Question
Answer and Explanation
Combining different weights of a TTF (TrueType Font) into a single font file is not a typical practice. TTF files are usually specific to a single weight (e.g., Regular, Bold, Italic). What you generally do is use CSS to call these different weights and styles separately. However, there are methods to handle this efficiently through font families and variable fonts. Here's how it works:
1. Understanding Font Families:
- Font families allow you to link different font files together as variations of the same typeface. This approach is standard for handling different weights and styles (e.g., 'Roboto', 'Roboto Bold', 'Roboto Italic').
2. Using CSS to Call Different Weights:
- In your CSS, you would typically define a font-face for each weight and style of your font, specifying the corresponding TTF file. Here is an example:
@font-face {
font-family: 'MyCustomFont';
src: url('MyCustomFont-Regular.ttf') format('truetype');
font-weight: normal;
font-style: normal;
}
@font-face {
font-family: 'MyCustomFont';
src: url('MyCustomFont-Bold.ttf') format('truetype');
font-weight: bold;
font-style: normal;
}
@font-face {
font-family: 'MyCustomFont';
src: url('MyCustomFont-Italic.ttf') format('truetype');
font-weight: normal;
font-style: italic;
}
3. Variable Fonts:
- Variable fonts are a more modern approach where a single font file can contain all variations of a typeface (e.g., weights, styles, widths). These fonts are designed to be more efficient and allow for fine-grained typographic control. If your font is provided as a variable font, you would use it like this:
@font-face {
font-family: 'MyCustomVariableFont';
src: url('MyCustomVariableFont.ttf') format('truetype-variations');
}
- And you can use different font-weights like this: font-weight: 300;, font-weight: 700;, and so on.
4. Why Not Combine Multiple TTF Weight into One:
- TTF format was not originally designed to handle a multitude of weights. Trying to combine them can lead to very large file sizes, which will impact website loading speed and overall performance. Therefore it's not a usual practice.
5. Recommendations:
- Use Font Families: The standard way of calling several font weights in CSS is reliable and well-supported across browsers.
- Consider Variable Fonts: If available, using variable fonts is a modern and efficient solution that can significantly reduce file sizes and improve font flexibility.
In summary, while it might seem intuitive to merge TTF font files for different weights, it's not how fonts are generally used on the web. Utilizing font families and, where possible, variable fonts, is the most efficient way to manage and implement different font weights in your web projects. This way, you will achieve the typographic control that you want, while maintaining optimal loading speeds and rendering performance.