac?

Unzip the download first. On Windows, right-click the font file and choose Install. On a Mac, double-click it and click Install Font. The ZIP contains TTF files, which work on Windows, Mac, Cricut and almost every app. Restart any app that was already open so it picks up Cour.

How do I get the alternate letters and swashes in Cour?

The 63 alternates are separate characters, so copy them from Character Map on Windows or Font Book on a Mac and paste them into your text. This works in Cricut Design Space and Canva too.

Can I use Cour in Canva and Cricut?

Canva lets you upload it on Pro, Teams and other plans with font uploads (Brand Kit > Upload a font); free accounts can't upload fonts. For Cricut Design Space, install it on your computer first and it shows up under System fonts.

Does Cour support accented letters?

Yes. Cour includes the accented letters needed for Spanish, French, German, Portuguese and Italian, so it works for more than just English.

Is Cour monospaced?

Yes. Every character has the same width, which makes it a good choice for code, tables and anything that needs to line up.

What fonts pair well with Cour?

For more contrast, pair it with a serif like Playfair Display or Merriweather in your headings.