The package contains the most recent version of the TeX Gyre Heros family of fonts in the PostScript Type 1 and OpenType formats. TeX Gyre Heros is based on the URW Nimbus Sans L kindly released by URW++ Design and Development Inc. under GFL (independently of the GPL release accompanying Ghostscript). The Vietnamese glyphs were added by Han The Thanh.

TeX Gyre Heros can be used as a replacement for a popular font Helvetica, also known as Swiss (prepared by Max Miedinger with Eduard Hoffmann, 1957, at the Haas Type Foundry).