I'm looking for a free font which, rather than being similar to Helvetica, is less dense but without taking any more space.

Our Cathedral's order of service is currently set in Helvetica 16pt on an 18pt leading. (It is read in a relatively poorly lit environment by parishoners with variable eyesight!). While individual lines have good legibility, longer paragraphs look horribly dense and it is easy to lose your place in them.

Space is strictly limited (the boss has set a limit of a 12-page A5 booklet) so we can't increase leading.
I figure I need a good legible body font with a smaller x-height but the same width as Helvetica. We do use bold and italic in places, so a full family is needed.

Since we occasionally publish content in te reo Maori, it would be a bonus if the font included vowels with macrons.

We use Linux and MacOS only. (I'm on Linux)

Alas, the church does not have a budget for commercial fonts.

Thanks in advance
Richard

Arial ?

open sans ?
http://www.google.com/fonts/specimen/Open+Sans

roboto ?
http://www.google.com/fonts/specimen/Roboto

Why must it be a sans? For body text serifs are generally better.
To those who would like to comment, yes, I know the long list of exceptions to the rule

The font with one of the best legibility is Verdana (standard Windows).
Try it.

@Menhir : also slightly larger

Why, downunder, do you think that newspapers are using serifs? Why are books printed with serifs? Why are most of all magazines printed using serifs? That is because of readability. So TaranakiCathedral, seriously consider a serif.
Here text in the Helvetica, 16pt leading 20%.



Yes, indeed, it does look a bit dense and it is easy to lose your place. But that is common with many sans serifs which only allow for narrow columns.

To see what happens with a serif, here an example with a very common font that also came with your Mac, the Garamond. The small x-height of this type allows for less leading and a larger size to occupy the same space as the Helvetica example above, 18 point, 10% leading. One note, Garamond does not really work well on screen. This superstar crys out for paper and ink.



I think you really should try this and then look at the results in the poorly lit church.

Success

Thanks for the ideas so far - some good suggestions. (apart from Verdana which would exacerbate the problem, having a greater x height and width, not to mention being Windows).
When I'm next at work I shall try both open sans (already on my system) and Garamond.
I can cope with poor screen performance - the Helvetica density problem is considerably worse on screen than in print, and it's always a relief to see that the final result isn't as bad as the preview.

Does anyone know of a Linux equivalent for Garamond if I can't get Garamond itself?

Richard

Readers, take note of the fact that thekat DOES provide clear, informed and direct answers, when a clear, informed and direct question is asked. It's only when someone makes a vague, obtuse, "touchy-feely" inquiry, where a game of 20 questions needs to be played before the true nature of the question can be determined, that he acts like a dick.

Linux does not come with fonts as it is a mix of modules from different sources. But you work with a Mac so you will have a Garamond version on your Mac, at least the Apple Garamond.
Yet, it does not need to be a Garamond, there are plenty of high quality serifs available - also free ones - that can do the job. I only took the Garamond as an example as it comes with most operating systems.

Only joined in into this thread because if you want people to get an emotional feeling with a printed message a sans - whatever the technical quality of the font - is not the best thing to do.

Even Linuxians have all at least one friend using Windows that can provide a standard font.

not a friend, an acquaintance