font-stretch

The font-stretch CSS property selects a normal, condensed, or expanded face from a font.

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Syntax

css

/* Keyword values */
font-stretch: ultra-condensed;
font-stretch: extra-condensed;
font-stretch: condensed;
font-stretch: semi-condensed;
font-stretch: normal;
font-stretch: semi-expanded;
font-stretch: expanded;
font-stretch: extra-expanded;
font-stretch: ultra-expanded;

/* Percentage values */
font-stretch: 50%;
font-stretch: 100%;
font-stretch: 200%;

/* Global values */
font-stretch: inherit;
font-stretch: initial;
font-stretch: revert;
font-stretch: revert-layer;
font-stretch: unset;

This property may be specified as a single keyword value or a single <percentage> value.

Values

normal

Specifies a normal font face.

semi-condensed, condensed, extra-condensed, ultra-condensed

Specifies a more condensed font face than normal, with ultra-condensed as the most condensed.

semi-expanded, expanded, extra-expanded, ultra-expanded

Specifies a more expanded font face than normal, with ultra-expanded as the most expanded.

<percentage>

A <percentage> value between 50% and 200% (inclusive). Negative values are not allowed for this property.

Keyword to numeric mapping

The table below shows the mapping between keyword values and numeric percentages:

Keyword Percentage
ultra-condensed 50%
extra-condensed 62.5%
condensed 75%
semi-condensed 87.5%
normal 100%
semi-expanded 112.5%
expanded 125%
extra-expanded 150%
ultra-expanded 200%

Description

Some font families offer additional faces in which the characters are narrower than the normal face (condensed faces) or wider than the normal face (expanded faces).

You can use font-stretch to select a condensed or expanded face from such fonts. If the font you are using does not offer condensed or expanded faces, this property has no effect.

Font face selection

The face selected for a given value of font-stretch depends on the faces supported by the font in question. If the font does not provide a face that exactly matches the given value, then values less than 100% map to a narrower face, and values greater than or equal to 100% map to a wider face.

The table below demonstrates the effect of supplying various different percentage values of font-stretch on two different fonts:

  • Anek Malayalam is a variable google font that supports widths from 75% to 125%. Values below and above this range select the closest matching font.
  • Inconsolata is a variable font that offers a continuous range of widths from 50% to 200%.

Formal definition

Initial valuenormal
Applies toall elements. It also applies to ::first-letter and ::first-line.
Inheritedyes
Computed valueas specified
Animation typea font stretch

Formal syntax

font-stretch = 
normal |
<percentage [0,∞]> |
ultra-condensed |
extra-condensed |
condensed |
semi-condensed |
semi-expanded |
expanded |
extra-expanded |
ultra-expanded

Examples

Setting font stretch percentages

Specifications

Specification
CSS Fonts Module Level 4
# font-stretch-prop

Note: The font-stretch property was initially defined in CSS 2, but dropped in CSS 2.1 due to the lack of browser implementation. It was brought back in CSS 3.

Browser compatibility

BCD tables only load in the browser

See also