CSS Web Fonts are a powerful tool for web designers and developers to enhance the typography of their websites. In the past, web designers were limited to using a small set of fonts that were installed on users' computers. This meant that if a designer wanted to use a specific font, they had to rely on images or Flash to display the text in that font. However, with the advent of CSS Web Fonts, designers can now use a wide range of fonts that are hosted on external servers and can be downloaded by users' browsers.
CSS Web Fonts work by using a combination of CSS and font files to display text in a specific font. The CSS code specifies the font family, weight, style, and size, while the font files provide the actual font data. There are two main types of CSS Web Fonts: hosted fonts and self-hosted fonts.
Hosted fonts are fonts that are hosted on external servers, such as Google Fonts or Adobe Typekit. These fonts are free or available for a fee, and can be easily added to a website by including a link to the font file in the HTML code. The browser then downloads the font file and uses it to display the text in the specified font.
Here is an example of how to use a hosted font in CSS:
<link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Open+Sans" rel="stylesheet">
body {
font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif;
}
In this example, we are using the Google Fonts API to load the Open Sans font. We include a link to the font file in the HTML code, and then specify the font family in the CSS code. The browser then downloads the font file and uses it to display the text in the Open Sans font.
Self-hosted fonts are fonts that are hosted on the same server as the website. This allows designers to use custom fonts that are not available on external servers. Self-hosted fonts can be added to a website by including the font files in the website's directory and using CSS to specify the font family.
Here is an example of how to use a self-hosted font in CSS:
@font-face {
font-family: 'My Custom Font';
src: url('my-custom-font.woff2') format('woff2'),
url('my-custom-font.woff') format('woff');
}
body {
font-family: 'My Custom Font', sans-serif;
}
In this example, we are using the @font-face rule to define a custom font called "My Custom Font". We specify the font files in the src property, and then use the font-family property to specify the font family in the CSS code. The browser then downloads the font files and uses them to display the text in the My Custom Font font.
CSS Web Fonts are a powerful tool for web designers and developers to enhance the typography of their websites. By using hosted or self-hosted fonts, designers can create unique and engaging designs that stand out from the crowd. With the wide range of fonts available, there is no limit to the creativity that can be achieved with CSS Web Fonts.