CSS3 Fonts

CSS3 @font-face Rule

Before CSS3, web designers had to use fonts that were already installed on the user's computer.

With CSS3, web designers can use whatever font he/she likes.

When you have found/bought the font you wish to use, simply include the font file in the web site, and it will be downloaded automatically to the user when needed.

You will have to describe your selected font with the new CSS3 @font-face rule.

In the @font-face rule you define a name for the font, and the URL to the font file:

Example

@font-face { font-family:myFirstFont; src:url(Sansation_Light.ttf); }

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Browser Support

Property	Browser Support
@font-face

Internet Explorer does not yet support the @font-face rule.

Firefox, Chrome, Safari, and Opera support the @font-face rule.

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Using The New Font

To use the new font, add "myFirstFont" as the value of the font-family property:

Example

div { font-family:myFirstFont; } Try it yourself »

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Using Bold Text

You must add another @font-face rule containing descriptors for bold text:

Example

@font-face { font-family:myFirstFont; src:url(Sansation_Bold.ttf); font-weight:bold; } Try it yourself »

The file "Sansation_Bold.ttf" is another font file, that contains the bold characters for the Sansation font.

Browsers will use this whenever a piece of text with the font-family "myFirstFont" should render as bold.

This way you can have many @font-face rules for the same font.

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CSS3 Font Descriptors

The following table lists all the font descriptors that can be defined inside the @font-face rule:

Descriptor	Values	Description
font-family	name	Required. Defines a name for the font
url	URL	Required. Defines the URL to the font file
font-stretch	normal condensed ultra-condensed extra-condensed semi-condensed expanded semi-expanded extra-expanded ultra-expanded	Optional. Defines how the font should be stretched. Default is "normal"
font-style	normal italic oblique	Optional. Defines how the font should be styled. Default is "normal"
font-weight	normal bold 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900	Optional. Defines the boldness of the font. Default is "normal"
unicode-range	unicode-range	Optional. Defines the range of UNICODE characters the font supports. Default is "U+0-10FFFF"