How can one obtain true sans serif for the numeral 1?

Question

For the numeral 1, neither \textsf nor \mathsf provide true sans serif; there is always a pedestal. How can 1 be typeset in true sans serif?

Answer 1

Whether or not a sans-serif font features a "pedestal" for the numeral 1 is a design choice. The presence or absence of a pedestal does not make it a correct or incorrect sans-serif font.

Here are three examples each of sans serif fonts with and without a pedestal. I make no claim as to how representative these examples are, and I have no view as to which form may be "better".

% !TEX TS-program = lualatex
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{fontspec}
\setlength\parindent{0pt} % just for this example
\begin{document}
Some sans-serif fonts \emph{with} a ``pedestal'' for the numeral 1:

\smallskip
\setmainfont{Latin Modern Sans} 1 Latin Modern Sans \\
\setmainfont{Calibri} 1 Calibri\\
\setmainfont{Comic Sans MS} 1 Comic Sans MS

\bigskip
\rmfamily
\setmainfont{Latin Modern Roman}
Some sans-serif fonts \emph{without} such a pedestal:

\smallskip
\setmainfont{Helvetica Neue} 1 Helvetica Neue\\
\setmainfont{Myriad Pro} 1 Myriad Pro\\
\setmainfont{Palatino Sans Com Regular} 1 Palatino Sans Com Regular
\end{document}

Answer 2

This depends on the font used, not only on the \mathsf etc. command. If the font is a serif font, it does not provide sans serif style of the font of course. A sans serif (grotesque) font which does not have the 'pedestial', for example, is the standard Helvetica. I try to figure out more of those fonts.

\documentclass{article}


\usepackage[scaled=0.92]{helvet}

\begin{document}
Textfont, serif: 1

Textfont, sans serif: \textsf{1}%

Math font, still serif: \(\mathsf{1}\)

\end{document}

Answer 3

You can use Cabin, that looks fine with fourier (which can be complemented by heuristica or erewhon) if scaled. It exists in bold and semibold versions, and has true smallcaps and italic smallcaps.

The following code also defines it as the math sans font, adding a semibold version:

\documentclass[a4paper, 12pt]{article}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage{fourier}
\usepackage[scaled = 0.91]{cabin}
\usepackage{array}

\newcommand\sbseries{\fontseries{sb}\selectfont}
\newcommand\textsb[1]{{\sbseries#1}}

\DeclareMathVersion{semibold}
\DeclareMathAlphabet{\mathsf}{T1}{Cabin-TLF}{m}{n}
\SetMathAlphabet\mathsf{normal}{T1}{Cabin-TLF}{m}{n}
\SetMathAlphabet\mathsf{bold}{T1}{Cabin-TLF}{b}{n}
\SetMathAlphabet\mathsf{semibold}{T1}{Cabin-TLF}{sb}{n}
\newcommand\sboldmath{\mathversion{semibold}}
\pagestyle{empty}
\begin{document}

This is a ‘true’ one: \textsf{1.1011011101111…}\vskip1cm

 \begin{tabular}{@{}l@{\qquad}>{\sffamily}l@{\qquad}l}
  Cabin Regular & 1234567890 & $ \mathsf{e = 2.718 \dots} $ \\
Cabin Bold: & \textbf{1234567890} & \boldmath $ \mathsf{e = 2.718 \dots} $ \\
Cabin Semibold: & \textsb{1234567890} & \sboldmath $ \mathsf{e = 2.718 \dots} $
\end{tabular}

\end{document}