The following is a list of font heights (in pixels) for some of the Macintosh’s most popular fonts. A font’s height for any font can be determined by calling GetFontInfo and adding Ascent + Descent + Leading. Please note that these numbers are for reference purposes only.
Font Name 9 10 12 14 16 18 20 24 36 pts
------------- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Athens 23
Cairo 26
Chicago 16
Courier 11 12 12 15 18 23
Geneva 12 13 16 19 23 24 29
Helvetica 11 12 14 18 25
London 23
Los Angeles 16 29
Monaco 11 16
New York 12 12 16 19 23 24 29 40
San Francisco 23
Times 11 12 12 15 19 24
Venice 19
Note: Font heights can vary depending on whose fonts you use. With bit-
mapped, TrueType and PostScript fonts being available, as well as
the proliferation of suppliers, it is possible that one
Macintosh’s Helvetica 12pt may have a different height than
another’s.
It’s a good habit to rely on the Macintosh’s core set of fonts:
Chicago 12pt, Geneva 9pt, and Monaco 9pt wherever possible.