@font-face
The @font-face
CSS at-rule specifies a custom font with which to display text; the font can be loaded from either a remote server or a locally-installed font on the user's own computer.
Syntax
css
@font-face {
font-family: "Trickster";
src: local("Trickster"),
url("trickster-COLRv1.otf") format("opentype") tech(color-COLRv1), url("trickster-outline.otf")
format("opentype"), url("trickster-outline.woff") format("woff");
}
Descriptors
ascent-override
-
Defines the ascent metric for the font.
descent-override
-
Defines the descent metric for the font.
font-display
-
Determines how a font face is displayed based on whether and when it is downloaded and ready to use.
font-family
-
Specifies a name that will be used as the font face value for font properties.
font-stretch
-
A
font-stretch
value. Accepts two values to specify a range that is supported by a font-face, for examplefont-stretch: 50% 200%;
font-style
-
A
font-style
value. Accepts two values to specify a range that is supported by a font-face, for examplefont-style: oblique 20deg 50deg;
font-weight
-
A
font-weight
value. Accepts two values to specify a range that is supported by a font-face, for examplefont-weight: 100 400;
Note: The font-variant descriptor was removed from the specification in 2018. The
font-variant
value property is supported, but there is no descriptor equivalent. font-feature-settings
-
Allows control over advanced typographic features in OpenType fonts.
font-variation-settings
-
Allows low-level control over OpenType or TrueType font variations, by specifying the four letter axis names of the features to vary, along with their variation values.
line-gap-override
-
Defines the line gap metric for the font.
size-adjust
-
Defines a multiplier for glyph outlines and metrics associated with this font. This makes it easier to harmonize the designs of various fonts when rendered at the same font size.
src
-
Specifies references to font resources including hints about the font format and technology. It is required for the @font-face rule to be valid.
unicode-range
-
The range of Unicode code points to be used from the font.
Description
It's common to use both url()
and local()
together, so that the user's installed copy of the font is used if available, falling back to downloading a copy of the font if it's not found on the user's device.
If the local()
function is provided, specifying a font name to look for on the user's device, and if the user agent finds a match, that local font is used. Otherwise, the font resource specified using the url()
function is downloaded and used.
Browsers attempt to load resources in their list declaration order, so usually local()
should be written before url()
. Both functions are optional, so a rule block containing only one or more local()
without url()
is possible.
If a more specific fonts with format()
or tech()
values are desired, these should be listed before versions that don't have these values, as the less-specific variant would otherwise be tried and used first.
By allowing authors to provide their own fonts, @font-face
makes it possible to design content without being limited to the so-called "web-safe" fonts (that is, the fonts which are so common that they're considered to be universally available). The ability to specify the name of a locally-installed font to look for and use makes it possible to customize the font beyond the basics while making it possible to do so without relying on an internet connection.
Note: Fallback strategies for loading fonts on older browsers are described in the src
descriptor page.
The @font-face
at-rule may be used not only at the top level of a CSS, but also inside any CSS conditional-group at-rule.
Font MIME Types
Format | MIME type |
---|---|
TrueType | font/ttf |
OpenType | font/otf |
Web Open Font Format | font/woff |
Web Open Font Format 2 | font/woff2 |
Notes
- Web fonts are subject to the same domain restriction (font files must be on the same domain as the page using them), unless HTTP access controls are used to relax this restriction.
@font-face
cannot be declared within a CSS selector. For example, the following will not work:css
.className { @font-face { font-family: "MyHelvetica"; src: local("Helvetica Neue Bold"), local("HelveticaNeue-Bold"), url("MgOpenModernaBold.ttf"); font-weight: bold; } }
Formal syntax
@font-face =
@font-face { <declaration-list> }
Examples
Specifying a downloadable font
This example specifies a downloadable font to use, applying it to the entire body of the document:
html
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en-US">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8" />
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width" />
<title>Web Font Sample</title>
<style media="screen, print">
@font-face {
font-family: "Bitstream Vera Serif Bold";
src: url("https://mdn.github.io/css-examples/web-fonts/VeraSeBd.ttf");
}
body {
font-family: "Bitstream Vera Serif Bold", serif;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
This is Bitstream Vera Serif Bold.
</body>
</html>
The output of this example code looks like so:
Specifying local font alternatives
In this example, the user's local copy of "Helvetica Neue Bold" is used; if the user does not have that font installed (both the full font name and the Postscript name are tried), then the downloadable font named "MgOpenModernaBold.ttf" is used instead:
css
@font-face {
font-family: "MyHelvetica";
src: local("Helvetica Neue Bold"), local("HelveticaNeue-Bold"),
url("MgOpenModernaBold.ttf");
font-weight: bold;
}
Specifications
Specification |
---|
CSS Fonts Module Level 4 # font-face-rule |
Browser compatibility
BCD tables only load in the browser