Here are some thoughts about templates and font selection. Perhaps I thought about it a bit too long, because the mail got a bit long-winded, but I hope you'll endure it. There are several levels of font selection in LaTeX. At the bottom there is the primitive TeX level, where fonts are specified through TFM file names. On top of that, there is the NFSS level where fonts are specified using attributes (encoding, family, series, shape, size, and once NFSS3 is released case). On top of that, there is what I will call the author level (since that is the lowest normal authors are expected to go), where fonts are selected using commands such as \textit, \small, and \bfseries. On top of that, finally, is the markup level where fonts are indirectly selected by the markup commands. The template.dtx file contains a couple of examples of how some template keys can contain the font selections made by the template, so that in a sense the markup level to author level mapping of fonts is controlled through templates. The point I would like to make is that the author level to NFSS level mapping should perhaps also be controlled through templates; at least it might solve some problems with the current state of things. These problems generally stem from that macros that make author level font selections are usually unaware (i.e., the one who wrote them were, and they make no attempt to examine) of the actual situation at the lower level, so one should be prepared to make compromises while mapping the selections to the NFSS level. In the current setting however, this mapping stays fixed throughout a document and can only be (responsibly) changed by code which take complete responsibility for all document fonts. Since there usually isn't any such code, except in classes that are specially designed for certain fonts, font implementors have taken the only option they have---modifying the NFSS to TeX level mapping so that it suits the standard settings---since that is under each font implementor's control. I think it's the wrong way to go however, and problems certainly do arise when a font family has a bx series, but it is the b series which should be used for normal boldface. One way to use templates for getting around this is to define a template for "author fonts", something like \DeclareTemplateType{noparams}{0} \DeclareTemplate {noparams}{author-fonts}{0}{ medium =n [m] \mddefault, boldface =n [b] \bfdefault, light =n [m] \ltdefault, upright =n [n] \urdefault, italic =n [it] \itdefault, slanted =n [sl] \sldefault, smallcaps =n [sc] \scdefault }{\DoParameterAssignments} (Or perhaps author-fonts should be a type and the template should be named default or something. I'm not sure, but it seems odd that all templates without parameters (i.e., having type noparams in the above setting) should always be affected by the same \UseCollection commands.) Now if FD files are allowed to declare instances of this template, one could use those to specify which values the \XXdefault macros should have when the current font family is declared by that file. ot1cmr.fd would for example say \DeclareInstance{noparams}{OT1cmr}{author-fonts}{boldface=bx} since it (unlike most font families) has bx as its standard boldface series. The AvantGarde (pag) family has a weight named "Extra Light" (el) but no light weight, and has obliques but no italic or smallcaps. Hence t1pag.fd would say \DeclareInstance{noparams}{T1pag}{author-fonts}% {light=el,italic=sl,smallcaps=n} And so on. The reason I took m as the default for light above is that I suspect most families don't have a light series. Of course, this requires that this template (or an instance of it) is used each time the family is changed. Hence the definition of \rmfamily should become something like %A (see below about this) \IfExistsInstanceTF{noparams}{\f@encoding\rmdefault}% {\UseInstance{noparams}{\f@encoding\rmdefault}}% {\UseInstance{noparams}{author-fonts}}% \fontfamily{\rmdefault}% %B (see below about this) \selectfont but I think that is reasonable. At this point one may think that this turns the power over author to NFSS level mapping completely over to font implementors, so that class designers are left without a saying in this, but that is not the case. Everything a class designer who is creating a class for use with a fixed set of fonts has to do to resume control over for example what is the standard boldface series, is to create collection instances for the font families in question and then \Use that collection throughout the document. A user who tries to use the specialized class with fonts it wasn't made for will however see the default settings for those fonts. Hence it works out for the best either way! The reasons for the %A and %B in the suggested \rmfamily definition above do however add a complication. The problem is that when changing from from one family to another using an author level font selection command, you expect the author level font selections of series and shape to be preserved, not the NFSS level selections, and hence one must (i) remember the author level font selections and (ii) map them anew each time the family is changed. Supposing that the \XXdefault macro for author level series and shape are stored in \author@f@series and \author@f@shape respectively, a command like \bfseries would have to be given the definition \fontseries{\bfdefault}\selectfont \def\author@f@series{\bfdefault}% and the %B line above would have to be replaced by \fontseries{\author@f@series}% \fontshape{\author@f@shape}% The %A line is because of another technicality. If the author's last font selection was at the NFSS level then it is more reasonable to expect the NFSS series or shape to be preserved; this can be done by including \expandafter\ifx \author@f@series \f@series \else \def\author@f@series{\f@series}% \fi \expandafter\ifx \author@f@shape \f@shape \else \def\author@f@shape{\f@shape}% \fi (I suspect there is some better command for doing these tests somewhere in the experimental LaTeX3 code) at the %A line above. Finally, one also has to make sure that the FD file in question is loaded before the \IfExistsInstanceTF test is made (otherwise the fonts might come out wrong the first time they are selected). Hence one would also have to do some kind of \EnsureFDFileLoaded{\f@encoding}{\rmdefault} (where the hypothetical \EnsureFDFileLoaded would be very similar to the existing \try@load@fontshape macro---just add a group and don't use \f@encoding and \f@family to pass data) at the end of %A. A final thought connected to this: I considered having emphasis (default value it) and it-emphasis (default value n) keys in the author-fonts template as well, but now it seems more like selecting fonts for emphasising text is something which belongs in the markup level. In any case however, LaTeX2e* shouldn't have these shapes hardwired into the command, as they are in LaTeX2e. Lars Hellström