Css Font Styling Basics and Advanced Options

CSS font styling is a crucial aspect of web design, allowing you to control the visual appearance of text on your website.

The most basic font styling property is font-family, which specifies the font to be used for the text.

You can choose from a wide range of font families, including serif, sans-serif, and monospace fonts.

For example, using font-family: Arial, sans-serif; will apply the Arial font if it's available, and if not, it will fall back to a sans-serif font.

To add a custom font to your website, you simply need to add the @font-face declarations to your project. This essentially adds a new font that you can use when declaring font-family in your CSS.

For example, if you want to use the CaviarDreams font on your website, you can add a CSS rule with the font-family set to CaviarDreams, and Helvetica as a fallback font.

You can also use relative units to set font sizes, such as em, rem, and percentage. These units are relative to the parent element or the root parent (HTML Tag).

Here are some examples of font size units in CSS:

Font size can also have relative size values, such as smaller and larger.

There are three main font styles: normal, italic, and oblique.

The default value for font style is normal.

At first glance, oblique and italic font styles may appear the same, but they have a difference.

Line Height is an essential aspect of typography that can greatly impact the readability and overall appearance of your text. The default line height of all text elements is normal.

You can adjust the line height using the line-height property in CSS. This property defines the actual height of a line, and it can be set to different units such as px and number, which is a ratio of line height and font size.

For example, setting the line height to 20px will give your text a fixed height of 20 pixels, regardless of the font size. On the other hand, setting the line height to a number, like 2, will make the text 200% of the font size.

Here are some common line height values:

It's worth noting that line height in px is fixed, whereas in numbers it's relative to font size.

Font styling is a crucial aspect of CSS, and there are several options to choose from. The font-family property allows you to specify the font family, while the font-style property sets the font face style, which can be normal, italic, or oblique.

You can use the italic style to give your text a cursive look, while the oblique style slants the text. The default value for the font-style property is normal. Note that at first glance, both oblique and italic font styles may appear the same, but they have a difference in their approach.

To give your text a bold or bolder appearance, you can use the font-weight property, which has various values such as normal, bold, lighter, bolder, 100, 400, and 700. The numeric values correspond to specific weights, with 400 having the same weight as normal and 700 having the same as bold.

Here are the font styling options available in CSS:

Choosing the right font family is crucial for readability.

The font-family property in CSS is used to specify the font to be used to render the text. It can hold several comma-separated font names as a fallback system.

A good practice is to list the font that you want first, then any fonts that might fill in for the first if it is not available. You should end the list with a generic font family.

In CSS, there are five generic font families: serif, sans-serif, cursive, monospace, and fantasy.

Here are the characteristics of each generic font family:

The font-family property can take values as a prioritized list, i.e., it can hold various font names as a "fallback" system.

Font size is crucial for readability, and a minimum of 16px is often recommended for body text. A comfortable reading size ensures that your content is accessible to everyone, including those with visual impairments.

To choose the right font size, consider the line height, which should be at least 1.5 times the font size. This helps the eye track from one line to the next.

The font size can be measured in different units, including pixels (px), em (em), percentage (%), and rem (rem). Pixels represent the height of screen pixels, while em and rem are relative to the parent element or root parent, respectively.

Here are the different units used to measure font size:

The choice of font size unit depends on the specific design requirements. For example, if the font size of the body or parent element is 100% or 16px, the font size of the p tag will be relative to that value.

Font weight is a crucial aspect of font styling, and it's essential to understand the different values and how they work. CSS provides several properties for styling fonts, including font-weight, which specifies the weight or boldness of the font.

The font-weight property can take one of the following values: normal, bold, bolder, lighter, 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900, and inherit. These values can be absolute or relative, with the numeric values representing a weight greater than its predecessor, where 400 is the same as normal and 700 is the same as bold.

Most fonts are only available in a limited number of weights, often only in normal and bold. If a font is not available in the specified weight, an alternate will be chosen that is the closest available weight.

Here are the numeric values for font weights:

The number of font weights available for any font can vary. For example, serif supports 2, sans-serif supports 3, and 'helvetica neue' supports 5.

You can add dimension and emphasis to your text elements with Elementor's Text Shadow controls.

Elementor's Text Transformations option makes it easy to set text to uppercase, lowercase, or capitalize.

To underline, overline, or strikethrough text, use Elementor's Text Decoration feature.

