The design of a linear, reduced-order, continuous or discrete-time feedforward controller (FFC) is presented. The FFC is located in the reference value branch of a linear feedback system of any order which is designed according to the damping optimum. The aim of the FFC is to decrease the control system reference response time, while retaining a low overshoot and a well-damped form of the reference step response. This is achieved by locating the FFC zeros with the aid of the extended magnitude optimum, which is provided in the continuous or discrete-time variant. The influence of a suboptimally designed feedback system with a reduced-order feedback controller on feedforward control is analyzed. Reduced and full-order FFCs are compared.