How to Create Custom @font-face with Modern Formats

Web fonts play a crucial role in delivering unique visual identities for websites and digital brands. The @font-face rule allows web developers to use custom fonts that aren’t part of the standard web-safe fonts, ensuring that typography remains consistent and distinct across various devices. However, with the multitude of font formats available today—such as WOFF, WOFF2, TTF, and EOT—it can be challenging to know how to implement custom fonts efficiently and for all browsers. In this article, we will walk you through the step-by-step process of using the @font-face rule to create custom fonts and explore the best practices for choosing modern formats that strike the right balance between performance and compatibility.

Understanding the Basics of @font-face

The @font-face rule in CSS is a powerful tool that enables you to define custom fonts by linking font files and allowing them to be used across various elements on a web page. This eliminates the need for a limited set of web-safe fonts and opens up the possibilities for custom branding and typography on websites.

Syntax Example of @font-face

A basic @font-face declaration is structured as follows:

    @font-face {
        font-family: 'MyCustomFont';
        src: url('fonts/MyCustomFont.woff2') format('woff2'),
             url('fonts/MyCustomFont.woff') format('woff');
        font-weight: normal;
        font-style: normal;
    }
    

This CSS rule defines a font family named ‘MyCustomFont,’ and it specifies the locations of the font files in WOFF2 and WOFF formats. By declaring this rule, browsers know where to retrieve the fonts and how to use them. You can then apply the custom font using the font-family property in your stylesheet, making it available throughout your web project.

Why Use @font-face Instead of External Font Services?

Services like Google Fonts or Adobe Fonts provide thousands of font options that are easy to integrate into websites. However, relying solely on these services can have limitations:

• Customization: These services may not offer fonts that align perfectly with your brand’s visual identity.
• Performance: Fetching fonts from external sources can sometimes increase page load times, particularly if the user’s connection is slow.
• Privacy: Some external font services may track users’ activity, which could raise privacy concerns.

With @font-face, you can host fonts locally on your server, giving you full control over their behavior, performance, and availability. This approach allows for better performance optimization, especially if you’re using a unique or proprietary font that isn’t available via public font services.

Modern Font Formats: WOFF, WOFF2, TTF, and EOT

When using the @font-face rule, it’s important to serve fonts in the right formats to ensure compatibility across different browsers and devices. Several font formats are available, and each has its strengths and weaknesses.

• WOFF (Web Open Font Format): WOFF is the most commonly used format for web fonts. It’s based on TrueType or OpenType font files but with added compression, making it ideal for web use. WOFF is supported by all modern browsers.
• WOFF2: A more modern version of WOFF, WOFF2 offers improved compression, reducing the font file size even further. WOFF2 is highly recommended for web projects due to its optimized performance, but it’s not supported by some older browsers.
• TTF (TrueType Font): TTF is one of the original font formats and is widely supported by both web and desktop applications. However, it’s not as optimized for web use as WOFF and WOFF2.
• EOT (Embedded OpenType): EOT was created by Microsoft for embedding fonts in web pages and is primarily supported by Internet Explorer. It’s less common today but necessary for compatibility with older versions of IE.

Why WOFF2 is the Preferred Format

WOFF2 is widely considered the most efficient format for web fonts because of its smaller file size and improved compression. By reducing the size of font files, WOFF2 helps improve website performance, especially on mobile devices or in regions with slower internet speeds. However, to ensure full browser compatibility, it’s important to provide fallback formats like WOFF and TTF.

Generating Font Files for @font-face

Before you can use custom fonts in your web project, you’ll need to generate the necessary font files in different formats. Several online tools make this process easy:

• FontSquirrel Webfont Generator: A widely used tool for converting fonts to web formats (WOFF, WOFF2, TTF, and EOT).
• Transfonter: An online service that allows you to upload font files and convert them to modern web formats.
• FontForge: A free, open-source font editor that supports generating custom fonts in a variety of formats.

Using these tools, you can convert your fonts into the formats required for cross-browser compatibility. Afterward, upload the files to your server so they can be referenced in your @font-face rule.

Defining the @font-face Rule for Cross-Browser Compatibility

To ensure that your custom fonts work across all browsers, including older versions of Internet Explorer and Safari, it’s essential to define your @font-face rule using multiple font formats. A robust declaration includes WOFF2, WOFF, TTF, and EOT formats:

    @font-face {
        font-family: 'MyCustomFont';
        src: url('fonts/MyCustomFont.woff2') format('woff2'),
             url('fonts/MyCustomFont.woff') format('woff'),
             url('fonts/MyCustomFont.ttf') format('truetype'),
             url('fonts/MyCustomFont.eot') format('embedded-opentype');
        font-weight: normal;
        font-style: normal;
    }
    

By including multiple formats, you ensure that all modern browsers can load the fonts, while also providing fallback formats for older browsers like Internet Explorer. This method ensures the widest possible compatibility.

Optimizing Performance with Custom Fonts

While custom fonts can significantly enhance the design of your website, they can also negatively impact performance if not implemented correctly. Larger font files may slow down page load times, particularly on slower connections. To improve performance, follow these tips:

• Use WOFF2: As the most compressed and efficient format, WOFF2 should be your first choice for custom fonts.
• Subset your fonts: Instead of using the entire character set, subset your fonts to include only the characters you need. This reduces the file size significantly.
• Implement the font-display property: The font-display property controls how text is displayed while the font is loading. The swap value ensures that text is rendered immediately using a fallback font until the custom font is loaded, improving perceived performance.

Example of the font-display property:

    @font-face {
        font-family: 'MyCustomFont';
        src: url('fonts/MyCustomFont.woff2') format('woff2');
        font-weight: normal;
        font-style: normal;
        font-display: swap;
    }
    

Conclusion

Using the @font-face rule to incorporate custom fonts into your website is an effective way to establish a unique visual identity. By choosing modern font formats like WOFF2, ensuring cross-browser compatibility, and optimizing performance, you can provide a consistent and visually appealing experience for your visitors. Custom fonts give you greater control over the aesthetics of your web project and allow you to break free from the limitations of standard web-safe fonts.

Remember, fonts are an essential aspect of user experience, and with the right strategy, you can use @font-face to create seamless and memorable typography for your website.