Fine-tune spacing with Elementor's Letter Spacing and Word Spacing options for visual refinement.

Here's a quick rundown of the typographic effects you can achieve with Elementor:

Choosing the right font and style is very crucial for the readability of text on a page. CSS provides several properties for styling the font of the text, including changing their face, controlling their size and boldness, managing variant, and so on.

The font properties are: font-family, font-style, font-weight, font-size, and font-variant. These properties can be used to create a wide range of font styles.

To control the size of the font, you can use the font-size property. This property allows you to specify the size of the font in various units such as pixels, points, or ems. For example, you can set the font-size to 16px or 1em.

The font-weight property is used to control the boldness of the font. You can specify the font-weight as normal, bold, bolder, or lighter. For instance, you can set the font-weight to bold to make the text more prominent.

The font-style property is used to control the style of the font. You can specify the font-style as normal, italic, or oblique. For example, you can set the font-style to italic to make the text more readable.

Choosing the right font can make a big difference in how readable your content is. A minimum font size of 16px is often recommended, but you might need to go larger depending on the font.

Adequate spacing between lines is also crucial for readability. A line height of at least 1.5 times the font size is a good baseline.

Fonts with taller x-heights tend to be easier to read, especially at smaller sizes.

Strong contrast between your font color and background color is essential. You can use online contrast checkers to ensure you meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) standards.

Here are some key factors to consider when selecting a font:

To create a strong visual hierarchy, it's essential to use bolder or more distinctive fonts for headings. This helps create clear visual separation.

By using display fonts for headings, you can draw attention to important text. For example, using a custom font like CaviarDreams can add a touch of elegance to your website.

Headings should be used to create a clear structure in your design. This can be achieved by using a font stack with a custom font as the primary choice and a fallback font for slower page loads.

A good font stack should prioritize readability at smaller sizes for body text. This is where fonts designed for readability shine.

Here's a quick guide to creating a strong visual hierarchy:

By following these simple tips, you can create a visually appealing and structured design that effectively communicates your message.

CSS Font Properties can change the look of HTML text elements, allowing you to customize font size, line height, font family, and more.

Setting the font-size for the body element to 62.5% of the default 16px is a popular technique to simplify calculations with em values.

This equates to 10px or 0.625em, making it easy to convert px values to em units by dividing by 10. For example, 12px is equivalent to 1.2em.

Px units remain the same even if the parent element's font size is more than 100% or 16px.

This is in contrast to em and % units, which can change depending on the parent element's font size. For example, if the parent element's font size is more than 100% or 16px, em and % units will change, but px units will remain the same.

Setting the font size for the body element to 62.5% is a popular technique to simplify the calculation of em values. This equates to 10px or 0.625em.

With this technique, you can easily convert px values to em values by dividing the px value by 10. For instance, 10px equals 1em, 12px equals 1.2em, and so on.

You can use px units to set the font size of an element, and it will remain the same regardless of the parent element's font size.

Custom font properties can be a game-changer for designers looking to add a unique touch to their text elements. They allow you to fine-tune the look of your fonts, making them perfect for creating a consistent brand identity.

One advanced CSS property that provides access to typographic features is font-variant, which can display small caps, ligatures, and different numeral styles if supported by your chosen custom font. You can also experiment with font-feature-settings to gain even more control over font features.

CSS font properties can be used to change the font size, line height, font family, font weight, font style, font stretch, and font variant of HTML text elements. Using these properties, you can change the look of any HTML text element.

To add a custom font, you can use Elementor Pro's Global Fonts feature. This involves uploading your font files and giving your font a memorable name, making it available throughout Elementor.

Here are some key custom font properties to keep in mind:

Once you've added a custom font, you can apply it to any text element by selecting it from the drop-down menu in Elementor's styling panel. This will allow you to adjust the font weight, style, and other settings as needed.

To ensure your custom font works across different browsers, you'll need to convert the font files into various formats. You'll need 5 specific font file extensions: .eot, .woff2, .woff, .ttf, and .svg. If you don't have all of these formats, you can use a free font generator like Transfonter to upload your font files and download the necessary formats.

If you're using a font service that provides optimized web font files, you might be all set. However, if you need to convert a font to make it web-ready, be sure to check the licensing terms first to ensure you're allowed to modify the font.

The five font file extensions you'll need are:

You can also use a font generator to convert your font files into the necessary formats.