How it works
This newspaper font generator sets your words the three ways a front page does: blackletter for the name at the top, a sharp serif for the headline, narrow capitals for a banner line. It opens on a made-up paper in rough print on old paper.
Read the full guide
Name, headline, banner
UnifrakturMaguntia, UnifrakturCook and Pirata One are blackletter, for the name of the paper. Playfair Display, Abril Fatface, DM Serif Display and STIX Two Text are serifs with thick and thin strokes, for a headline. Oswald and Bebas Neue are narrow, for a banner; Bebas Neue has capitals only.
Make it fill the column
Under More options, set Shape to Every line full width: each line is scaled to the same width, the way a headline fills its column. Rough print roughens the edges like ink on cheap paper.
- Blackletter capitals are hard to read together. Type the paper's name with capitals and small letters, never all capitals.
- For a headline with a second line under it, press Enter between the two. The tool takes four lines.
Questions and answers
What is the name at the top of a front page called?
The nameplate in American English, the masthead in British English, and in the trade often the flag, as Wikipedia records. It is the paper's designed title, with lettering of its own.
Why do so many papers set their name in blackletter?
Wikipedia's article on blackletter lists newspaper nameplates among its modern uses, as a styling that "lends gravitas to the publication". The script itself is a medieval book hand.
Can I make a whole front page?
No. This draws one block of lettering, up to four lines and 120 characters: a name, a headline or a banner. Save several pictures and lay them out in a document to build a page.
Is any face here a real paper's own?
No. No paper is named and no paper's lettering is copied. The ready-made paper names are invented.